Local kids learn about maps and foreign countries during the University of Redlands Kids Geography Camp
By Chantal M. Lovell, Staff Writer
Geography lessons at the University of Redlands are more hands-on than one might imagine.
The university hosted and co-sponsored its annual day camp Thursday, where fourth- and fifth-grade children came to explore Google Earth and learn about maps and other countries.
“It’s a geography kids camp,” said UR professor and camp teacher Carol Franklin. “We started out local and they drew their community, then we went on Google Earth. We looked at California geography, U.S. geography, and world geography. It’s to help students understand geography.”
Students from Lugonia Elementary School and 21 children of faculty members participated in the day-long event. Each was assigned a different country, which they proudly displayed on personalized shirts reading on the back “Ask me about (country).”
“A lot of these kids don’t have a lot of other activities to do during the summer,” said Diana Sinton, director of Spatial Curriculum and Research at UR. “It’s a great opportunity to teach them in different ways about the different levels of geography.”
Kids began the day learning how to read maps and locate important points like the state Capitol. They also created a map of their community.
“(The camp was) very, very hands on,” Sinton said. “They got to work with the compass, and appreciate maps not only as a two dimensional piece of paper.”
After the lesson in maps, the students received a lesson on Google Earthnd had the chance to explore the program, looking up places including their homes and schools.
They also researched their assigned country, using the information to create a movie. Each student received a USB drive with information about their country and several kid-friendly Web sites like National Geographic Kids.
“My country was Australia and I learned that it has the greatest number of reptiles, more than any other country, with 775 native species,” said 9-year-old Taylor Gonzales of Highland.
In her movie, she included Australia’s national anthem, its Capitol city, background music, and pictures. Other movies included the location of the country, its border countries, and information unique to that country.
“Columbus came from Spain,” said Nathan Luchs, 10, of Redlands. “I never knew that he came from Spain.”
“We also went outside and did a really cool thing with latitude and longitude,” Sinton said. “We had two ropes. One represented the equator and one represented the Prime Meridian. Each kid stood in their respective hemisphere.”
Sinton said that activity was good for students because it put the day’s two-dimensional paper activities in perspective. It helped them understand directions better and visualize the spatial locations of countries.
The day ended with parents coming to watch a slide show of the days events, listen to what the students learned, and watch the minute and a half videos of the countries. Each kid left with a goody bag, including a blow-up globe, compass, USB drive, and an atlas.
E-mail Staff Writer Chantal M. Lovell at clovell@redlandsdailyfacts.com
GIS to Understand Dance, and Vice Versa
When choreographer William Forsythe invited scientists from across all disciplines to investigate dance and choreography using their disciplinary lenses, it was not obvious that geography and spatial analysis could provide new insights. One of the goals was to make dance more accessible so that anyone, within a matter of seconds, would “get it,” and also to explore the possibilities for placing dance at the center of cross-disciplinary dialog and research. After exploring the spatiotemporal data that was generated from tracking each dancer with centimeter and millisecond (ms) precision, a group of geographers saw some familiar and some unfamiliar spatial patterns emerge. Now their findings and visual explanations and those of other researchers at The Ohio State University (OSU) are presented in a new Web project, Synchronous Objects for One Flat Thing, reproduced (synchronousobjects.osu.edu/content.html#/movementDensity), which Forsythe developed in collaboration with Ohio State’s Department of Dance and Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design.
The entire dance involved 17 dancers, and about 16 minutes of activity was recorded. The minute detail of the records, down to centimeter precision and temporal increments of 40 ms, resulted in a dataset of around half a million points.
Forsythe’s bold, contemporary works have revolutionized classical ballet for our time, and he is widely viewed as the greatest innovator in this field since George Balanchine. With the formation of the Forsythe Company, based in Germany, he continues to actively explore his multidisciplinary interests in new forms and new modes of presenting his work. His installations constitute progressive additions to his extensive oeuvre: installations for galleries and public spaces, video works, digital media, and publications. The Synchronous Objects project is part of his idea to allow the transformation of choreographic principles from one manifestation—a performance on the stage—to an array of other possibilities, including digital information, animation, and installations.
Researchers at Ohio State wanted to explore structures in the dance that were not apparent from watching the dance or might not even be known by the dancers and choreographer themselves. Starting with Forsythe’s ensemble dance One Flat Thing, reproduced as the research resource, a diverse team of collaborators from OSU’s Computer Science, Dance, Design, Philosophy, Geography, Statistics, and Architecture departments and schools sought to understand the complex structures of interaction in the dance through an array of creative tools, expressive animations, and information graphics. Among these, a team of geographers used ArcGIS software (through its ESRI university site license) to summarize and investigate the spatial patterns of dancers throughout the dance. The spatiotemporal data consisted of point records of each dancer’s location in three dimensions as well as a time stamp for each record. The entire dance involved 17 dancers, and about 16 minutes of activity was recorded. The minute detail of the records, down to centimeter precision and temporal increments of 40 milliseconds, resulted in a dataset of around half a million points.
The recorded positions of the dancers left a trace of points wherever they moved. To explore potential spatial patterns, the researchers used ArcGIS Spatial Analyst and generated density surfaces for each dancer. Density surfaces are created by superimposing a raster dataset onto the stage, essentially dividing the stage into many small areas represented by pixels, and counting how many points there are within each pixel or within a particular distance from each pixel. A graded color scheme was then added to represent the number of points counted in each area, and the variation in color across the stage informed the researchers about when and where dancers had moved.
By generating a series of density surfaces with 10-second increments, it was possible to create an animation of how the dance evolved through time, and patterns started to emerge as certain areas were used more than others by the dancers. Halfway through the dance, hot spots, or places that were most used by the dancers, showed up as intense, brown-red areas, and places with little activity remained in green shades. The most obvious pattern that emerged from watching the density surface was that most of the activity happened in the center of the stage, but researchers could also observe how the tables that were part of the stage set seemed to act as a structuring element in this dance. Many of the hot spots were located around the back side of the tables.
To further enrich the visual experience, researchers used the ArcGIS 3D Analyst extension to turn the final density surface into a topographic landscape where the number of points was used as elevation values, creating a dance landscape of mountains, peaks, and valleys. In this representation, sometimes referred to as a statistical surface, the hot spots are depicted as mountaintops or ridges, and the deep valleys and flatlands represent little or no dancer activity. Separate surfaces for each dancer were visualized using this technique through which differences in individual dancer patterns could be explored. These helped highlight distinct patterns where some dancers were very active across the entire dance floor, while others spent most of their time in only a few areas. Most of the animations were created directly in ArcGIS 3D Analyst and exported to movie files for use on the Web site. The Web site and associated blog will also be used as a continually evolving area for communicating and discussing new findings, thoughts, and uses of these objects as tools for communication, discovery, and teaching.
Source: http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/summer09articles/gis-to-understand.html
Internet use good for kids’ health
Youngsters should put down the gaming console and log onto Facebook to improve their wellbeing, an Australian study has found.
The study, which surveyed over 900 adolescents aged between 13 and 19, found that Victorian youngsters spend more than two hours watching television each day, followed by 35 minutes playing video games and nearly 20 minutes on the computer.
Those who played video games rather than using the computer showed poorer health and higher levels of psychological distress, and computer users showed slightly lower behaviour problems than non-users.
While games may stimulate aggressive behaviour and reduce social involvement, the study notes that surfing the net may, in fact, encourage social networks and improve mental health.
“E-mailing and instant messaging are an important means of communication and interaction… Boys who spent more time on the internet and doing homework reported a more active lifestyle and higher self-perceived social support to those who used the computer for playing games,” the report’s authors say in Academic Pediatrics.
Contrary to associations linking television use with obesity, TV was not linked with poorer health or wellbeing and was found to provide an avenue to educate and relax compared to video games.
“This study supports development of interventions to reduce high video game use and explore the possible role of computers in health enhancement,” the authors from the Centre for Community Health at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne conclude.
Read more here.
NLPG Underpins Pan-London eAdmissions Service for Schools
July 15, 2009 — The NLPG (National Land and Property Gazetteer) will provide the vital address intelligence behind the updated eAdmissions service for schools across London provided by the London Grid for Learning Trust (LGfL). The LGfL manages this public-facing school admissions service on behalf of the 33 London local authorities, and Surrey County Council. The service, which had previously attracted increasing numbers of parents as the preferred means of securing information, selecting schools, ordering preferences and making an on-line application, is scheduled to go live in September 2009.
This updated LGfL managed service will make it even easier for parents and carers to apply for school places and allows them to search for information and apply online for primary and secondary schools, and in some boroughs for nursery, junior and middle schools. The system only allows one application per child per borough but parents living close to a council border can make another application to the neighbouring borough should they so wish and apply right up to the closing date without having to rely on the post.
Because the new system uses the same NLPG address schema as used by the local authorities the applications can be read straight into their systems considerably reducing the time taken to process them and normally within 5 days. When the applications have been processed by the local authority the offer letters are sent out to parents and the applicant records on the eAdmissions site updated. Parents can then accept offers online and send any relevant documentation using the system.
“We are delighted to be using the NLPG,” said Shamaila Ahmedi, Pan London Admissions Business Operations Manager for LGfL. “The old eAdmissions system suffered from the lack of common address information which made it more difficult to match and process applications. Now we will receive a monthly update of the NLPG to ensure that the new system keeps in synch with the Local Authorities,” continued Shamaila.
Licensing of the NLPG for use by LGfL in the eAdmissions system was facilitated by the London Borough of Brent, as lead authority.
The NLPG is run on behalf of UK local government by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) with Intelligent Addressing (IA) as the national custodian.
National Geographic Society and ESRI Announce International GeoMentor Program
The newly established GeoMentor program was jointly announced by ESRI and the National Geographic Society (NGS) on Monday, July 13, 2009, during the Plenary Session of ESRI’s 29th annual International User Conference in San Diego.
The program will enlist people who use geographic information to help educators and students better understand its numerous applications. These GeoMentors adopt a classroom or afterschool program, helping both the teacher and students comprehend the many ways geography and geographic information systems (GIS) can help us better understand the interrelatedness of objects and events in our world.
Because people in many jobs rely on geography to analyze conditions and make decisions, GeoMentors can come from a variety of professions aside from the GIS professional, including police officers, social workers, taxi drivers, city planners, and farmers. Participants interested in becoming a GeoMentor should have a good understanding of geographic concepts and how they can be applied in everyday life, and be willing to share their knowledge with local teachers and their students.
Says Daniel C. Edelson, vice president for education, National Geographic Society, “The rate of geoliteracy in the United States—meaning the number of people who can synthesize geographic information from a variety of sources and draw a sound conclusion—is frighteningly low. If it is allowed to continue, the inability of most Americans to do even basic analysis of geographic information will have a profound impact on our ability to compete economically, maintain our security, and sustain our environment in coming decades. To help boost the numbers of geographically literate and proficient individuals, National Geographic and ESRI are teaming up on the GeoMentor program to pair those using geographic information in their work with teachers to bring a greater awareness of the use of geography into the classroom.”
Charlie Fitzpatrick, ESRI’s K–12 program manager, adds, “This program is an exciting addition to our educational efforts here at ESRI, particularly because of the opportunity to join forces with the National Geographic Society. Since ESRI deals with many thousands of practitioners of geography, and NGS deals with many thousands of educators, this unique collaboration between GIS users and educators could help youth throughout the world see the geographic patterns and relationships around them. This will allow them to understand the interactions of the world more clearly and make decisions about matters, large and small, with a better grasp of the inherent impacts.”
The GeoMentor Web site has tools for pairing mentors with educators, finding activities, acquiring resources from both the National Geographic Society and ESRI, and sharing stories. Additional details can be found at www.geomentor.org.
A Tucson Day Trip that lets the kids be National Geographic explorers
The television show National Geographic’s Explorer is probably one of the more exciting shows on cable. The host, Lisa Ling, takes viewers to exotic locales both above sea level and below. Do you have a little one who wants to become an Explorer in their own right? The Fairmont Resort Scottsdale is offering the opportunity this summer for the kids to do this at their National Geographic Explorer Camp.
The television show National Geographic's Explorer is probably one of the more exciting shows on cable. The host, Lisa Ling, takes viewers to exotic locales both above sea level and below. Do you have a little one who wants to become an Explorer in their own right? The Fairmont Resort Scottsdale is offering the opportunity this summer for the kids to do this at their National Geographic Explorer Camp. Begun last month and continuing on until Labor Day weekend, the
Begun last month and continuing on until Labor Day weekend, the Fairmont Scottsdale is hosting specialized camps Tuesdays through Sundays each week that last a full day or half day. The schedule changes daily so kids can take part in a number of activities. On the weekends, the camp will also host specialized speakers such as Dr. Kobe Boykins, a propulsion engineer from NASA, or Dr. Mireya Mayor, the scientist that discovered the world’s smallest primate in existence in Madagascar. Dr. Mayor is also one of the stars of National Geographic’s newest series, “Expedition: Africa”, Available at the resort’s website is a complete list of speakers.
Some of the camp activities offered will be:
Desert Discovery – children will be given the opportunity to take part in a treasure hunt complete with GPS units. Campers will have the chance to explore the grounds of the Fairmont Scottsdale, collecting clues along the way, to find camouflaged animals in the desert landscape. Tools provided are disappearing ink, magnifying glasses, measuring tape, mirrors and pedometers and the kids will learn more about the animals along the way.
Photo Safari – The campers will be introduced to point and shoot digital photography and given guided assignments. At the end of this camp, the kids will be given a CD of their photographs so they might remember their day for years to come.
Geo Bowl – Comparable to National Geography Bee, participants will be introduced to geography trivia in conjunction with stunning photography, which National Geographic is best known for.
Giant traveling maps – Each month, a gigantic map will be loaned to the resort for kids to climb on and see the regions of the world up close. The largest maps made are provided by National Geographic and can be as large as 31 feet feet wide and 41 feet long. Complete with topography, kids can learn while having fun.
There are many more activities planned, the Explorers camp is certain to engage the imagination of each child participating, enriching them in a way that’s both informative and entertaining.
Though you can certainly drop the kids off at the resort, the Fairmont Resort Scottsdale is offering a special weekend package at their location to correspond with this special program so why not take the kids to the camp while you have a romantic weekend with no kids? For more information and to print the sign up form, visit their website located here.
More information: http://www.examiner.com/x-6373-Tucson-Day-Trips-Examiner~y2009m6d27-A-Tucson-Day-Trip-that-lets-the-kids-be-National-Geographic-Explorers
