2012 STEMworks Conference GIS Winners

Congratulations to Sierra Harrell and Lotus Chen of King Kekaulike High School for winning the 2012 STEMworks Conference GIS Competition! 

Sierra and Lotus, concerned about the safety of King Kekaulike students who walk to and from school, used GIS tools and software to map data collected from Pukalani school walking routes.  Sierra and Lotus will submit their findings and concerns to the Department of Public Works in the hopes that their data will reveal the need for more sidewalks as well as show the best areas to install them. 

An amazing example of using GIS to address a community concern!

GIS Activities for students: Make a hazard map!

Joseph J. Kerski, Ph.D., Education Manager with ESRI, presents an easy and quick GIS educational opportunity for students:

"In less than 60 seconds, you and your students can make a map of earthquakes, storms, wildfires, and eruptions in the US (or the world, using Option B) with this Esri Web GIS tool:

http://mapapps.esri.com/disasters/create-map/hazard/index.html

And you can also embed the resulting map on a web page and use that as an assessment instrument or in a presentation!"

What tools do you use with your class to engage students in GIS education?

3 GIS Teaching Resources

Joseph J. Kerski, Ph.D., Education Manager with ESRI, shares the following three resources:

1. Global Climate Change 

 

2. Locations of US nuclear plants available on ArcGIS Online

Dr. Kerski advises "...add a faults and geology layer or a cities layer. Zoom in on a few of them and change the base map to a satellite image.  What do they look like up close? What do they have in common? What are the differences?"

3. World Bank eAtlas of Global Development

Dr. Kerski suggests going into the atlas and creating maps, time series graphs, etc. on 179 indicators covering themes such as poverty, education, economy, and environment. There is also a new printed Atlas of Global Development for sale by www.worldbank.org/publications.

"The Cloud!" - Why the Web GIS Revolution is so Exciting

And a sneak peak into the soon-to-be-available capabilities of ArcGIS Online that will allow you to publish and share your own data.

Link: Intelligent WebMaps and ArcGIS Online

If you could share data online, what would it be?

Microsoft has selected ArcGIS as a foundation for viewing geospatial information within the DataMarket

"Esri has partnered with Microsoft to offer a set of features that contribute to and enhance the usability of the Windows Azure DataMarket. These features include online applications that query and map geographic data from the DataMarket, online analysis tools and a collection of premium demographic datasets.

Among the data available in the DataMarket, Esri's Updated Demographics (2010/2015) data provides the industry's most accurate population, housing, and income variables.

Windows Azure DataMarket is a cloud service that provides a global marketplace for delivering high quality information in a consistent manner" -http://www.esri.com/software/landing_pages/microsoft/azure.html

For more information, please visit esri.com/azure/datamarket.

Step Aside Google Earth... AGX900 has Arrived!

Announcing... the recent release of ESRI's ArcGIS Explorer 900!

This is a free, downloadable tool that has a virtual globe that has customizable base maps and the best part of all, it works very well with GIS data created and compiled in ESRI desktop products.

View a short demo movie, get more information, and download the software here:
http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/explorer/whats_new.html

GIS tool to track Felicia Hurricane

Launch the Pacific Disaster Center Online Atlas!

Visit http://www.pdc.org, then click on the map right on the home page. It will launch a GIS viewer. Use the Zoom In tool to drag a box around Hawaii, click Show Legend in the upper right.

As this is posted, Felicia is arriving in Hawaii as a tropical storm!

Map of the Economic News

GeoCommons Map of the News tool presents current economic news in an online map tool.


The Obamameter
http://news.geocommons.com/obamameter

GPS Waypoints onto GoogleEarth

Want to put waypoints from your GPS on GoogleEarth?

The feature you want to use is called, “Add a Placemark”, and it looks like a pushpin and rests along the toolbar along the top of the GoogleEarth window.

What you do is, click the placemark anywhere on a GoogleEarth map, then, a window will pop up in which you can edit the fields for the latitude and longitude according to the waypoints you have saved on your GPS.

Note: You will need to choose in your GPS Setup menu the position format for degrees minutes seconds prior to doing this waypoint editing in GoogleEarth.

Climate Change Imagery & Data for Hawaii

Want to see a model for the possible effects of climate change on Oahu and Maui? The following website provides imagery and information about the data that created it!

Flooding the Islands of Hawaii
http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/hmrg/FloodingOahu/index.php

Fun with GPS Book

Are you interested in learning more about GPS and some fun ways to integrate it into math and science curriculum?

Check out the book Fun with GPS by Donald Cooke.

For more information on the book, chapter updates, and more, visit the website companion to the book:
http://www.funwithgps.com

Hawaii Math Teachers are Using GPS!

At the Hawaii Council of Mathematics Teachers T3 Conference held on January 16 & 17, 2009 on Oahu, math teachers learned to use GPS! We calculated the circumference of the Earth, looked at how the latitude and longitude mapping system is based on mathematical coordinate systems, and learned to connect GPS to GIS with Google Earth!

Free Online Mapping Tools

GoogleMaps
http://maps.google.com

National Geographic Map Machine
http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/map-machine

The National Atlas
http://www.nationalatlas.gov

Pacific Disaster Center
http://www.pdc.org

UH SOEST Coastal Imagery & Maps
http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/coasts/data

Geography Awareness Week on Molokai

On Monday November 17, 2008, several Molokai classrooms celebrated Geography Awareness Week with an emphasis on "GeoTech". Students learned through presentations and hands-on activities. Kaunakakai Elementary School 2nd, 3rd, & 4th graders, Kualapu'u Elementary Kindergarteners, Molokai Middle Hawaiian Immersion, and Molokai High School EAST students all participated in events coordinated by MEDB Women in Technology. Students engaged in GPS treasure hunts on school campus after learning how the technology works (See photo). And, in celebration of GIS Day, a GIS using professional from Molokai presented at the High School and students at the Middle School used some online mapping tools.

Free Online Map Tools

Free Online Map Tools -- If you are interested in getting your kids to visit free, online map tools just to get their feet wet with GIS, here are a couple of fun websites to try:

GeoGreetings
http://www.geogreetings.com
Idea: Have students spell their names or write a "GeoGreeting" message and learn where each letter comes from!

GoogleMaps
http://maps.google.com
Idea: Have students find the street where they live! Then check out one of the new additions from the left side menu, such as 'real-time' earthquakes around the world!

Online Election Map (GIS) Tools

If you are interested in having your kids follow the elections while also introducing them to various online GIS tools, here are a couple of interesting websites to try:

Google Elections '08 Map Gallery
http://maps.google.com/help/maps/elections/

National Public Radio 2008 Election Map
https://gw.medb.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.npr.org/news/specials/election2008/2008-election-map.html