Group 6 World Heritage Sites

                                                          World Heritage Sites
                                                            Group 6 – Europe
Of the 962 World Heritage sites designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Culture Organization (UNESCO), the “European group: was responsible for identifying and analyzing characteristics of 12 World Heritage sites. World Heritage Sites are natural or cultural locations that UNESCO classifies as having special cultural or physical significance. Our group was responsible for 12 European Sites which included: the Orto Botanico di Padova, Italy; the historic city of Trogir, Croatia; Canal du Midi, France; Delphi, Greece; Isle of Surtsey, Iceland; Srebarna Nature Reserve, Bulgaria; City of Bath, England; Kronborg Castle, Denmark; the Gran Dolina, Spain; the Garden Kingdom of Dessau- Wörlitz, Germany; Western Caucasus, Russian Federation; and the Blenheim Palace, England. This group was led online through the University of West Florida GIS program.  Each member was tasked to create a world heritage site map of an assigned location with a description of the site, a photograph of the location, and URL where users can find more information. The maps were shared amongst the group using ArcGIS Online web-maps, and combined they create a map gallery of the 12 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Europe. These maps can be used to share in-depth knowledge and external resources about UNESCO World Heritage sites. Additionally, the group was broken down into separate teams in order to focus our strengths to complete the project. Jobs included gathering resources, creating an introductory paragraph, correspondence, generating a group summary, and a group leader. By working in a group, students gained experience of collaborating in a team environment along with expanding their GIS knowledge.

ArcGIS Online Group Link: http://www.arcgis.com/home/group.html?owner=ntoscano&title=UWF%20GIS%20Group%206%20World%20Heritage%20Site%20Zone%20Europe         

                                                                                            
Map Gallery Preview:
 

 

Closing Remarks:
 This exercise was an interesting project for each of us, it demonstrated the many challenges of group cooperation and communication when using online tools, and paved the way for future collaboration. This lesson also presented an opportunity to learn about sites steeped in cultural history that many of us had never heard of before.

Resources for Group 6 EUROPE

Main Resources:
The two main sites utilized by all participating group members provided location information, historical material, and additional access to photos.

• UNESCO, accessed Feb 16, 2013, http://whc.unesco.org.
This website contains information and reference map of all the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

• Wikipedia, accessed Feb 16, 2013, http://www.wikipedia.org.
Wikipedia contains crowd sourced information on all of the World Heritage Sites. Much of the information is sourced and it provides an excellent starting point for further research.

Unique Individual Resources:
Below are resources utilized by the members for their assigned World Heritage Site.

• “Delphi Archaeological Site”, ancient-greece.org, accessed 19 Feb 2013,  http://www.ancient-greece.org/archaeology/delphi-archaeology.html

• “Botanical Garden of Padova,” Universita Degli Studi Di Padova, accessed 20 Feb 2013, http://www.ortobotanico.unipd.it/en/index.html

• “Canal du Midi HD,” Jack Johanson, posted to YouTube 4 Feb 2009, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1zT3DA-8uo

• “The French Midi Canal,” Philippe Calas, Apr 2005, http://www.midicanal.fr/

• “Kronborg Castle,” Agency for Palaces and Cultural Properties, accessed 20 Feb 2013, http://www.kronborgcastle.com/

• “Kronborg Castle,” World Heritage Site, accessed 20 Feb 2013, http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/kronborgcastle.html

• “History of Bath,” Mother Earth Travel, accessed 20 Feb 2013, http://motherearthtravel.com/united_kingdom/bath/history.htm

• “The Royal Crescent in Bath,” Pictures of England, accessed 20 Feb 2013, http://www.picturesofengland.com/England/Somerset/Bath/article/1044

• “Royal Crescent,” Wikipedia, accessed 20 Feb 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Crescent

• “Western Caucasus, Russian Federation,” Encyclopedia of Earth, accessed 20 Feb 2013, http://www.eoearth.org/article/Western_Caucasus,_Russian_Federation

• “Welcome to Trogir – Croatia,” Troigir, accessed 20 Feb 2013, http://www.trogironline.com/

Data Search Maps

The above maps were created for My Intro to GIS course. We were assigned a specific county in Florida and required to gather data from various online sites. After the appropriate data was obtained I chose to display the data using three maps.

Choropleth Maps

 

These two maps were created for my Cartography course. they were created using ArcMap, then imported to Adobe Illustrator.  Starting with a basic map of the U.S. and an excel spreadsheet containing data from the U.S. Census Bureau, I chose the Natural Breaks method of data classification on the color map to display change in population growth by state.  The second map was done in grey scale and the data was presented by U.S. Census Bureau divisions using the Quantiles method of data classification.

Projection Part 2 Map

This was by far the most challenging map I have created to date.  This map was created in Intro to GIS.  Data was gathered from different on-line sites.  Much of the data either needed to be defined in a projection, or had a projection defined and needed to be re-projected to the appropriate projection used on this map.  Although challenging it was also rewarding to finally work out all the issues and produce the end product.

Marathon, Florida

This map was created in Adobe Illustrator for the Typographic and Labeling lab of my Cartographic Skills course.  We were given a list of islands, bodies of water, cities, and park and city features. After determining the actual location of the features they were labeled using the typographic and labeling guidelines covered in this weeks module.

Percent of Hispanic population in Southern Florida

This map was designed using Adobe Illustrator.  It incorporates (or should) design principles such as visual hierarchy, visual balance, and figure-ground differentiation. I found this to be a very challenging assignment as I really do not have an "eye" for design. However,  it is something I need to become more comfortable with if I'm to succeed in this course.

Comparison of Map Projection Project

This is a map depicting three map projections of the same data. The differences can be noted by the change of square miles within four counties in Florida.

Assignment Screen Shots

Creating and Sharing Map Packages Using ArcGIS Online

I recently completed an assignment in my Intro to GIS course where I created and shared maps using ArcGIS online.  First I created and registered an ESRI Global account. After creating my account, I spent some getting familiar with the site.  I was given instructions on  how to access two of the sites virtual campus courses, "Authoring Web Maps Using ArcGIS Online" and "Creating and Sharing Map Packages for 10.1".  For the first course I was only required to watch two short videos that would provide help with my assignment for the second course.  For the second course  "Creating and Sharing Map Packages for 10.1" I first viewed two more videos and read two section that proved helpful as I began two mapping exercises.  The first exercise "Use and Modify map and tile packages" I created and shared a map of crags and Points of interest in Yosemite National Park. This was basically just sharing I did not really create anything that was not already included in what I downloaded.  The second exercise "Optimize a map package" build on what I learned in the first exercise. In this exercise I created a map of an area in Aquirre Springs NM, in which a study of trees in a drainage area was taking place. This time I manipulated of the elements of the map, such as scale, and symbology, and made some decisions as to what layers were included and which were not.
Although I had not previously used this program the instruction were very easy to follow, and even though at times I was outside my comfort zone I was still able to complete the assignment with few problems. I have included screen shots of my assignment.