Create 3 Original Maps displaying Physical Geography data. You will choose Physical Geography data from your choice of several free online map making
programs. The maps you create must be original, that is you just didn't search Google images for maps already created by other people. You will be creating
maps of areas that you choose, using data you choose, and you will format it with a scale bar, north arrow, title, and paragraph caption that are all
original.
How will you make an original map set?
There are 4 steps to this part of the assignment:
Choose Map Maker and Data: Choose a free map maker and play around with the available data. Decide which data you want to map. Try National Map, National
Geographic Map Maker, (Links to an external site.) Google Earth (Links to an external site.)(free download), Weather Underground Mapper (Links to an external
site.), ArcGIS Explorer (requires creating a free account) to get base maps and data, NOAA National Hazard Viewer (Links to an external site.), Historical
Hurricane Tracker (Links to an external site.), Tornado History Project (Links to an external site.), Water Risk Atlas (Links to an external site.), and
Windyty (Links to an external site.)
Make 3 Original Maps (city, state & continent): Once you have chosen and selected data, look for patterns at local (1 city), regional (1 state or small
country) and continent (1-2 continents) scales by zooming in and out. One map should show data at the local scale (shows 1 city), the 2nd map should zoom out
to show a regional scale (shows 1 state or a small country), and finally your 3rd map should zoom out to continent scale (shows 1-2 continents).
Write a Paragraph Caption for Each Map: For each of the 3 maps you should write a descriptive paragraph (5-10 sentences, college level writing) that explains
the data pattern (Where is the data occurring and not occurring?), process (Why does the data occur some places but not others?), and any hazards the data may
cause humans (How dangerous is this hazard? How could this hazard be managed?). Outside research should be conducted and cited.
Add Final Touches to the Maps: Finally, you will capture an image of your completed map and data (or just a screen shot) and import it into a word processing
program like word where you can add a scale bar (Links to an external site.), north arrow, legend and descriptive title, and should be be easy to see and
read. In some tools such as the National Geographic Mapmaker, the scale bar shows up automatically. In others, you may need to draw it in. You may also need
to draw in the north arrow.
Sample Solution