This activity has been reviewed by 2 review processes (view details)

This activity was selected for the On the Cutting Edge Reviewed Teaching Collection

This activity has received positive reviews in a peer review process involving five review categories. The five categories included in the process are
- Scientific Accuracy
- Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
- Pedagogic Effectiveness
- Robustness (usability and dependability of all components)
- Completeness of the ActivitySheet web page
For more information about the peer review process itself, please see https://serc.carleton.edu/teachearth/activity_review.html.
This activity has benefited from input from faculty educators beyond the author through a review and suggestion process. This review took place as a part of a faculty professional development workshop where groups of faculty reviewed each others' activities and offered feedback and ideas for improvements. To learn more about the process On the Cutting Edge uses for activity review, see http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/review.html.

Initial Publication Date: August 17, 2010 | Reviewed: July 21, 2015 (see revision history: 2 events)

Intro. to ArcGIS and Maps

Chad Heinzel, University of Northern Iowa

Summary

Preparation for understanding the ArcGIS software and developing activities using local data.

Context

Type and level of course
Entry level in-service teachers or undergraduate

Geoscience background assumed in this assignment
None

GIS/remote sensing skills/background assumed in this assignment
None

Software required for this assignment/activity:
ArcGIS 9.2 ArcView

Time required for students to complete the assignment:
1 hour and 50 minutes

Goals

GIS/remote sensing techniques students learn in this assignment
learn the basic tool within ESRI's ArcGIS

Other content/concepts goals for this activity
data management
how to download gis data from Iowa's DNR

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
By activity 3 (the challenge) the student moves from basic skill development towards using the data interpret population trends through time

Description of the activity/assignment

These activities were developed to introduce students to the ArcGIS software package and help the begin developing their own place-based (Iowa) activities.

Determining whether students have met the goals

There are questions at the end of each activity that the instructor may use to gauge if the students are learning the material.
More information about assessment tools and techniques.