Greetings all on this GIS Day!
GIS day is part of a larger National Geography Awareness Week and always falls on the Wednesday of the celebration. Geography Awareness Week (or GAW) is celebrated the 3rd week of November usually has a theme and this year it is “Fresh Water.” These are both opportunities to get out and share with others what we do and how it impacts the communities we live in as well as increase geographic awareness in education! I wanted to share a few resources (serious and fun) related to GIS day and Geography Awareness Week . Some of these you may have seen but some you may not have, enjoy (apologies in advance for the length of the email)!
GIS Day
More information can be found at: http://www.gisday.com If you register your GIS day events in advance they will send you some materials!
A special note to Extension folks, if you are working with youth and are doing a GIS awareness building event that is not on the National GIS day you can still register an event. Let them know you are working with kids and they will generally send you things for your event (Pencils, buttons, etc). They really are helpful in providing for youth awareness events!
Everyday helpful materials can be found in the resources section of their website (http://www.gisday.com/support/index.html). There are ideas, materials and event based materials (handouts, poster templates, ppt’s, and more)
If you are working with any youth, educators or youth groups such as 4-H) make sure they are aware of the GIS resources found at: http://edcommunityPublish Post.esri.com/. This includes:
- Data & lessons at http://edcommunity.esri.com/arclessons/arclessons.cfm
- 4-H http://www.esri.com/industries/k-12/4-H/index.html
- Make sure the 4-H folks you know are aware of the Esri Grant programs (on the right side of the 4-H page) as the deadline is nearing (December 1)
· Also to tie Geography Awareness Week theme & GIS day together there are resource for this and past years at: http://edcommunity.esri.com/gaw/ (click on the year at the top to get to the resources).
GIS Related Videos:
· The Geospatial Revolution video trailer and episodes that have been released are a great awareness building piece: http://geospatialrevolution.psu.edu/
· The GIS day website has videos linked on their “During your event” resource page: http://www.gisday.com/support/materials3.html
· Remembering that the roots of GIS had a start with the Canadian Land Inventory this video shows the beginnings of GIS and reminds us of the humble ,yet important, roots of GIS and mapping technologies (Roger Tomlinson is at the end of part 1).
- Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAFG6aQTwPk (6:53)
- Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kFYsOHgDSo (7:15)
- Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryWcq7Dv4jE (8:00)
· Each GIS day my friend and colleague Lyn Malone in Rhode Island sends out a GIS day video that her daughter creates (who lives and works with GIS in Austin, TX). This year’s video is based on the song “Empire State of Mind” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mCDUf08YLg
Other years versions include:
Other years versions include:
- An REM based song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cLMibncs0I
- A take off on a Beatles song concept: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDVNBDIVUZo
- And the song Be Our Guest (I know it from the Beauty & the Beast movie) this was the first I think and one of my favorites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKHc9iub5Fw
Geography Awareness Week and the Theme of Fresh Water
The National Geographic GAW website: http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/gaw.html is your best bet for a full array of wonderful information including films, books, activities, etc. As there is a WEALTH of information hosted on this site, a few highlights for this week:
The National Geographic GAW website: http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/gaw.html is your best bet for a full array of wonderful information including films, books, activities, etc. As there is a WEALTH of information hosted on this site, a few highlights for this week:
Freshwater Booklist: http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/pdf/Freshwater_Booklist.pdf provides a comprehensive list of books (of all types), broken-down by grade clusters. The list includes short descriptions for each book—this list is a GREAT starting point for thinking about how you can incorporate geography into other subject areas.
The National Environmental Education Week: http://www.eeweek.org/resources/water_curricula.htm this is a HUGE list of curriculum materials related to water, broken down by grade cluster. As you look through the list, you’ll see several resources produced by WET: http://www.projectwet.org/, this is a great site as well, it includes a TON of resources addressing a variety of water-related issues, many of these resources are specific to teachers. Additionally, if you’re looking for resources to engage your students in water-related activities and issues outside of Missouri, this is a good place to look.
The water footprint calculator: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/water-footprint-calculator/ (it’s available under the “Protect Freshwater” section of the site); for those of you who have done a carbon footprint calculator, this is similar. It shows you how your freshwater consumption compares to the average American and provides an opportunity for you to pledge to cut-down on your intake. Certainly numerous ways this can be incorporated into your classrooms.
Freshwater Films: http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/pdf/GAWeek_FilmList_2010.pdf This is a fantastic list of films broken down by grade level that can introduce your students to issues surrounding diminishing freshwater resources. There are a few classics on the list, I’ve had a chance to watch a couple in the last couple of weeks that I hadn’t seen before: “Blue Gold: Water Wars” and “FLOW: How did a handful of corporations steal our water?” Both are excellent films that address the implications of privatization of freshwater resources.
National Geographic Magazine April issue on Water: http://www.zinio.com/delivery/login.jsp?of=500357149&_requestid=67268&_requestid=67268 this is an amazing resource and it’s available for free download during the month of November. The entire issue has been digitized there are several really neat interactive features! Once you download the issue, it’s yours forever. Also, the education foundation has worked with the magazine to offer digital subscriptions to teachers at an educator’s rate of $12.
MISSION EXPLORE FRESHWATER: http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/pdf/MissionExplore_Freshwater_PDF.pdf This is SUPER fun, especially for younger kids. The booklet contains 10 different water-related missions kids can complete in groups or on their own. Missions range from creating a river story to pretending to swim like different animals to creating water dances.
RIVER OF WORDS: http://www.riverofwords.org/ this site is a REALLY neat site is about “connecting kids to their watersheds and imaginations through poetry and art.” The “for educators” tab on the right contains some great resources, including a link to the “signals of spring” website that has lots of great activities designed to increase students’ awareness and ease with earth image data (http://www.signalsofspring.net/).
NAT & GEO’s ADVENTURES: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/actiongames/waterlogged, for all of you who are parents, this is kind of fun for your kids! There are two game options, one that allows you to kayak down the red river and the other allows you to explore a shipwreck.
ESRI: http://edcommunity.esri.com/gaw/ once you click on “2010” on the top of the page, there are some GREAT resources! Three very interesting lessons: examining storm water using GIS; analyzing water in the USA using GIS; and assessing environmental impact on Montana’s watersheds. In addition to these lessons, there’s some great articles discussing how to implement GIS-based activities (related to water) into your classrooms, and finally there are links to a bunch of neat water-related clips on youtube.
Special thanks to Dr. Meri Marsh, Missouri Geographic Alliance Geography Awareness Week Coordinator for compiling the GAW resources that I have included.
Posts
