This is the course that builds the foundational understanding of maps, projections, coordinate systems, and datums that the other geospatial courses build off of. The course consists of a substantial number of hand's on exercises designed to promote critical and analytical thinking as it relates to geographic space. This course covers the analysis of three dimensional physical and/or social information across landscapes, including dynamic interactions among spatial variables and how they change with time. Students will learn to think spatially at different time and spatial scales, understand spatial terms (e.g., proximity, shape, density, position, adjacency, gradient, and others), translate 3D features from the real world to 2D features on maps, and make inferences about causation based on observed spatial correlations.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS:

Kimerling, Buckley, Muehrcke, and Muehrcke (2011).Map Use: Reading, Analysis, Interpretation, 7th Edition, ESRI Press. ISBN: 978-1-589-48279-1

Monmomier, Mark (1996). How to Lie with Maps, Second Edition. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. ISBN: 9780226534213

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Upon completion, students will be able to (1) recognize key physical and social features on landscapes, and how they are represented on maps (2) identify a minimum of 10-15 key spatial terms and concepts, (3) visualize and sketch 2D representations of 3D features from the real world, and understand how we transform the 3d Surface to a 2d surface (4) visualize and graph spatial correlations between different physical and social data across time, (5) make defensible inferences about causation based off the spatial correlations observed from number 4, and (6) solve basic physical and social problems with spatial analysis skills.