Map

Chloropleth maps are maps wherein  differentiations are indicated by different colored areas. A common use  is showing Red and Blue states during political campaigns. I chose this Chloropleth map because it shows the methane emissions of counties in North Carolina due to beef production. As a vegetarian, I am very interested in our farming practices and the ways that cutting out meat – – particularly beef – – can help the environment.  This kind of map is good for organizing comparative data because it provides obvious, visual differentiations that are fairly simple to understand and allow us to target, in this case, problem areas.

 Dot Density maps  use dots to show high levels of concentration of the thing being measured. They are often used by cell phone companies to show areas where cell phones have service.This Dot Density  map shows areas  in Ukraine where  there has been unrest, protests, and riots. The reason this map is important is that it shows that there is unrest all over Ukraine, not just between police and rioters in Kiev and Crimea. Maps like this are important because they also show us different sized dots  to indicate where the protests are larger and where they are smaller and more controlled.

Proportional Symbol maps use a symbol, often a circle or a symbol related to what is being mapped,  in different sizes to  indicate larger or smaller groupings of the things being measured. This Proportional Symbol map shows cattle and calves  sold in Maryland in 1997. I like this one because it dealt with beef, like my Chloropleth map,  and also because it used a proportional symbol that was not a circle which made it stand out and also made it more visually interesting for me. The different sizes of the symbols indicate larger and smaller groups  of Cows sold in the area.

Isopleth maps  differentiate areas of measure by contour lines on the map. This Isopleth Map shows major religions around the world. This type of map is perfect for a topic like "world religions" because these religions do not fall along state or country boundaries. Isopleth maps  are often used to show geographical contours, but I found this not much more interesting.