Lab #3: My Google Map "Tour of Athens, Greece"

View Tour of Athens, Greece in a larger map





This summer, I traveled to Greece. Our first stop was Athens. I was initially very excited about going to Athens, because I knew a little about the history so it seemed as though it would be quite a site. However, when I arrived at the hotel, I was a little disappointed; it wasn't as fascinating as I had thought. But once I began to explore the area and after making my way to the more touristy parts of the city, I realized that it really was an amazing city. There is a lot of walking in Greece, so using Google Maps I created a map that includes several "hot spots" in Athens.

Initially, it was difficult to map my route. I wanted to share the nice shops and amazing restaurants in Athens. The main issue I had while creating the map was that it was all in Greek! Of course, I remember the names of a lot of the places where I went, but it was hard to locate them amidst the many other locations that the map shows, so this was definitely one of the pitfalls. What was even more difficult was trying to pinpoint the location of places in areas where they didn't necessarily have a building. For example, on my map I marked a gyro shop. This was difficult to pinpoint because it is located in a shopping district. So it helped to know the overall location of the shopping district, but it was difficult to mark the exact location of the gyro shop. However, there was a plus side to using neogeography and that was that I was able to include a picture along with my marker. I'm sure not everyone knows what a gyro is (Greek "taco"), so it was helpful to be able to include a picture. Therefore, neogeography has much potential, because through the media attachments it helps to make sense of these places and the things you can find within them.

Lastly, I realized that one of the major consequences of neogeography is its power to not only locate places but the power of making sense of these places for others as well. I don't think I could have better explained to someone how to get from their hotel to the Parthenon. More importantly, I wouldn't have been able to direct them in a way so that they, too, could have the same walking tour experience that I had.

Lab # 2

1.      What is the name of the quadrangle?

Beverly Hills Quadrangle

2.      What are the names of the adjacent quadrangles?

Canoga Park, Van Nuys, Burbank, Topanga Park, Hollywood, Venice, Inglewood

3.      When was the quadrangle first created?

1966

4.       What datum was used to create your map?

Vertical datum: National Geodetic Vertical Datum

Horizontal datum: North American Datum of 1927  

5.      What is the scale of the map?

1: 24,000

6.      At the above scale, answer the following:

a.      5 centimeters on the map is equivalent to how many meters on the ground?

b.      5 inches on the map is equivalent to how many miles on the ground? Convert from inches to miles

c.       one mile on the ground is equivalent to how many inches on the map? Convert from miles to inches

d.      three kilometers on the ground is equivalent to how many centimeters on the map? Convert from Kilometers to centimeters

7. What is the contour interval on your map?

            20 ft.

8. What are the approximate geographic coordinates in both degrees/minutes/seconds and decimal degrees of:

a)      the Public Affairs Building: 118̊ 26’ 20”

b)     the tip of Santa Monica pier:

c)      the Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir:  

9. What is the approximate elevation in both feet and meters of:

a)                  Greystone Mansion (in Greystone Park): 570ft. or 173.78 meters

b)                 Woodlawn Cemetery: 150 ft. or 45.73 meters

c)                  Crestwood Hills Park: 720ft. or 219.512 meters

10. What is the UTM zone of the map?

            Zone 11

           

11. What are the UTM coordinates for the lower left corner of your map?

            ³61.5 Easting

12. How many square meters are contained within each cell (square) of the UTM gridlines?

            1,000

13. Obtain elevation measurements, from west to east along the UTM northing 3771000, where the eastings of the UTM grid intersect the northing. Create an elevation profile using these measurements in Excel (hint: create a line chart). Figure out how to label the elevation values to the two measurements on campus. Insert your elevation profile as a graphic in your blog.

14. What is the magnetic declination of the map?

            +14̊ , -48’

15. In which direction does water flow in the intermittent stream between the 405 freeway and Stone Canyon Reservoir?

            Southward

16. Crop out (i.e., cut and paste) UCLA from the map and include it as a graphic on your blog.