Lab 7: Census 2000/2010

        This map above shows the population density in 2000 from the U.S. Census Bureau's Census data. This chloropleth map shows graduations of population change from low to high populations throughout the United States. The darker blue and darker green colors have higher population densities, whereas the lighter green colors have increasingly lower population densities. The different colors make it very easy to spot the largest clusters of people, like in the Northwestern United States (Southern California) and along the East Coast. This color scheme also allows us to see where populations are the most sparse, like Oregon, Nevada and other Western states.  

       The map above, titled "Number of People, 2000" illustrates the number of people living throughout the United States. Instead of shades of green and blue, this map utilizes gradations of purple, with darker purple indicating larger numbers of people and increasingly lighter people indicating increasingly smaller numbers of people in different counties. This gives another perspective on where people are located, because there are areas that have significantly higher populations but aren't necessarily dense because there is more land where people tend to spread out and disperse, instead of cluster (as shown in the previous map, "Population Density, 2000").

       The above map, titled "Percent Change, 1996-2000 Total Population" shows how much the population in certain counties increased or decreased between the years 1996 and 2000. This chloropleth map shows the darker purples as having positive increases, with increasingly lighter purple having lower positive increases. This purpled then transitions into pink, which basically shows little to no increases. Then the pink transitions into yellows and oranges which indicates decreases in population percentages. As you can see by the map, there seems to be a large increase in percent population in counties in Nevada. There also seems to be big decreases in population change in a line down the central United States. 

       This last map, "Difference, 1990-2000 Number of People" illustrates the difference in the number of people between the years 1990 and 2000. This map illustrates the how much the number of how many people in each county has changed, instead of a percentage change (as in the previous map). Dark pink indicates there is a negative change in number of people. Light pink indicates a slight negative change in difference in the number of people in different counties. All of the green colors indicate increases in the number of people per county. The darker the green, the higher the increase of number of people in each county is. 

       Mapping the Census Data using GIS was very helpful for understanding how versatile the census data is and the diversity of options there is to create maps and analyze the data using GIS. It's really quite amazing how much Census data is available and the data can basically be transformed using maps to convey and illustrate the data to anyone who views the map. Even though the data about population might seem similar at first, when it is visually represented on the map it is clear that all these different data sets have different geographic implications. 

       Overall, this map series exercise showed me how GIS can be seen as a little complicated at first, but once you keep using it, the program becomes easier and more natural to use. I am very impressed at all the functions GIS has to create the different chloropleth colors (gradations of colors) automatically and also how it was so easy to integrate the U.S. Census data into the program. Thus far, I have a very positive impression of GIS, especially with this project, as using the data to create the map series really represented how versatile the software is and the flexibility there is in showing different types of spatial information on a map to illustrate different geographic phenomena.