SCALE, SCALE MODELS,AND SKELETONS

KellerAPHG 2011

SCALE:a comparison of distances on a map to distances on the earthMETHODS OF PORTRAYING SCALE ON A MAP: Graphic Scale = scale bar Verbal Scale = written statement Fractional Scale = representative fraction

What kind of scale?One inch to 5 milesVerbal scale

What kind of scale?1:316,800 or 1/316,800Fractional Scale

What kind of scale?Graphic Scale

Scale: One of the map essentials!

When scale is not shown on a map Beware!

The Week Magazine, July 4-11, 2008

These mushroom spores are too small to see, so we put them under a MICROSCOPE. When we can see them, we can study them.

This planet is too big to see,so we put it under a MACROSCOPE.When we can see it, we can study it.

Some things are very tiny, and we must use complex electric and optical means (e.g., a microscope) to enlarge them so as to understand their configuration and structural relationships. In contrast, geographical things are so extensive that we must somehow reduce them to bring them into view.- Arthur Robinson, cartographer

We need to use our . . .

MAPS as MACROSCOPES. . .

to help us think critically about problems and problem spots on the world stage.

Scale is Critical to Critical ThinkingUsing reason to decide what to believe or do. Assessing the authenticity, accuracy, or worth of knowledge claims and arguments. Applying careful, precise, persistent and objective analysis of any knowledge claim or belief to judge its validity.

Format of Many pre-1914 German School Atlases

Comparative Size of Germany and USA in 1914

ETHNIC CONFLICT AND THE CONCEPT OF SCALE

Ethnic conflicts abound on the world political map. To understand them, we use a set of concepts: minorities majorities

We count and we quantify. Because we quantify we think our analysis is objective.Because we are objective, we reach unbiased conclusions.

What is a minority?the smaller in number of two groups constituting a whole- Merriam-Webster OnLineDjiboutis Ethnic Composition:Somali 60%Afar 35%

SERENDIBCEYLONSRI LANKA

Sri Lanka

Formerly Ceylon, now an island Republic in the Indian Ocean just southeast of India

A British colony since 1796 became independent in 1948

Marked by hostility among its ethnic groups

With about three-quarters of the population, what ethnic group in Sri Lanka is in the majority? Moors Sinhalese Tamils Burghers

SINHALESELanguage =Religion =SinhalaBuddhist

With about one-fifth of the population, what ethnic group in Sri Lanka comprises the largest minority? Moors Sinhalese Tamils Burghers

TAMILSLanguage =Religion =TamilHindu

U.S. News and World Report:August 8, 1983Headline: Sri Lankas Racial Riots Could Cost It Dearly

New York Times: November 7, 2006Headline: Kidnappings Return to Haunt Long Ethnic War in Sri Lanka

Lion Kingdom of KandySinhaleseGreen MuslimOrange - TamilLeaves from Pipul treeAre Buddhist symbols

Sri Lanka: 4 million TamilsSri Lanka:15 million SinhaleseEthnic comes from the Greek word ethnos meaning nation or life way. Yet, in our current lexicon we use it not as a synonym for national, but almost as an affront. Within nations exist ethnic minorities.

Ethnic Geography:Whos the minority?

Sri Lanka: 4 million TamilsSri Lanka:15 million SinhaleseIndia:63 million TamilsIndia:no Sinhalese

Religious Geography:Sri Lanka: 4 million HindusSri Lanka: 15 million Buddhists

India:800 million HindusIndia:very few Buddhists

The Buddhist Realm: Sri Lanka:15 million BuddhistsLadakh (Ind.) 200,000 BuddhistsBhutan2 million BuddhistsTibet3 million BuddhistsMyanmar50 million BuddhistsThailand60 million BuddhistsChinaBuddhist?

Pattern Probing Using ScaleIf we are close, Then, we see lots of detail, but may not recognize overall patterns.If we are far away, Then we miss lots of detail, but recognize overall patterns.

Most issues can be researched at multiple scales.- Darren Purcell, editorTHINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY!

How does the use of a macroscope change your view of the following islands?

Ireland: Whos the minority? Catholics or Protestants?

Cyprus:Whos the minority? Greeks or Turks?

Timor:Whos the minority? Muslims or Christians?

Use your macroscopes to help you understand trouble spots on the world political map.

*Professional Development Night, AP ReadingsEmail: dzeigler@odu.edu*Scale gives us a concept for creating a model of the earth in either three dimensions (a globe) or two dimensions (a map). *One inch on the map equals five miles on the surface of the earth. Note the different units: inch vs. mile.*Expressed as a ratio (:) and as a fraction (/): both are fractional scales or Representative Fractions (R.F.). No unit of measurement is shown because the unit can be anything. If it is inches, then the statement is read this way: One inch on the map equals 316,800 inches on the surface of the earth.*Excellent for computer maps because the scale changes with the size of the map on the computer screen. *A typical textbook illustration showing how maps vary in scale, in the proportion of the earths surface they are able to show on a single page. What two different methods are used to portray scale on these maps? But only one of the two methods of portraying scale on these maps is accurate the graphic scale.*Would you agree that the same map is shown at two different scales? If so, the fractional scale on each map cannot be correct for both maps. In fact, it is correct for neither (it was correct for the size of the map that appeared in the text which carried this illustration.)*What is missing? Any reference to map scale. Here are three maps in one all produced at a different scale. Yet, a scale is shown on none of them.*An advertisement (Conde Nast Traveler) from 2007. When scale is not shown on a map beware! On this map, Peru has clipped off Alaska so as not to show the Pacific Ocean at scale. The Japanese are wealthy enough to be world tourists (and they have historical connections with Peru). Their trip across the Pacific to Peru seems only as long as Europeans trip across the Atlantic.*Advertisement 2004*Western Samoa The Cradle of Polynesia 1995 How could there be a reference to scale on this map. Samoa is made to look larger than the USA. There are other problems, too: directional relationships are not true.*Western Samoa The Heart of Polynesia 1995 A pattern develops, lieing with scale (lieing with maps) is something that all small island nations do. Here is the second example from Western Samoa.*The Fiji Islands 1996 travel brochure. Not just Samoa distorts scale to increase its gravity on the world travel map, so does Fiji (in this case, the companies that serve Fijis tourist market).*Did we drift off into plate tectonic theory? What scale has been used to show the Atlantic Ocean?*National Geographic magazine, 1968. A good example of what happens to scale under the influence of time-space compression. Here we literally see compression on the map.*Maps are often used to change perceptions. What is the scale of this map of the U.S.? What do we mean by perceptual scale? An entire genre of postcards is built around scale manipulations.*How do we bring things that are too small up to a size that we can see and comprehend? We enlarge them with a microscope*What is the problem that all geographers face? We study things that are too large for us to understand, so we need to put them under a macroscope.*Microscope vs. macroscope. Arthur Robinson was among the foremost American cartographers of his age (born in 1915 and died in 2004). In this quote, he captures the diea of scale as meta-concept.*Principle: We choose a scale to fit the task. Satellite image of the division between Europe and Asia. Is this the best map to use to show the site of Istanbul? No, but it helps us to understand the situation of Istanbul.*Which one of these is the best for examining the site of Istanbul? One is a radar image, the other an aerial photograph.*Draw back farther and you can see the real importance of Istanbul. It occupies the only place in Eurasia where you can pass through the east-west mountain barrier that separates subtropical Europe from nothern Europe.*We should put problem spots on the world stage under macroscopes that show them at various scales. *Knoxville TN, abandoned store front,1995*Critical thinking is about deciding what to believe. By assessing a claims accuracy.*Used in German schools before World War I. Note the use of the fractional scale. Why do you think the fractional scale was used instead of a graphic scale? The fractional scale is not as intuitive and not easy to read. The US and Germany look to be about the same size.*If we maintain the same scale for both countries, this is how they compare in size.**Minority = less than half. Majority = more than half. Before we know what group is in the majority or minority, we must know how the whole is being defined. *The geographers concept of scale forces us to think critically about minorities and majorities and their relationship to power. Who is the minority in Djibouti? The Afar. But remember, we have bounded the system with the international boundaries to give us that answer.

*The Arab name for Sri Lanka was Serendib, from which we get the word serendipity. Ceylon comes from the word which the Portuguese used for the island -- Ceilao. After 1972, the island came to be officially known as Sri Lanka. Lanka means island is Sanskrit.*Can you locate Sri Lanka? Picture taken in Branford, Connecticut (see the tree branch in background). No scale on this globe! Sri Lanka is slightly larger than West Virginia. Population of about 20 million.*Information quoted from The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. What should everyone know about Sri Lanka? True literacy depends on a knowledge of the specific information that is taken for granted in our public discourse. E. D. Hirsch, Jr. (p. xi)*Moors are the Muslims of Sri Lanka, about 7% of the population; most speak Tamil. They live largely in urban areas and in the east. Burghers are those of European descent British, Dutch, Portuguese. The answer is Sinhalese.*Sinhala = Indo-Aryan Branch of the Indo-Aryan Languages*Moors are the Muslims of Sri Lanka, about 7% of the population; most speak Tamil. They live largely in urban areas and in the east. Burghers are those of European descent British, Dutch, Portuguese. The answer is Sinhalese.*A few Tamils are Christians. In central Sri Lanka there is a community of Tamils who were brought from India by the British after 1850 to work the plantations these Tamils were disenfranchised under the Citizenship Laws of 1948-49. Tamil did not become an official language until 1987, Upon independence, the Tamils wanted Sri Lanka to declare two official languages*Same headlines: 1983 and 2006!*In 1948, an early variant of this flag (without the green and orange stripes) became the national flag. The lion was the symbol of the Sinhalese Kingdom of Kandy. The stripes were added in 1951 to represent Muslim and Tamil communities, respectively. The leaves from the pipul tree are also Buddhist symbols. Orient vertically and you almost have a map of Sri Lanka.*Here is the island of Sri Lanka, looking very much unified. A map such as this encourages us to think that people who live in Sri Lanka are Sri Lankans. We think of all independent states today as nation-states, but how well does Sri Lanka hang together? Ethnic comes from the Greek word ethnos meaning nation or life way. Yet, in our current lexicon we use it not as a synonym for national, but almost as an affront. Within nations exist ethnic minorities. Here we have taken a base map and superimposed upon it a layer of thematic information. One state has become two: Sri Lanka, home of the majority Sinhalese, and Tamil Eelam, home of the minority Tamils. Two nations share, rather uneasily, one state.*The flag of Sri Lanka becomes a map. Look at the similarities. Are minority/majority relationships displayed on the flag? Does the flag suggest a divided island or a united island? What symbolism lies behind the sword? Who is the minority? Focus on Tamil Eelam, the Hindu area.*Are the Tamils a minority? If we focus on the island, the answer must be yes. But lets focus a little closer. On the map above, are the Tamils are minority or majority. Major principle that geographers bring to the table of critical thinking: The definition of majority-minority always depends on where you bound the system.*Ethnic comes from the Greek word ethnos meaning nation or life way. Yet, in our current lexicon we use it not as a synonym for national, but almost as an affront. Within nations exist ethnic minorities. *Lets bound the system this way. Who is in the minority position now? *Indias Tamils live mostly in the south. The closest state to Sri Lanka is Tamil Nadu.*Lets look at religion in the context of South Asia. We have run out of Sinhalese and we have run out of Tamils, but we have not run out of their religions, Buddhism and Hinduism.*Some data to go with the previous map. What religion is in the majority in India? In Sri Lanka? Now who is in the minority?**The Buddhists are a minority in South Asia. In other parts of Asia, there are more Buddhist. But now apply core and periphery to the map. Whos on the periphery? (Ladakh is province in northern India.)**These complementary statements are set up in a theoretical structure: If.Then.*This publication is available from College Board. Theme: Scale.*All three are hot spots on the world political map. *Maps = macroscopes