GIS

Are you a teacher with an interest on how to use GIS in the classroom? You have come to the right place. This wikispace was created to give teachers in the great state of Pennsylvania a place to find information on how to use GIS in the classroom.

I was first introduced to ArcView, probably one of the most popular of GIS programs, in 1999 at a [|Satellite and Education conference] sponsored by [|West Chester University]. This was a great conference, but unfortunately the conference has moved to the West coast. One of the workshops I attended introduced me to ArcVoyager. One of the earliest versions of the GIS developed by ESRI. At the workshop I got a little taste as to what a GIS program could do. I instantly was hooked and realized the potential fof this tool to help give students the skill of spatial anlaysis, an important skill needed for the 21st century workplace.

I expected this tool to really take off in the field of education in Pennsylvania, but alas, it has not. I decided to develop this site to help teachers find the resources they need to start using this program in the classroom. A place where questions specific to teaching GIS could be answered. A place where educators could discuss best practices, stay on top of events and updates, and have an opportunity to share lessons with other teachers.


 * GIS Lesson Introduction**

When I introduce students to ArcGIS there is a gradual progression of skills that I take them through. It starts with a series of activities that start off with basic tasks to more complicated concepts.

Note: The instructions for these activities are written for ArcView 3.3 but can easily can be adapted for ArcGIS 9.1. I am working on updating the instructions and will place them on this site as soon as I can. The lessons are located in zip files. To access the lesson and data, download the zip file to your hard drive and extract the files. Lesson 1: Earthquake! [| Earthquake.zip]. This lesson begins with students interacting with a map by marking locations on a world map where they have heard Earthquakes have occured. Students then analyze for connections between Earthquake locations with population, altitude and finally plate techtonics. Lesson 2: Business Location [| Business.zip]. In this activity, students can discover the power of a query. Lesson 3: Crime Scene Investigation [| Crime_Patterns.zip] Analyze crime by state, by county and at the local level. Lesson 4: Urban Sprawl [| Urban Sprawl.zip]. Analyze a local trend and compare it to other places along the East coast.


 * Where to find data**

[|PASDA] The one-stop-shopping for Pennsylvania Data! [|USGS] & [|USGS GIS in Education] Some Great Links

[|ESRI for K-12 Education]: Click [|here] to access other great lessons! [|KanGIS] [|FFA Farm SAFE program]
 * Links**


 * Podcasts on GIS and Education!**

Note: You will need to download [|iTunes] to hear the podcasts (free) [|Penn State Podcasts]

Additional Training
 * [|Pennsylvania GIS conference] ||
 * [|Penn State Land Analysis Laboratory] ||
 * [|Wilkes University GIS] ||
 * [|Penn GIS] ||
 * [|Shippensburg GIS] ||