Atlas of Canada
Encyclopedia
The Atlas of Canada is an Internet
atlas
published by Natural Resources Canada
that has information on every city
, town
, village
, and hamlet
in Canada
. It was originally a print atlas, with its first edition being published in 1906 by geographer James White
and a team of twenty cartographers.
Similar to the Statistics Canada
website, the Natural Resources Canada site offers a wide range of free download-able data through the linked site Geo Gratis. The Atlas of Canada has been around since 1906 and offers maps on the natural environment
, people and society, the economy
, history
, climate change
, freshwater
and health
, as well as reference, archival and topographic maps. Also available through the Atlas of Canada website is the Learning Resources tab, which provides interactive and non-interactive lesson plans for grades as low as 6 and as high as 12. In cartography many scholars are interested in how information or phenomenon
from the real world can be better represented on a map . The key word being re-present, since maps bring to life a situation that has already occurred in the past to the present. The Atlas of Canada complies with cartography
in that it is targeted toward educating youths in elementary and high school, which would develop their cognitive representation skills. Although there are some aspects of the website that can be improved upon. These are mostly fine details, but some times the smallest changes make the largest impacts and part of growing and developing a better functioning education tool requires improvements.
Pro - Downs and Liben, 1988 write about maps being opaque and it requires skills, which are taught before they can be read and understand properly. They believe that something that does not have prior context has to be learned because without cognitive representations misinterpretations of maps is easily done. The Online Atlas of Canada supports this really well by providing numerous lessons plans under its Learning Resources tab
Con - The Atlas of Canada is largely promoted as a learning tool for students to become more knowledgeable in GIS, poor colors used in their thematic maps could be influencing bad practices . Some of the sites thematic maps have unsatisfying color schemes based on the fact that the colors are too close in richness, making it difficult to decipher one color from the color above or below it. One of the ways Harrower and Brewer suggest to combat this issue is to utilize an online tool called the ColourBrewer, which assists map makers in picking the best suitable colours.
It can be used in much the same way as Google Earth
or Mapquest
. Much of the geospatial data is also freely available for download and non-commercial re-use, from the Atlas of Canada site or from GeoGratis. Information used to develop the Atlas of Canada is also used in conjunction with American
and Mexican
information to produce collaborative continental-scale tools such as the North American Environmental Atlas
.
In addition, it contains statistical and historical information regarding:
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
atlas
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a map of Earth or a region of Earth, but there are atlases of the other planets in the Solar System. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats...
published by Natural Resources Canada
Natural Resources Canada
The Department of Natural Resources , operating under the FIP applied title Natural Resources Canada , is the ministry of the government of Canada responsible for natural resources, energy, minerals and metals, forests, earth sciences, mapping and remote sensing...
that has information on every city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
, town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
, village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
, and hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It was originally a print atlas, with its first edition being published in 1906 by geographer James White
James White (geographer)
James White was a Canadian geographer. White studied geology at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. In 1883, he became the Geographer and Chief Draftsman for the Geological Survey of Canada...
and a team of twenty cartographers.
Similar to the Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada is the Canadian federal government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. Its headquarters is in Ottawa....
website, the Natural Resources Canada site offers a wide range of free download-able data through the linked site Geo Gratis. The Atlas of Canada has been around since 1906 and offers maps on the natural environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
, people and society, the economy
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
, freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
and health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
, as well as reference, archival and topographic maps. Also available through the Atlas of Canada website is the Learning Resources tab, which provides interactive and non-interactive lesson plans for grades as low as 6 and as high as 12. In cartography many scholars are interested in how information or phenomenon
Phenomenon
A phenomenon , plural phenomena, is any observable occurrence. Phenomena are often, but not always, understood as 'appearances' or 'experiences'...
from the real world can be better represented on a map . The key word being re-present, since maps bring to life a situation that has already occurred in the past to the present. The Atlas of Canada complies with cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
in that it is targeted toward educating youths in elementary and high school, which would develop their cognitive representation skills. Although there are some aspects of the website that can be improved upon. These are mostly fine details, but some times the smallest changes make the largest impacts and part of growing and developing a better functioning education tool requires improvements.
Pro - Downs and Liben, 1988 write about maps being opaque and it requires skills, which are taught before they can be read and understand properly. They believe that something that does not have prior context has to be learned because without cognitive representations misinterpretations of maps is easily done. The Online Atlas of Canada supports this really well by providing numerous lessons plans under its Learning Resources tab
Con - The Atlas of Canada is largely promoted as a learning tool for students to become more knowledgeable in GIS, poor colors used in their thematic maps could be influencing bad practices . Some of the sites thematic maps have unsatisfying color schemes based on the fact that the colors are too close in richness, making it difficult to decipher one color from the color above or below it. One of the ways Harrower and Brewer suggest to combat this issue is to utilize an online tool called the ColourBrewer, which assists map makers in picking the best suitable colours.
It can be used in much the same way as Google Earth
Google Earth
Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...
or Mapquest
MapQuest
MapQuest is an American free online web mapping service owned by AOL. The company was founded in 1967 as Cartographic Services, a division of R.R. Donnelley & Sons in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1969. When it became an independent company in 1994, it was...
. Much of the geospatial data is also freely available for download and non-commercial re-use, from the Atlas of Canada site or from GeoGratis. Information used to develop the Atlas of Canada is also used in conjunction with American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
information to produce collaborative continental-scale tools such as the North American Environmental Atlas
North American Environmental Atlas
The North American Environmental Atlas is an interactive mapping tool created through a partnership of government agencies in Canada, Mexico and the United States, along with the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, a trilateral international organization created under the North American...
.
In addition, it contains statistical and historical information regarding:
- Bathymetric Areas
- Coastline and Shoreline
- Glaciers
- Land and Freshwater Areas
- Lakes
- Mountains
- National Parks
- Parks and Environment
- Rivers
- Sea Islands
- Waterfalls
- Weather