Lab8: Census 2000/2010

This is a map that conveys black population density distributions within the continental United States according to the U.S. Census of 2000. To demonstrate the difference between regions, I used a purple color ramp to show a variety of areas with different black populations. The darker the county, the greater the percent population blacks represented. Though quite evenly distributed, it is pretty apparent that areas in the southeast have greater percentages of black population distribution.
This map is a map that displays Asian population distribution within the continental United States. For this map, I used an orange color ramp to show the spectrum of population distribution. For the most part, the West coast has the greatest density of Asian populated counties and New England has a close second. On the other hand, states in the middle of the country are very sparsely populated by Asians. These characteristics are very realistic, considering the proximity to and immigration from Asian countries.

This last map is one that shows some other ethnicities as reported by the U.S. Census of 2000. For this map, I chose to use a green color ramp. "Some other" can be defined as any ethnicity that is not black, Asian, or non-Hispanic white. The map is greenest in the southwest region, signifying that the southwest is the area that is most heavy populated by "some other" ethnicities. In fact, the greenest states are the ones that lie on the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

This census map series was definitely the most interesting lab that we have done in this class. It was truly eye-opening regarding what made up the rest of the country and reminded me that not every county is as diverse as the ones that I have lived in: San Mateo and Los Angeles. It was also the first map that I have made without a step by step guide as well as the first map where using different intervals for the data was actually relevant. I had to play around with the intervals used to convey the data before I finally settled on one that I thought painted the picture well. It should be noted that while the intervals I used for each map are the same, they are not congruent; natural breaks in one set of data may not be the same in the others. Thus, it would be difficult to yield good objective data by comparing the three maps, since color intensity had a different scale on each map.

This quarter has been a real learning experience. Since I am but a freshman, Geography 7 was not only a class that represented my first delving into GIS, but my first journey into the college experience. Before this class, whenever I saw a thematic map that would require the kind of thinking, data acquisition and data manipulation techniques that I learned in this class, I did not think much of it. I would glance at it and move on quickly. Now, however, I know better. I know now how to gather information from it quickly as well as question its subjectivity, among other things. If I had to choose any one reason why I am glad that I took this class, it is because it showed me that the possibilities of GIS are absolutely endless.