We tend to focus on the analytical capabilities of GIS, and rightly so, as that is its major strength. However, GIS can also be used to quickly create customized maps. These maps can be used by the instructor to support a lesson, or by the student to support an oral or written report. Frequent requests such as, “Does a map exist that just shows rivers and countries of Africa but without the country names?” have frequently appeared on listservs and blogs over the past 15 years. Such a map may not exist online or in a textbook, but can easily be generated with GIS.

Consider the map I recently created below showing some major Amish communities in the northeastern part of the country.

While this map supported an article authored by a colleague for the Journal of Geography, it could just as easily be used to support a classroom discussion on the Amish in the USA. I started with the data packaged in the population change lesson on ArcLessons: http://edcommunity.esri.com/arclessons/lesson.cfm?id=457. I unzipped the data, started ArcMap, and added the data layers. I zoomed to the study area, labeled three states, exported my counties of interest to a separate data layer, symbolized them as black, and added numbers and leader lines. For the inset map, I created a new data frame, copied the state lines into it, and drew a study area box. I created a layout, inserting the northeastern USA and 48 states data frames. I exported the map as a grayscale image. In a short amount of time, I had created a customized map.

What sort of map do you or your students need? Central Asia ecoregions? Michigan lakes and rivers? Phoenix median age by neighborhood? Using data sets from ArcLessons, data portals, or from the ESRI Data and Maps DVDs, allows for you and your students to create exactly the maps you need in ArcMap.

Upon further reflection, even these customized maps in turn support critical thinking, so we are right back to analysis!

- Joseph Kerski, ESRI Education Manager