New AEJEE lessons available

James Madison University Center for STEM Education and Outreach have announced the publication of the Rural STEM GIS activity collection for AEJEE and ArcGIS.  This collection of 12 activities (authored by Barbaree Ash Duke, edited by me and classroom tested by teachers around the country) focuses on middle school science and social studies.  Each activity comes with student instructions and worksheet, teacher notes, an answer key and all relevant data.  The activities are referenced to relevant national standards.  Each activity can also be easily modified for younger or older students.  Each activity can be used by itself or in conjunction with one or more of the other activities.  We hope teachers in a variety of settings will find these activities of use.

All the activities can be accessed at http://www.isat.jmu.edu/stem/curriculum.html

We've categorized the activities into three groups by GIS experience:

Level 1 – suitable as a first-time GIS experience

Bats in the Neighborhood: Friend or Foe?

Hunting for the Best Cabela's Location

Invasive Species: Attack of the Animals

Invasive Species: Attack of the Plants

Level 2 – best after a prior introduction to GIS

We are the World: A Look at Demographics

Production and Consumption: The Give and Take of Energy

Disaster Strikes

Should You Drink the Water?

Watersheds: Why bother?

Level 3 – best after more than one experience with GIS

What’s Your Carbon Footprint?

Can You Grow Money?

Survivor: The Agricultural Challenge

This work is supported the Center for Rural STEM Education at James Madison University and funded by the U.S. Department of Education.