Lab 3: Neogeography

View My Favorite Places in Oahu, Hawaii. in a larger map

        For my Neogeography lab assignment, I mapped my favorite places in Oahu, Hawaii because I travel there often to visit my family. I included a route of the places I normally visit while I am there, like favorite dining and snack places (like the Matsumoto Shave Ice store), favorite nature areas, as well as my favorite Hotel in Oahu (Pacific Beach Hotel). In my opinion, these places, except for my Grandpa's house, are the must-see places on Oahu for visitors who have never been to Oahu before. 
       This assignment was very helpful in gaining first-hand experience with Neogeography. The use of Neogeography, like this google maps tool, is great because it is publicly available to anyone with access to a computer and internet. It allows almost anyone to express themselves and their activities spatially. I also like that the use of Neography allows people to share their information with others. For example, someone who has never been to Oahu might be able to get ideas from using my map. Additionally, if I saw another map created by someone else featuring their favorite Oahu destinations, it might allow me to find places I had never been before. Interacting with this map also allows users to gain a better understanding of the layout of the places they have previously been. For instance, I didn't realize that my Grandpa's house was so close to the Bishop Museum that we like to visit together.
       The downsides of Neogeography could include technology failures, like the mapping programs not functioning properly due to glitches or programming errors. Perhaps some tools might be counterintuitive and hard to use. Also, there is big potential for human error. Users could easily put in inaccurate information accidentally. For example, they could input a wrong name, misspell a place or record a location that has moved, thereby making their map inaccurate. However, I think that the potential positive outcomes, like enabling everyone to create their own maps, facilitating the dissemination of geographic information and promoting geographic awareness definitely outweigh the potential downsides of Neogeography. 

Lab 2: USGS Topographic Maps

1)      The name of the quadrangle is Beverly Hills, CA.

2)      The adjacent quadrangles are Canoga Park, Van Nuys, Burbank, Topanga, Hollywood, Venice and Inglewood.

3)      This quadrangle was created in 1995.

4)      This map was created by the National Geodic Vertical Datum of 1929, the Depth Curves In Feet-Datum, and the North American Datum of 1927.

5)      The map has a ratio scale of 1:24,000. It also represents this ratio scale with a graphic scale.

6)       A) Five centimeters on the map is equivalent to 1,200 meters on the ground.
B) Five inches on the map is equivalent to 1.894 miles on the ground.
C) One mile on the ground is equivalent to 2.64 inches on the map.
D) Three kilometers on the ground is equivalent to 12.5 centimeters on the map.

7)      The contour interval on the map is 20 feet.

8)      A) The Public Affairs building is approximately 34 degrees N, 4 minutes, 5 seconds and 118 degrees W, 26 minutes and 20 seconds.
B) The Santa Monica Pier is approximately 34 degrees N, 0 minutes, 30 seconds and 118 degrees W, 30 minutes and 20 seconds.
C) The Upper Franklin Canyon is approximately 34 degrees N, 6 minutes, 45 seconds and 118 degrees W, 24 minutes, 16 seconds.

9)      A) Greystone Mansion is at an elevation of 560 feet and 170.7 meters.
B) Woodlawn cemetery is at an elevation of 140 feet and 42.7 meters.
C) Crestwood Hills Park is at the elevation of 700 feet and 213.3 meters.

10)   The UTM zone of the map is zone 11.

11)   The UTM coordinates on the map are 3763000 mN.

12)   There is one million square meters contained within each UTM gridline.

13)   N/A (Skip Question)

14)   The UTM magnetic declination is 14 degrees East.

15)   The intermittent stream is flowing South.

16)   Map snapshot of UCLA is shown below.

Image: Taken from USGS Beverly Hills Quadrangle Map.