Friday, 22 June 2012

Research plan.

After briefly researching my theme of Florida generally I have begun to narrow down my direction with the researching even further into 3 main interlinked categories. I aim to look at all the information that relates to the categories stated below to understand a breadth of knowledge about the place and what I personally feel are its main aspects and where my interests from this. Thinking ahead to the design element, and also of the idea of an interlinking exploration described on the brief, I have begun to think of suitable ways to interlink some of the research areas into a suitable visual display of there impact on one another. Obviously this is just my first idea and may change as I explore my categories and interests further over the coming weeks.


I have also looked at areas where I can gather source material from and the types that could be possibly available linked to my overall theme of Florida using the other grids provided to us in the summer briefing.


An overview of Florida.

Google maps



"The Sunshine State" is Florida's official state nickname because of the many sunny days in Florida. It was adopted by the 1970 Legislature. Florida was admitted to the U.S. as a State on March 3, 1845 as the 27th state.


Florida actually means "full (or feast) of flowers" named by explorer Ponce de Leon  because of all the flowers he saw when he landed here in 1513.  Florida's semi-tropical climate allows it to have year-round flowers and lush vegetation.




State Abbreviation                                            FL
State Capital                                                     Tallahassee
Largest City                                                      Jacksonville
Area (Square Miles)                                           Total Area- 58,560, Land Area- 54,252 , Total Water Area- 4,308
Population                                                        15,982,378 (2000 Census) 4th after California, Texas and New York
Major Industries                                                tourism, agriculture, electronics
Natural Highest Point                                        Lakewood  345 feet above sea level in Walton County
Geographic Center                                            12 miles northwest of Brooksville, Hernando County
Bordering States                                               Georgia, Alabama
Bordering Bodies of Water                                Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico
Coastline                                                          1,197 Statute Miles
Beaches                                                            663 Miles
Rivers, Streams & Waterways                            11,000 miles
Longest River                                                   St. Johns at 273 miles
Largest Lake                                                     Lake Okeechobee at 700 square miles (2nd largest in U.S.)
# of Lakes greater than 10 acres                        Approx. 7,700
# of First Magnitude Springs                             27 (more than any other state)
# of Islands Greater than 10 Acres                     Approx. 4,500
Number of Counties                                          67 Counties
Largest County                                                 Palm Beach at 2,578 square miles
Smallest County                                               Union at 245 square miles
Hurricane Season                                             June 1 - November 30
Annual Summer Temps                                    80.5(F) North Florida / 82.7(F) South Florida 
Annual Winter Temps                                       53.0(F) North Florida / 68.5(F) South Florida 
Form of Government                                         Governor and independent cabinet consisting of Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer, Commissioner of Agriculture.
Legislature                                                        120 House Districts, 40 Senate Districts, 23 Congressional Districts
State Sales Tax                                                 6%
Corporate Tax                                                   5.5%
State Income Tax                                              None
Number of major Commercial Airports             20
Number of International Airports                       12
Number of Deepwater Ports                              14 with Offering Cargo and Cruise Ships
Number of golf courses                                    1,250 + (more than any other state)
Education                                                         67 School Districts, one for each Florida County
Points of Interest                                              Walt Disney World, EPCOT Center, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Everglades National Park, Busch Gardens, Key West, Sea World, Ormond-Daytona Beach, Universal Studios Florida



Sunday, 17 June 2012

Starting point.

To begin with I started to think about a general overview of topics that I already had some interest in and that could possibly be used as an interesting starting point. To do this I used the sheet provided to us in the summer briefing.



From looking at this I can see that there are various subjects that inter link with each other and could provide a sustained and interesting wealth of research. On of the main overall ones was within the theme of places and this was the subject of Florida.
Within in this overall theme there are various areas and subjects to explore that all interlink and that also link to other themes given in the three lists. I felt that this is a good starting point as I would have much personal interest in the topics as I have already had many good childhood memories and experiences whilst visiting the place. It is also a broad subject to investigate initially then easily able to narrow down.
So from this I have started to think of the aspects of Florida that interlink with this and each other, that could then be a possible way forward for research.

Disney world (place)

  • Individual theme parks within (place) 
  • Firework displays (event)- fireworks (useful inventions) 
  • Parades (events)
  • Roller coasters  (useful inventions/functional items) 
  • Monorail (useful inventions/functional items) 
  • Stereotypical holiday maker  (cultural identities)
  • America culture- money- food- food companies linked to enterprise- Coca Cola (cultural identities)
  • Disney enterprise- Walter Disney (people)- Mickey Mouse- animation films- animation technology (useful inventions) 
  • Pixar animation- 3D animation (useful inventions)- Steve Jobs (people)- Apple products (desirable objects) 
Universal studios (place)
  • Animation (useful inventions)
  • Warner Brothers- Scooby-doo- Harry Potter franchise- J.K Rowling (people)
  • Roller coasters  (useful inventions/functional items)
  • Restaurants- Hard rock cafe (places) - Rock memorabilia 
Beaches (place)
  • Nightlife- clubs (events/places)
  • Weather- Sunshine state- high temperatures- lightening- hurricane season
  • Sea (places)- sea life near American coasts 
Everglades (place)
  • Wildlife- dangerous animals- crocodiles- swamps

Kennedy Space Centre (place)
  • Space travel- astronauts (people)- space technology- discoveries (useful inventions)
Travel
  • Aeroplanes (useful inventions/ functional items) - Air crashes- Airports (places)- Travel companies- Virgin holidays- Richard Branson (people)
  • Interstate 4 (places)- American road signs
Oranges

  • Tropicana brand- Drink/carton packaging 

Summer Brief- 'A History of...'