Archive for March, 2011
Introducing Maps to Kindergartners
Kindergartners don’t know a lot about maps. Indeed, most mapping related concepts are much too difficult for them to comprehend. I don’t find that maps are too abstract for them, instead, I find that the kids apply such a force of imagination to maps that their interpretations are much too distorted.
That said, it is still important for them to know the general ideas behind a map: what forms it can take, whether on your car’s GPS unit or your computer or on a folded-up piece of paper and what it does (in most simplistic terms such as “helps you find places”). This can certainly be done. To provide this simple introduction to maps, I chose to read There’s a Map on My Lap!
I’m going to cavil a bit here:
A few of the lines
Don’t have good rhymes.
A bigger problem, at least for this situation, is that the book is geared more toward a 1st or 2nd grader comprehension level. To remedy this I simply skipped over a few of the harder pages such as the explanation of directions and how to use a location grid. For first and second graders those would be good concepts to introduce, though.
I brought a globe with me and was heartened when I asked if anybody knew what it was. About half the class piped right up with, “it’s a globe!”
I brought along my GIS Cartography book and explained how I’m the author of a book on making maps. They passed it around and were absolutely fascinated by the pictures in it, even though I can’t imagine they knew what it was all about. In fact, I had to wait about 5 minutes to let them finish looking at it before I could leave. Overall, I’d call this short intro to maps for 5 and 6 year olds a mild success.
If I had had more time I would have done more. Some other ideas are: peel an orange in one piece then flatten the peel to show how a globe gets flattened onto a piece of paper (this is illustrated in the book); make a very simple map of the school and 2 or 3 roads around it to discuss; explain how 911 uses maps to help emergency personnel get to their destinations; read an adventure book (we love The Adventures of Marco and Polo) and then show where the characters went on a map; and if you have access to mapping software put the simple school map on the display and let the kids choose colors and symbols for it. If you have any other great ideas please share them with us!
So Not Impressive
Posted by Gretchen in Cartography Profession on March 3, 2011
Okay people. I need to complain this morning. Recently I received a spreadsheet from a well-respected firm that does geospatial analytics and environmental assessments (much like my own firm). This other firm has plenty of employees, a pretty cool office, and so on. I really like them. That’s why I can’t figure out why they put together such a piece-of-you-know-what to send to everyone under the sun having to do with their project.
I’m saying this without even reading most of the content on the spreadsheet because I can’t get past the garishness of the thing! There are black lines everywhere, colored boxes denoting who knows what in ridiculously day-glo 70s colors, and trailing words that go off into never never land. This is not a professional product. This is a travesty! By the way, they even put their logo on it.
I really wish I could provide a sample here for your review. However, I’m practicing my professional restraint. Something perhaps they ought to have done as well?
Everything that comes out of your professional office needs to be in top shape. I mean everything, cartographic products, spreadsheets, reports, and web designs. If it isn’t fit to send to everyone in the world then it needs to be clearly marked as “for your eyes only.”
Always Deliver a Map with an Explanation of your Design Decisions
When you hand over the final version of a map, there are two things you can do to prevent the receiver from criticizing it. You know what kind of criticizing I’m talking about. The kind that starts out, “hey, that looks great, could you just change…this…and this…and this…and oh yeah, just rework the whole color scheme, okay…?” The two best things you can do to prevent this kind of treatment is:
- Make the map completely awesome, and
- Explain every and all detail including color choices, label placement, etc., and how you came to make those design decisions*.
Preemptive explanations are much more effective than defensive explanations (i.e., after the criticism), and they help to educate the recipient, which they will usually appreciate.
If you are sending the map or link to the finished product via email your best bet is a short introductory “here it is” followed by a long explanation. This is one of the few times when it is acceptable to send an email of this length. However, remember to separate the long explanation from the main body of the email so that if the reader so chooses, they can skip the fine print. Your recipient may be a very busy person and you want to make it clear that the explanatory text is optional reading. If criticism still follows this email you can simply say, “oh yes, I explained that choice in the email, let me walk you through it…”
If, after doing your best at explaining your decisions, they still want changes made you have these choices:
- Make the changes,
- Make the changes but remove your name/company name from the product, or
- Walk away from the project.
I don’t believe I’ve ever had a big enough problem that I can’t feel right about simply making the changes. I always appreciate feedback and am lucky to have some really great clients who I can work with well. But I do know that there are rare occasions when other cartographers have had a draconian client with unalterable garish tastes or a never ending string of changes, and in those cases you will have to put your foot down.
*Note that you can also explain design-decisions as you go. This opens you up to criticism even before you are done, though! Which means that the client may not “get” your overall vision, so tread carefully. With most clients, it works to do a little bit of both. Also note that the scope of the project is important. Small projects may simply need a delivery and explanation at the end while very large projects sometimes require a lot of back and forth with mock-ups, layout choices, and so on.
More Cooking Analogies!
You’re not going to believe this, but I’m about to make my second analogy between cooking and cartography on this blog.*#
Yesterday I had another cooking related epiphany. While watching one of those house-finder shows a lady mentioned that she wanted a private kitchen that isn’t open to the rest of the house. She said that cooking is a private activity. I think she’d be hard-pressed to find a private kitchen in the U.S., where it seems like everyone wants an open kitchen where they can talk to people and have company while cooking.
It struck me that map makers might have different preferences in this regard as well. Some of us enjoy making a map with input from others throughout the process while others would rather wait until they feel like it is complete before sharing the product with everyone. Which approach do you think results in a better product?
Hey, at least when you have an open kitchen everyone can see all the hard work that has gone into the meal. Maybe they’ll appreciate it more and maybe you’ll work harder to make it better. (We won’t mention the fact that an open kitchen also invites people to witness your cooking disasters. Like the time you threw the Pyrex full of canned tomatoes across the kitchen like a Frisbee, where it flew past your mother’s right shoulder, hitting the floor and breaking into a million pieces where to this day you still find a bit of tomato on the ceiling from time to time. Oh, that wasn’t you? I don’t know where I got that story then.)
*Cartography and Cooking post
#Hey, if baseball can be applied to every business under the sun, why not cooking?
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