Tag Archives: social studies
Fun with GIS 128: Crowdsource Your Fieldwork
One “magical” power of the new ArcGIS Online Organizations is the ability to publish editable feature services. This opens a world of collaboration in the construction of data.
A “feature service” is a data layer that can be used in many maps. This is in contrast to just pushing a zipped shapefile into a map, which is indeed cool but creates just a set of “notes,” usable only in that specific map or its “offspring.” A feature service is an independent layer, with its own metadata; it can be documented, commented on, searched for, and added independently to other maps and apps. Feature services can be classified and symbolized, queried, analyzed via geoprocessing tools, and downloaded by the owner for further work in ArcMap.
“Editable feature services” are feature services in which users can make modifications, such as adding new records or changing the values in a record’s attributes. For instance, I have posted a simple editable feature service allowing readers of this blog to add a record showing their location, age, gender, and favorite morning beverage. I could create a service for my classes (plus those of other educators) to use on a field trip, allowing collection of precisely defined data, for a project in science or social studies. At Esri’s T3G (“Teachers Teaching Teachers GIS”) Institute in 2012, participants did exactly this, collecting tree data and attaching photos to certain records. {See GRCF map}
The magic comes from generating this editable feature service in ArcMap, publishing it through ArcGIS Online into a map, and then letting students use GPS-enabled smartphones or tablets to record the data. They can quickly fill out a form, attach a photo, hit submit, refresh their map, and see their data plus items generated by classmates, on the fly while out in the field. This rapid feedback boosts interest in the activity at hand — they are looking at THEIR data gathered just a moment ago! It even facilitates data entry by eliminating replication, thereby reducing error.
What does it take to do this? ArcMap 10, an ArcGIS Online Organization account, a basic understanding of databases, and a question to explore. Is there an example to look at? See “NOTES” in ArcGIS Online, and notice that it includes a downloadable map package. The metadata talks of ArcGIS Server, but you can also use an ArcGIS Online Organization subscription.
Excellent! So, how can I do this? If NOTES does everything you want, you can download the linked map package and publish it into your own ArcGIS Online Organization. But chances are you want to create your own special project. To do this, you need to plan carefully your data collection process. A new ArcLesson walks you through creating and using an editable feature service. (Alternative download site for 11mb PDF here.) It’s easy to do. So now the question is “What kind of data collection project should you do?” Water quality? Local historic sites? Tree inventory? Community assets? It’s worth spending some time dreaming and scheming, perhaps over your favorite breakfast beverage.
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
Fun with GIS 127: Map the Vote
Two simple questions comprise a stunning opportunity for social studies teachers across the US: “In the time remaining before the election, where should candidates allocate resources? Why?”
Consider: Which states have the most electoral votes? Which states have been “reliable backers” of a party? Which states have been “close calls” in the past, or flipped parties? Which states have stronger voter turnout, and in what way is that influential? Do any racial/ethnic groups or age bands have special concerns? How is the economy within the state? While every state is electing members to the US House, some states are also electing members to the US Senate, or Governors, and will that help or hurt a presidential candidate in a given state?
How a teacher addresses this is worth considering. I have posted two relevant items: one is a resource for use in ArcGIS Online: a layer of states with a ton of data; the other is a map (shown above on iPad) with the data preconfigured to highlight certain contents. It is like the difference between a stocked kitchen and a prepared buffet table; each offers choices, depending on what you seek.
But each still relies on the same concept, about which some educators and influencers of education policy must be reminded. Life is full of such ill-structured problems, and students need to practice the process that employers seek and adulthood demands: identifying the key question/s, locating relevant and reliable data, analyzing said data, interpreting and integrating the results, and identifying (if not undertaking) a recommended course of action. While the problem-solving process may be described in a linear fashion, the path undertaken may meander, loop, include some dead ends, accumulate a stunning volume of background knowledge, and conclude in a place not originally contemplated. Carefully scripting a path for learners to follow may generate a particular visual result, but may not yield anything close to similar knowledge. (See related blogs.)
Being able to recall the facts in the above table or follow successfully a precise script are vastly less helpful than being able to use them in creative and analytical ways to achieve a goal. To the degree that education emphasizes fact accumulation or prescribed results (precise, predictable, easy to test) versus process development (multi-faceted, divergent, challenging to assess) is the degree to which life’s real problems will continue to vex us all.
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
Fun With GIS 117: The Future of the Past
As a kid, history baffled me. I floundered in the whirlpool of names, dates, and variably detailed accounts. I saw no pattern, no threads of organization. It was not until college, when I studied “regions” in geography, that the maelstrom of history began to stratify into patterns.
Today’s students have even more chance for confusion. The past grows ever more detailed, more open to cataloguing and endless shuffling. Fortunately, history lends itself to a geographic view, and ArcGIS Online makes it easy for educators and students alike to build their own view of yesteryear, demonstrating that the past can be re-organized infinitely.
Had I a time turner and the chance to re-do my history classes from grades 5, 7, and 11, I would want to bring ArcGIS Online. Not all of history has been converted into databases organized for geographic analysis, though some collections exist. Therefore, students can build their own, constructing and presenting their views, engaging deeply in the past. Even building simple catalogues of events or people tied to places, exposed over time, can help students fathom the past.
We are well into the sesquicentennial of the US Civil War, echoes of which linger even today. Students can view a small collection of data about battles, as one example of organization. An experienced user might take the liberty of revising the popup, or the classification and symbolization. What additional approaches or data might also make sense, exposing alternative views into the past?
John McHale once wrote a powerful little “poem” about time:
- The future of the past is in the future.
- The future of the present is in the past.
- The future of the future is in the present.
He meant that we constantly redefine what we think of the past, and our actions back then influenced the prospects we have today, and the outlook for tomorrow is based on what we do today.
Helping students of today become thoughtful leaders of tomorrow requires that they fathom the conditions, ideas, and decisions of the past. This takes more than memorization. It calls for exploring, grappling, analyzing, and integrating. ArcGIS Online is a powerful tool for encouraging such wrestling with time and space.
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Schools Program Manager
Titanic's Geography & Classes
We observe the centennial of the sinking of the Titanic by map-enabling its passenger list.
This latest story map from Esri adds a different dimension to the Titanic, a more personal geographic picture. Explore the levels of loss as you step from 1st class to 3rd class.
Weird Earth: Exploring the Earth With Interesting, Bizarre, and Odd Imagery
Take a look at this image. Where is Socotra? Why and how do these trees grow there? Where is the Richat Structure? Why are its origins still a bit mysterious? Why do people create drawings on the landscape that can … Continue reading
Fun with GIS 109: Godspeed
I was four years old when Sputnik flew over our house out in the country. I remember my parents leading my three older brothers and me outside to look for it in the twilight.
I was in third grade when our teacher said “This is a special day.” We had begun the school year with a television set in our room, a huge box with a modest black-and-white screen on a big wooden cabinet. It was rarely on but, on that special day — 50 years ago today — we watched as John Glenn orbited the earth. Our teacher looked at us and said “You remember this day. This is special. He is a hero, and you are watching history.” I was confused, having seen a book with drawings of people in funny suits living in a dome on the moon. Enamored as I was with the outdoors, particularly tangible fish and other aquatic critters, I was underwhelmed by an artist’s rendition of Glenn’s tiny capsule with a small window showing the moving earth below. It seemed forever over a plain grey space bearing the name of some ocean.
While others in my generation took inspiration from Sputnik and Glenn, veering into math and physics, I stayed with biology, then ecology, then geography. Only after the iconic shot of “spaceship earth” did the power of a macroscopic view and the value of remotely sensed data become clear to me.
Our world today needs inspiration and opportunity. Fortunately, young and old alike can explore the many layers that make up our complex realm. GIS generally, and ArcGIS Online in particular, allows learners of all ages to see the characteristics of places near and far, matching the unknown against the known, seeing the patterns and relationships that connect one to another. As never before, our world depends on our grasp of these connections, on our choosing to husband and sustain, rather than lay waste to our many precious resources, both known and inadequately cataloged.
A half century ago, many joined in praying “Godspeed, John Glenn.” U.S. residents then teamed up on a long-term geopolitical challenge supporting STEM education. Today’s classrooms are filled with the thinkers, decision-makers, creators, and caretakers of tomorrow. We must all recognize the bevy of challenges facing us, global to local; grasp the differences between data, information, knowledge, and wisdom; and work to understand and sustain our world. Godspeed for one is not enough to save us all.
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
Fun with GIS #103: World Bank Data on ArcGIS Online
Great world-level maps. That’s what you’ll find in the package of maps on ArcGIS Online which feature World Bank data. Each map has hidden layers of content, and each map has time-series data that is great for supporting deep investigations.
If you want to add the data into your own map, though, it takes a little work to find the map services and engage them properly. A new ArcLesson video (silent, six minutes long) walks you through the process.
The procedure shown is also useful for accessing other jewels of data that you want to incorporate in your own maps. Look for opportunities to use in your own maps some of the great layers you see in maps featured on ArcGIS Online. Check it out!
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
Fun with GIS #102: Election Season Begins!
HNY! It’s election year! And there’s a fabulous new map story to explore!
For social studies educators, this is a huge opportunity to get your students working with online maps. Match the primary activities with what you can learn about each state through the “USA Demographics for Schools” map as well.
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
Fun with GIS #99: Chaos Cave
GIS has hit literature! “Chaos Cave: A Revolutionary Adventure” by Lesley Downie takes young readers into a time-travel and geospatial tech adventure. Sister and brother Mattie and Josh get drawn into 1775 Boston. Wrap yourself (or any middle-grade oriented reader you know who likes adventure, history, mystery, and tech) in this story, in hard copy or e-book.
Arrival in children’s literature of a book that engages GIS and GPS as part of the storyline is an interesting milestone on the path to acceptance of geospatial technology. The Esri User Conference has featured kids as young as third grade on stage describing and demonstrating their activities with GIS and GPS. Both real-life kids and fictional characters know how to use these tools to solve problems. Perhaps this new milestone will help convince educators that the time for critical thinking with geospatial tools, across the instructional spectrum, is indeed at hand!
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
Fun with GIS #98: Tree Planters
It’s Thanksgiving. Seven miles above the Pacific Ocean, I’ve been flying for hours, with hours still to go. Taking off from Los Angeles, we were quickly out over the blue. At over 500 miles per hour, this miracle of aviation makes “short work” of a trip to Hawaii, but the time, distance, and implications are mind-bending.
Our collective impact on the world is staggering. Seven billion people, with more every minute. Despite the magical nature of such a trip (“Walking in the Air” from “The Snowman” plays in my head), I know I too have an impact. Our global quest for “more” consumes the valuable and multiplies waste.
Gazing over this expanse of soft blue, yet knowing that it grows warmer, more ravaged, more acidic, bigger, and less predictable, and what it means to us all, gives me pause. It is not always easy being a geographer, constantly seeing patterns and relationships, large and small.
Along these silver wings, I spy thousands of tiny rivets. Each plays a role. What would happen if one were lost? Or 25, at random sites, or concentrated? How many rivets are expendable?
So, in this special week, I offer my thanks to the tree-planters among us — those around the world who seek sustainable, long-term solutions, conscious of the present, but committed to a better collective future, knowing there is but one dinner table, and we are all together. The gardeners and educators, the scientists and engineers, the peacemakers and poets. We face enormous obstacles, and the path grows more arduous each day. We must all choose carefully.
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
