Showing posts with label GIS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GIS. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Reading, Writing and Thinking for Any Gadget

book cover image for reading, writing and thinking around the globe
I've been busy making books accessible in multiple formats over the last few months.  My book is now available in digital PDF, Kindle and of course the good ol' print version.  In the coming weeks look for all the Carte Diem Press titles in multiple digital formats for your easy access to geospatial curriculum!

The whole team at GISetc is working hard to bring you everything you need to be geospatially successful in your environment...great deals on Esri Press books, buttons and fun stuff as well as solid lessons and activities for any age or environment.  We even encourage you to get outdoors with our GPS books!


Worried about the standards and how you can integrate geospatial technology and geography? Then, worry no more!  We have you covered on the standards as well!  All of our books are aligned to the Technology, Geography and Common Core ELA standards!

If you need books in bulk, they've got you covered too!  Just zap an email to the staff and they'll quote you a bulk discount.

Stay posted on all the latest from GISetc as well as free resources by liking our Facebook page or joining the list to get the latest info and resources once a month or so.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Mapping the Holidays

Today I was thinking about sharing a Christmas map resource. I envisioned maps of trees or Santa's track for Christmas Eve. I started with ArcGIS Online and typed in the search word "Christmas." The search result alone gives great ideas on ways to map holiday happenings no matter where you are in the world.

Some ideas from other fine map-mined folks around the world are:
  • Christmas Islands
  • light displays 
  • market maps
  • parade maps
  • tree recycling locations
  • events
  • Santa sightings
  • shopping malls
  • Christmas dinner
  • Christmas list
So go enjoy some great maps from other folks or make your own and share it with us!

Mappy Holidays!


Friday, October 26, 2012

Baseball: A Game for Every Subject

I read an article today by Matt Davis that prompted me to update my Baseball Unit.  It's baseball for every subject in this unit...even English class! 

Here are the details of the Out of Bounds Baseball Unit, if you don't want the PDF:


Back Story
Integrating GIS into core content is easy if you take advantage of preexisting content.  This unit was born out of a baseball theme in English Language Arts (ELA) class.  As the four core teachers talked about what we were doing in ELA class, they wanted to get on board.   Over time, we incorporated all four classes at the same time to create a powerful experience for our middle school students.  This is an outline of what each class did as their part of the baseball unit.  The GIS activities were incorporated in ELA, Science and Social Studies classes.  Perhaps you can play out of bounds and integrate!

English Language Arts / Reading
  • “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” song by Jack Norworth
  • “Strong Men Weep” short story by Benedict Cosgrove
  • Excerpts from Wait Till Next Year a novel by Doris Kerns Goodwin
  • “Who’s on First?” play by Abbott and Costello (videos available at YouTube)
  • “Casey at the Bat” poem by Ernest Thayer (videos available at YouTube)
  • “Baseball in April” short story by Gary Soto
  • Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge
Science
·         Ball analysis (measurement, physics, experiment procedures)
Math
·         Baseball statistics and spreadsheet formulas
Social Studies
·         Games and sports in cultures around the world
Projects
·         Build a baseball Museum
·         Research baseball topics
GIS
·         Play Ball! Spatial Analysis of Baseball (http://edcommunity.esri.com/arclessons/lesson.cfm?id=334)
·         Baseball Radio Station Analysis (http://edcommunity.esri.com/arclessons/lesson.cfm?id=390)
·         Where should you put the next MLB team?
·         Demographic patterns related to baseball
Resources

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Get Spatial at NSTA

If you're at the National Science Teacher's Association Conference (NSTA12), then stop by Booth #1737 to see my friends from Esri, GISetc and more.

They have lesson plans, free software, loaner gps units, cool geogeek swag and more!

Learn how to do GIS online with arcgis.com! So many cool tools...so little time!



Friday, September 02, 2011

Teachable, Mappable Moments: Weather

Although weather can pose some challenging moments, I'm struck with the idea that we have not only a mappable moment but a teachable one as well.  In our recent past, the US dealt with Irene and a substantial earthquake in Virginia.  The weather keeps coming!  I live in southeast Louisiana where we're watching now TS Lee get ready to pound us with rain, rain, rain.  While the folks here make preparations for possible flooding conditions, particularly on lakes, canals and rivers, the rest of you out of harms way can look at the maps of it all. I created a map from a myriad of weather related data that's shared within www.arcgis.com.

Take the map below (at ArcGIS online: http://explorer.arcgis.com/?open=ba5a0959692b4104b0790c8ceafb8547) We can see real time warnings, wind direction, etc.
Check out many teachable, mappable data sets in the online library and make a map!


View Larger Map

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Q & A: Global Geology and Topography

Question: 
My teachers are working on a geology project that they did last year with Texas and US geology maps. They had the students give real world examples of different landforms (volcanoes,  and where they existed in TX and the US. This year they are looking to expand it to world wide examples.
It's for fifth grade and the landforms they will be studying are: archipelagoes, caves, cliffs, deltas, deserts, dunes, islands, mountains, piedmonts, plains, plateaus, terraces, valleys and volcanoes.

Do you know of any resources students and teachers can use for this?

Answer: 
I like the Sketch-A-Map gadget at http://www.edgis.org/sketch for explorations.

and from my friend, Dr. Shannon White:

First thing that comes to mind is the National Atlas set of first 25 of the 100 topo maps about land forms – that is good for the US. http://www.nationalatlas.gov/100topos/index.html

Outside of the US – global datasets of terrain are  a bit more tough, I would suggest  checking out the following:

·         Center for International Earth Science Information Network data sets: http://www.ciesin.org/sub_guide.html

·         The data from the global 7-CD set  that is now 1 DVD that USGS put out with American Geological Institute are listed online at:
·         USGS Global Land cover might be helpful (might not) http://edc2.usgs.gov/glcc/glcc.php
·         The Landcover institute page might provide some resources: http://landcover.usgs.gov/



Monday, November 01, 2010

Q & A: Nile River Resources

Question: 
Are you familiar with any lessons and activities related to the Nile - cataracts, delta or the Aswan dam?  This 5th grade social studies teacher has expressed some interest in GIS and I'm trying to provide her some GIS-related activities that go along with her classroom focus.

Answer:

That is a VERY specific topic.  Joseph Kerski created a lesson three years ago using the NGS MapMachine, an online resource to explore Africa.  Unfortunately, the map machine is no more, but Joseph's lesson is still on ArcLessons and does a nice job of having students walk through different aspects of Africa. http://edcommunity.esri.com/arclessons/lesson.cfm?id=294 

I would suggest you use his plethora of materials (10 pdfs), but employ a new map gadget. For 5th grade and for an instructor that is just getting started... I like ArcGIS Explorer desktop (a virtual 3D globe) http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcgis-explorer/1500/download or ArcGIS Explorer online http://explorer.arcgis.com/.  If your teacher is in a Mac only environment, you'll need to use the online product.  Having students search, add their comments to the map, play with different base maps and make their own presentations about the elements could be fantastic!

Some other goodies around are:

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

2011 Esri T3G Institute

Anyone who teaches GIS or with GIS should consider applying for this great opportunity.  I had a great experience as I ventured to the "mother ship" of GIS with so many smart and talented folks!  Our collaboration continue today!  Join our ranks!
http://edcommunity.esri.com/community/institute2011/index.cfm

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Storm's a comin'! Get your data ready!

It's that time of year again! If you haven't taken advantage of their data, now's a great time to show students the progression of the storm. The National Hurricane Center has their GIS data ready to download and pull into your favorite GIS application.  Just click DOWNLOAD GIS DATA.  Whether you're using a free product like AEJEE or ArcGIS Explorer OR you're mapping with ArcGIS, MapInfo or MyWorld GIS, you can analyze the weather along with those experts on The Weather Channel!

Tropical Storm BONNIE


Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Teach Reading and Writing with Geospatial Technologies



Reading, Writing and Thinking Around the Globe: Geospatial Technologies for the English Language Arts and Beyond

new book coverby Barbaree Ash Duke

If you’re looking for realistic ideas for implementing 21stCentury tools into your classroom, then this is the book for you. Harness the power of online mapping, virtual globes and online content!  Spotlighted areas, reading and writing, foster ways to teach thinking in a tradition-laden subject.  Ready-to-use lessons, practical ideas, suggestions on collaboration and research make this book a must-have for many classrooms.
Send an email if you have questions!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

AgTech Camp - Great Fun in Sweetwater, TX

We had a great day here in Sweetwater, Texas!  I had the honor of doing a workshop for 20 great Ag teachers here on the Texas State Technical College West Texas campus.  We talked about geospatial technologies for agriculture and the classroom.  We got outside with our GPS units and mapped farms, invasive species, ponds, fences and more.  These teachers have great ideas for implementing geospatial technologies for their students...and had no trouble seeing how their colleagues in the traditional core subjects could utilize this as well.

View of Wind Turbines from I-20
Encourage your students to follow their interests and talents...technical, vocational and community colleges offer some excellent programs with real results--jobs when you graduate!

Thank you to all the fine folks here in Sweetwater for a great time!  I hope that I have the opportunity to return!

Oh...and did you know that Sweetwater is the wind energy capital? http://www.sweetwatertexas.org/

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Geospatial Revolution

I had the priviledge of hearing Fred Hoffman from the Roanoke Governor's School this summer at the National Summit for GIS in K-12 Education at JMU discuss remote sensing. He shared a resource with us from Penn State called the Geospatial Revolution Project. I heard it again at the the ESRI Users Conference this July. The brief video offers compelling reasons to be geospatially aware and made me think about new ways we can be involving our students in geospatial activities intertwined with their curriculum. The slogan alone "The location of anything is becoming everything" makes you think about the impact geospatial skills will have on our future. Have a look at http://geospatialrevolution.psu.edu/. Click on the trailer to view the video.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Spatial Advertising

Thanks to Dr. Henk Scholten for sharing some great spatial examples in his plenary address to the ESRI Education Users Conference. One that caught my eye was a Dutch ad for coffee. http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2008/05/26/278-ice-coffee-town-the-netherlands/

You can examine some of his work at EduGIS (www.edugis.nl) and GeoDan (www.gedan.com).

He shared some great perspectives on how GIS affects the development of spatial thinking.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Create Your Own Earth Story with Earth Live

Check out Discovery's Earth Live.
You can view other stories or create your own original with their interactive online tools.
http://dsc.discovery.com/guides/discovery-earth-live/discovery-earth-live.html


Monday, June 23, 2008

Monday, March 24, 2008

GIS Student Contest

Thought the GIS edu folks might be interested...


GeoWeb 2008 Conference - 1st Student ContestGeoWeb is the industry leading event focused on GIS and the Internet

Do you have what it takes to develop a piece of software or a solution to a theoretical problem to win our student contest?

If you do, then we want to hear from you, as this student contest open to all full-time students attending an educational institution anywhere in the world.

Students may submit a registration of an abstract of their proposal at any time (see http://geowebconference.org/students-academia/contest-information). Note that both registration and final submissions are due and must be submitted no later than May 15, 2008.
Develop software or solve a theoretical problem to:
Generate 3D models for Google Earth, Virtual Earth etc. from CAD drawings automatically.
To enhance position measurement inside a building.
Integrate Google or Virtual Earth with Second Life.
Generalize from large scale to small scale in 2D and 3D.
Generate GML (observations) from KML and KML (by styling) from GML.
Validate geography and topology automatically using a rule based mechanism.
To visualize the content of an ebRIM (OASIS) registry.
Develop visualization mechanisms for travelogues
Use wavlets to integrate geometry, coverages and observations.
Students may submit a registration of an abstract of their proposal at any time (see http://geowebconference.org/students-academia/contest-information). Note that both registration and final submissions are due and must be submitted no later than May 15, 2008.

Software submissions must include the following components:
One sentence description of your software.
Source code for the software (C, C++, Java etc).
Build files as required to create an executable program for one of (Linux, Windows XP/Vista, Mac OS). The build file must be executable automatically and generate an executable program with minimal input by the software judges. It should require very minimal effort on the part of the installer to create an executable program.Description of the functionality of the software.
This description should be limited to two typed pages (12 pt type), and must highlight the key points that you feel the software demonstrates that are advances over existing software technology.
Presentation (e.g. Keynote, Power Point etc) that you will give if your entry is selected.
Contest Submittals
Students must register at www.geowebconference.org by May 15th, 2008.

Contest Requirements
Contest entrants will be required to complete a registration form verifying their status as full time students and these details will be verified before any award is granted.

Costs
Please note that any costs associated with the submittal for this contest is at the expense of the student.

Selection Process
The selection of the contest winner(s) will be made by a GeoWeb committee consisting of leading figures in the GIS industry and will be notified by June 6th, 2008.

Prizes
Winners of the contest will be brought to the GeoWeb 2008 conference in Vancouver, Canada, and all legitimate expenses* will be paid by the contest supporters. A cash honorarium will also be provided.

*The contest supporters will arrange transportation to/from Vancouver, lodging and meals while in Vancouver, however reserve the right to refuse any expenses they believe are unreasonable.

Complete information on the student contest and conference may be obtained at www.geowebconference.org.

GIS Student Contest

Thought the GIS edu folks might be interested...


GeoWeb 2008 Conference - 1st Student ContestGeoWeb is the industry leading event focused on GIS and the Internet

Do you have what it takes to develop a piece of software or a solution to a theoretical problem to win our student contest?

If you do, then we want to hear from you, as this student contest open to all full-time students attending an educational institution anywhere in the world.

Students may submit a registration of an abstract of their proposal at any time (see http://geowebconference.org/students-academia/contest-information). Note that both registration and final submissions are due and must be submitted no later than May 15, 2008.
Develop software or solve a theoretical problem to:
Generate 3D models for Google Earth, Virtual Earth etc. from CAD drawings automatically.
To enhance position measurement inside a building.
Integrate Google or Virtual Earth with Second Life.
Generalize from large scale to small scale in 2D and 3D.
Generate GML (observations) from KML and KML (by styling) from GML.
Validate geography and topology automatically using a rule based mechanism.
To visualize the content of an ebRIM (OASIS) registry.
Develop visualization mechanisms for travelogues
Use wavlets to integrate geometry, coverages and observations.
Students may submit a registration of an abstract of their proposal at any time (see http://geowebconference.org/students-academia/contest-information). Note that both registration and final submissions are due and must be submitted no later than May 15, 2008.

Software submissions must include the following components:
One sentence description of your software.
Source code for the software (C, C++, Java etc).
Build files as required to create an executable program for one of (Linux, Windows XP/Vista, Mac OS). The build file must be executable automatically and generate an executable program with minimal input by the software judges. It should require very minimal effort on the part of the installer to create an executable program.Description of the functionality of the software.
This description should be limited to two typed pages (12 pt type), and must highlight the key points that you feel the software demonstrates that are advances over existing software technology.
Presentation (e.g. Keynote, Power Point etc) that you will give if your entry is selected.
Contest Submittals
Students must register at www.geowebconference.org by May 15th, 2008.

Contest Requirements
Contest entrants will be required to complete a registration form verifying their status as full time students and these details will be verified before any award is granted.

Costs
Please note that any costs associated with the submittal for this contest is at the expense of the student.

Selection Process
The selection of the contest winner(s) will be made by a GeoWeb committee consisting of leading figures in the GIS industry and will be notified by June 6th, 2008.

Prizes
Winners of the contest will be brought to the GeoWeb 2008 conference in Vancouver, Canada, and all legitimate expenses* will be paid by the contest supporters. A cash honorarium will also be provided.

*The contest supporters will arrange transportation to/from Vancouver, lodging and meals while in Vancouver, however reserve the right to refuse any expenses they believe are unreasonable.

Complete information on the student contest and conference may be obtained at www.geowebconference.org.