Lab I

 Source: Connecticut's Biography, 03 October 2010, http://www.ctbiography.com/maps/

This map exhibiting the colony of Connecticut and its counties is of interest to me because of the hand drawn style and and attention to detail used in illustrating accuracy. The map contains a general explanation of the surrounding colonies and regions not shown in the lower right hand corner. On the top left shows the rights and plan for the colony of Connecticut written as under the jurisdiction of his Majesty. The map contains both county and township borders along with topographic features like mountains, major rivers and streams. Along with remnants from the past the map includes newer distinctions like separation by color.

 Source: Locals and Tourists, 03 October 2010, http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/

The map is a Geotaggers' World Atlas map of Manhattan island created by Eric Fischer which depicts the density of the number of pictures being taken and tagged in the local area. I chose this map because of the unique presentation and  information depicted on population density particularly with foot traffic. This map can be used in comparison with other similar map of different world cities. Along with indicating high volume areas of traffic the color indicators depict the type of individuals taking the picture. Red indicates pictures taken by tourists, blue by locals, and yellow indicates pictures taken by a mix or unknown origins. Not surprisingly areas around central park and midtown constitute the most tourist while outlying areas like Williamsburg and areas around Columbia University constitute more locals. This density and color overlay can present a conflicting view between what the tourist and the local may find appealing in visiting and taking a picture of.

 

Source: Nationmaster: Map of Biomes, 04 October 2010, http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Biome

This map of the world caught my interest because of the natural depiction of ground landscape that does not seem to correlate with the political borders of countries. The map shows the different biomes and varied types of ground vegetation that exist on earth. A majority of the biomes and vegetation types follow a similar latitude though differences exist in where the vegetation can grow in relating North America and Asia. The biomes cross borders and breaks boundaries, I believe we are use to envisioning the map of the earth in terms of the borders of countries but not necessarily on the natural landscape that really exists below.