Going Further

As with any scientific inquiry, conclusions to one question should lead to new questions. Even when time restrictions prevent execution of further experimentation, it is important to take time to articulate suggestions for further investigations and to propose improvements to the methods used in data collection and analysis.

The My World tool offers a myriad of possibilities for investigation. Any data that vary geographically can be studied in a GIS. This tool comes with a great deal of packaged data that can be used as the focus of an investigation, or students can collect their own data and bring it into a project as shown in this EET chapter.

Data can be seamlessly brought in to My World from ArcIMS servers on the web by selecting File > Import Layer from the Internet... from within the My World program. Then simply type in an appropriate URL for an ArcIMS server.

For additional data and project ideas, visit the My World Activity Center.

The investigation described in this chapter could also be performed with Google Earth, AEJEE or ArcGIS.

How Cities Affect Their Local Climate—Explore the urban heat island effect using student collected surface temperature data. Subset large datasets, buffer others, examine spatial relationships, and gather statistics to investigate temperature differences in urban and rural school sites.

Detecting El Nino in Sea Surface Temperature Data—Create and analyze fifteen years of average SST maps to find El Niño and La Niño events.

Evidence for Plate Tectonics—Identify relationships among sea-floor age, earthquakes, and volcanoes to understand how they support the theory of plate tectonics.

Exploring Monsoon Precipitation and Streamflow in a Semi-Arid Watershed—Investigate the effect of summer thunderstorms on streamflow in a semi-arid watershed in Arizona.

Investigating Earthquakes with AEJEE—Download earthquake data from the USGS. Bring it into a GIS and analyze it to predict where the next big earthquake will occur on Earth.

Is Greenland Melting?—Explore map layers to examine annual melting and long-term changes of Greenland's ice sheet.

Looking into Earth with GIS—Examine seismic wave data in a GIS and analyze wave velocities to infer the depth of the crust-mantle boundary.

Seeing the Forest for the Trees: What's in Your Woods?—Investigate forest biodiversity in Maine using a spreadsheet and My World GIS. Then consider the environmental factors that contribute to tree species diversity.

Protecting Wetlands from Exurban Development—Examine land-use changes around Macclenny, Florida. Propose locations for future development that minimize impacts on wetlands.

Tsunami Run-up Prediction for Seaside, Oregon with AEJEE—Download and examine global, historical tsunami run-up patterns. Acquire DEM contours and import them into My World GIS. Then visualize the potential sea level rise that could occur during a tsunami run-up event near Seaside, Oregon.

Tsunami Run-up Prediction for Seaside, Oregon with My World GIS—Download and examine global, historical tsunami run-up patterns. Acquire DEM contours and import them into My World GIS. Then visualize the potential sea level rise that could occur during a tsunami run-up event near Seaside, Oregon.