Cartography Final

The participation rates of high school students for each state aligned with the state’s SAT average, for 2009.  The data show participation rate in the SAT is low in the mid-west and heaviest on the East Coast.  High participation appears correlated with lower average scores

Our final cartography project involved presenting two sets of data on a single map.  The biggest challenge was to choose the best means to combine these two types of data in a way that meaningfully communicated the result. I chose a choropleth map of state participation rates as the base.  Then I added graduated symbols to represent the mean scores.  The biggest chore was dealing with all the labeling for the various combinations of large/small states and large/small symbols.  In the end, I'm pretty happy with the result, the colors, and the overall message that can be derived by studying the map.

Thanks for the class everyone!