Cartographic Design

Description:

This Cartographic Design course, from the National Information, Security & Geospatial Technologies Consortium, is part of a series of model courses on GIS, spatial technologies, and related subjects to provide students with the professional skills necessary to succeed in geospatial technology careers. This course introduces students to fundamental cartographic concepts as well as effective visual representations of data through lectures, readings, activities, and labs. Students will learn to “categorize and describe different types of maps (thematic, reference, etc.)” and “employ an appropriate geographic referencing system (datum, projection, coordinate system) for a given purpose.” ArcGIS Desktop 10.1 software and Microsoft Excel Viewer are required for this course.

Course Information:

The Cartographic Design course can be implemented either as a stand-alone instructional unit or as an entry-level course in a geospatial program. The course is composed of seven modules each with a lesson plan and lab with all necessary files included. These modules include: Introduction to Cartographic Design; Geodesy and Coordinate Systems; Map Elements and Design Principles; Types of Maps; Data for a Map; Map Symbols and Visual Variables; and Typography.

After completing the course, students will be able to categorize and describe different types of maps and give examples of how each is used, describe the components of a map, employ an appropriate geographic referencing system, and apply appropriate data model, map scale, map elements, symbolization, and color to produce maps.

All of the course materials are contained in four zip files: Course Development Documents, Course Download, Lab Data, and Lab Materials. New viewers should begin by viewing the Syllabus pdf and move on to the Course Development Documents zip file.

Course Contents:

The attached files associated with Cartographic Design course exist in a variety of formats including .docx, .doc, .tmp, pdf, .xml, .story, and a wide variety of laboratory data file types. Below is a list of the files organized by the zip file in which they are contained, with the file name and size provided in parenthesis.

Course Development Documents

• Attributions (Course_Attributions.docx 38KB)
• Course Alignment Matrix (GST 104_Course_Alignment_Matrix.doc 128KB)
• Course Submission Form (GST 104_Course_Submission_Form.doc 94KB)
• Syllabus (GST 104_Cartographic Design Syllabus.doc 95KB)
• Lesson Materials
  • Lesson 1: Introduction to Cartographic Design (L1_Introduction_to_Cartographic_Design.docx 2.8 MB)
  • Lesson 2: Geodesy and Coordinate Systems (L2_Geodesy_and_Coordinate_Systems.docx 5MB)
  • Lesson 3: Map Elements and Design Principles (L3_Map_Elements_and_Design_Principles.docx 4.3MB)
  • Lesson 4: Types of Maps (L4_Types_of_Maps.docx 995KB)
  • Lesson 5: Data for a Map (L5_Data_for_a_Map.docx 4.2MB)
  • Lesson 6: Map Symbols and Visual Variables (L6_Map_Symbols_and_Visual_Variables.docx 2.3MB)
  • Lesson 7: Typography (L7_Typography.docx 613KB)

Course Download

• SCORM Lesson Packages
  • Data for a Map (Data for a Map.zip 15.9MB)
  • Geodesy and Coordinate Systems (Geodesy and Coordinate Systems.zip 9.9MB)
  • Introduction to Cartographic Design (Introduction to Cartographic Design.zip 9.1MB)
  • Map Elements and Design Principles (Map Elements and Design Principles.zip 11KB)
  • Map Symbols and Visual Variables (Map Symbols and Visual Variables.zip 3.6MB)
  • Types of Maps (Types of Maps.zip 3.5MB)
  • Typography (Typography.zip 2.6MB)
• Storyline Lesson Files
  • Data for a Map (Data for a Map.story 11.3MB)
  • Geodesy and Coordinate Systems (Geodesy and Coordinate Systems.story 8MB)
  • Introduction to Cartographic Design (Introduction to Cartographic Design.story 4.9MB)
  • Map Elements and Design Principles (Map Elements and Design Principles.story 5.8MB)
  • Map Symbols and Visual Variables (Map Symbols and Visual Variables.story 4.7MB)
  • Types of Maps (Types of Maps.story 3.3MB)
  • Typography (Typography.story 2.1MB)

Lab Materials

• GST 104: Cartographic Design Lab Series: Lab 1: Make your Best Maps Yet (GIS_104_Lab_Module_01.pdf 0.8MB)
• GST 104: Cartographic Design Lab Series: Lab 2: Exploring Coordinate Systems and Map Projections (GIS_104_Lab_Module_02.pdf 1.3MB)
• GST 104: Cartographic Design Lab Series: Lab 3: Layouts and Figure-to-Ground Relationships (GIS_104_Lab_Module_03.pdf 0.9MB)
• GST 104: Cartographic Design Lab Series: Lab 5: Data Classification (GIS_104_Lab_Module_05.pdf 0.6MB)
• GST 104: Cartographic Design Lab Series: Lab 6: Using Color on Maps Effectively (GIS_104_Lab_Module_06.pdf 0.7MB)
• GST 104: Cartographic Design Lab Series: Lab 7: Make Your (Even Better!) Best Maps Yet! (GIS_104_Lab_Module_07.pdf 0.8MB)

Lab Data

• Labs 1 & 7
  • Agricultural Census Data (Folder containing 15.7MB of ArcGIS files)
  • Annual Precipitation 2005-2009 (Folder containing 4.8MB of ArcGIS files)
  • Crimes 2001-2002 (Folder containing 17.9MB of ArcGIS files)
  • Dams (Folder containing 7.3MB of ArcGIS files)
  • Earthquakes 1568-2009 (Folder containing 4.2MB of ArcGIS files)
  • Ecosystem Regions (Folder containing 6.9MB of ArcGIS files)
  • Federal Spending by County 2000-2009 (Folder containing 0.7MB of ArcGIS files)
  • Incidence of Avian Cholera (Folder containing 0.4MB of ArcGIS files)
  • Income and Employment 2004-2008 (Folder containing 15.5MB of ArcGIS files)
  • Registered Voters and People Voting 2000-2008 (Folder containing 29KB of ArcGIS files)
  • Roads (Folder containing 23.1MB of ArcGIS files)
  • Urban Areas (Folder containing 2.9MB of ArcGIS files)
  • Water Use 2005 (Folder containing 2.8MB of ArcGIS files)
• Lab 2
  • (CountryView.mxd 461KB)
  • Data (Folder containing 1.9MB of ArcGIS files)
  • (Vermont.mxd 897KB)
  • WorldView.mxd 748KB)
• Lab 3
  • (elpo08p020.dbf 888KB)
  • (elpo08p020.prj 167 bytes)
  • (elpo08p020.sbn 47KB)
  • (elpo08p020.sbx 964 bytes)
  • (elpo08p020.shp 12.5MB)
  • (elpo08p020.shp.xml 4KB)
  • (elpo08p020.shx 38KB)
  • (elpo08p020.txt 73KB)
• Lab 4
  • (County_2010Census_DP1.dbf 6.4MB)
  • (County_2010Census_DP1.prj 167 bytes)
  • (County_2010Census_DP1.shp 121MB)
  • (County_2010Census_DP1.shx 26KB)
  • (DP_TableDescriptions.xls 40KB)
• Lab 5
  • Ag census (Folder containing 225KB of ArcGIS files)
• Lab 6
  • Labs 1 & 7 (Folder containing 102.3MB of the same ArcGis files as in Lab 1 & 7 folder listed above)
  • Lakes (Folder containing 53KB of ArcGIS files)
  • Rivers (Folder containing 58KB of ArcGIS files)
  • State_Provinces (Folder containing 809KB of ArcGIS files)