Geography Education in the US
Startling Fact: One in five young Americans (18-24 yrs) can not locate the United States on a map of the world!
“Geographic illiteracy impacts our economic well-being, our relationships with other nations and the environment, and isolates us from the world,” -National Geographic president John Fahey
Here are some activities for children that incorporate learning about geography from Educationworld.com
Map puzzles. Collect state and regional maps from around the United States. Cut selected pieces from those maps. (The size of the “piece” might vary depending on the grade you teach. In the middle elementary grades, the pieces might be about 2 inches square.) Students can use place names, natural features (lakes, rivers), and other clues on the map pieces to try to figure out which state each map piece is from. Students might do this activity in small groups. Each group might have copies of the same five map pieces. Which group can un-puzzle the map pieces first?
Literature around the world. Invite students to identify on a world map the locations of some of their favorite books and book characters. Among the characters that might be included are Paddington Bear (Peru), Heidi (Switzerland), Ferdinand the Bull (Spain), Strega Nona (Italy), Red Riding Hood (Germany), Madeline (France), and Ping (China).
Your town’s growing population. Collect population statistics for your town as far back as they are available. Students can create graphs to show how the town’s population has changed over the decades. How has population change affected the town?
Commuter graph. Help students create a graph to show how far their parents travel to work each day. A different bar will represent people who commute less than 5 miles, 6 to 10 miles, 11 to 20 miles, 21 to 30 miles, and more than 30 miles. Provide a map for students to show the different places people travel.
Map your school region. Create a map that shows the areas in which students live. Invite each student to add a pin to the map to indicate the location of his or her home. What conclusions can students draw from the map? Do more students live in one “region” of the “school region” than in others? Why might that be so?
For more information and activities visit http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson071.shtml
VERTICES, Skip Kielt – GIS Intern
It’s a Grind
Last Saturday, 12 high school students (10 from High School South and 2 from High School North) and 4 adults crammed into the It’s A Grind near Plainsboro Plaza. Except they weren’t having a coffee house for reading poetry, they were training to collect data in a Walkability Assessment for Plainsboro. Students learned terms like “curb cut”, “flush” and not only learned the elements of a perfect intersection, but also, became aquainted with the process of investigation.
-Susan & Joanne Im
Walkability!
In another chance to help out their community, WW-P students have launched a new project to improve Walkability and Bikability in their township, which would encourage an increase in conversions of transportation from gas guzzling automobiles to enviro-friendly bikes and sneakers. The “Walkability Assessment” will map various intersections around the community in need of improvements. Each data point will include final scores and rankings of each crossing and intersections and photographs of missing elements. This project not only brings the community to aid in environment-improving efforts, but also, the data collected from this assessment will greatly improve the township’s decision making when considering road repairs to be made. Initially begun by the West Windsor Bicycle & Pedestrian Alliance (view at: http://maps.gismap.us/wwbpa), South’s Green CmPs is pursuing this project with a data collection date of May 16, 2009 at 9 a.m. They are looking for volunteers to help them so mark your calendars! (Prior to the event, volunteers will be required to participate in a one-hour training session.)
For more information, visit their project web site at http://sites.google.com/site/greencommunitymapping2009/index.
Using Mappler to Showcase Research
Nowadays, most things have gone online and high tech. With Mappler, dreary, research papers may now be presented with a twist! (okay, so maybe you can only do this if the paper in question is related to location…)
Mappler allows users to map a point online and input data for a certain location in a proffessional manner. Enviornmentalists may find Mappler a particularly useful tool for presenting data obtained from water sample analysis from various points along a river, or for tracking negative or positive changes in the environment of a specific area.
Because Mappler allows various individuals to contribute to one site, it also helps that a project started by one die-hard environmentalist can be carried on and supplemented by others miles away~! Rather than a schizophrenic collection of numerous papers dealing on the same project carried in different areas, Mappler allows individuals to create one final, organized presentaiton of their data!
For a wonderful example, check out: http://www.communitymap.net/chatham/
-Joanne I.
Geocaching
It is quite interesting to use GIS as a way to have fun. GIS4KIDS utilizes Global Mapping Positioning System utility- Mappler to help the community. Around the world, many people actually use GIS in a games like scavenger hunting, also known as, geocaching. A geocacher will hide a container, containing a prize (can be of menial value to something valuable) at a specific location. This player will jot down the cache’s coordinates and the details of its location. The person will then input this information on a website. Other Geocachers will obtain the coordinates from the site and will search for the treasure using GPS utilities. Those who finally find the cache input their experiences online. Although, the caches are often of menial value, the experience is quite valuable. It’s the most exhilarating moment of their lives!
From this interesting discovery, I personally think that maybe, schools can have this geocaching scavenger hunt in activities for the students. Not only do the students have fun but also they can obtain more knowledge by utilizing the GPS utilities to gain an understanding of their surroundings and geography.
-jocelyn
Building Lesson Plans (Working with Ramapo College)
The GIS4Kids program was started with volunteers from New Jersey and a number of other states throughout the country to promote the use of GIS in K-12 education. Despite enthusiastic efforts by our GIS4Kids volunteers to make GIS a continuous part of the core curriculum in schools, GIS projects often end up being one-time semester projects. The short-lived role of GIS in K-12 education was determined to be the result of limited funding for the GIS projects. While it is important to develop successful case projects utilizing GIS, our ultimate goals is to have GIS incorporated into the annual curricula for K-12 students.
Ridge High School in Bernards Township, NJ has utilized a customized Google Maps API for its environmental science course. The API was used to create a project in which students used GIS technology to track annual deer population in the area. The project has now become part of the core curriculum for this course.
Outreach to individual schools has proven to be an effective way to introduce or help schools utilize GIS. By working with the Master of Science Educational Technology program at Ramapo College in New Jersey, we are able to more effectively demonstrate to teachers the potential benefits of GIS for K-12 curriculum in a variety of subjects. In this presentation, we review how the GIS4Kids program has evolved from a single project to a curricular application for primary-school education.
* this is an abstract I submitted to URISA International Conference presentation 2008 at New Orleans**
Bernards Twp GIS Technology Science
This is my most favorite GIS4Kids project. Students at Bernards Township is collecting deer population data. It become part of science curriculum. http://www.communitymap.net/deer/bernards
Change the nature of instruction to a student centered, project based mode utilizing technology, resulting in the examination of the design of assessment”, Bernards Township has worked with Vertices to create interactive GIS websites for Science and Social Studies. These websites will allow students to collect, enter and analyze data that ties into the current curriculum and will be used to provide information to the township. The Deer Populations and Impact: Project Deer Spotter website will be used by science classes to monitor deer populations in the township and will result in the students making assessments on deer populations as they relate to accidents, hunting and food supply. The Bernards Township GIS Technology in Social Studies website is designed to give students a proper understanding of the impact of geography on a particular culture. Students will use the program to collect data about Bernards Township and make inferences and draw conclusions based on their information.
