Week 8: Monitoring Fires
Weekly Goals
- Become comfortable using basic GIS functions, such as zooming and panning, reordering layers, and selecting features.
- Become comfortable using advanced GIS functions, such as querying, symbolizing, and classifying GIS data.
- Apply GIS techniques to investigate spatial patterns, such as the spread of a fire.
- Understand that map making is both an art and a science.
- Share your ideas about you might use GIS techniques in your classroom teaching.
- Provide feedback on what you are learning and the process of learning it.
List of This Week's Tasks
- Review basic and advanced GIS skills and analysis techniques.
- Find out how Dr. Steve Chien writes software that specifies what types of conditions satellites should look for as an indication of a hazardous event.
- Create a map that tells a story applicable to your teaching.
- Investigate fire data using GIS techniques.
- Contribute to an online discussion centered on using GIS analysis techniques in your teaching.
- Answer the Week 8 Feedback questions.
A Look at the Week Page by Page
Use Fire Data to Review GIS Basics
This page list the key GIS skill and techniques you have learned in Module 2.
- Use Fire Data to Review AEJEE Basics
- Use Fire Data to Review ArcGIS Basics
These parallel pages review some of the basic GIS skills you have learned, including turning layers on and off, zooming and panning within them, and working with the data tables linked to the map.
If you are pressed for time, download the project file and watch all the movies.
Eyes on Dr. Steve Chien
Meet Dr. Steve Chien, a scientist at JPL, who writes software that specifies what types of conditions satellites should look for as an indication of a hazardous event.
If you are pressed for time, read the background information and explore the Resources later.
Getting to Know Cartography in GIS
This page introduces you to three basic principles of map making.
- Getting to Know Cartography in AEJEE
- Getting to Know Cartography in ArcGIS
On these parallel pages, review database and spatial querying as well as practice symbolizing and classifying data. Also, find out how to gather statistics on numeric fields you query. Take a screenshot of a map you create to tell a story of interest to you. This is the image that you'll post to your discussion section.
This weekly activity is required and is due on Tuesday, April 6, 2010.
Using GIS to Manage Forest Fires
This page provides background information about how NASA satellites and GIS are used to manage forest fires.
- Using AEJEE to Manage Forest Fires
- Using ArcGIS to Manage Forest Fires
These parallel pages guide you through an investigation that uses GIS to analyze and investigate the fires that took place in Yellowstone Park in 1988.
If you are pressed for time, complete the investigation at least through the Focus on Finding Facilities section.
Share and Discuss
This page allows you to access your discussion section plus gives you the opportunity to provide us feedback.
Feedback is optional and anonymous. However, if you have time to provide feedback, you can help us better meet your needs.
Posting on Your Weekly Discussion Section Page (i.e. JSC 1, JSC 2, etc.)
Discuss with your colleagues how you might use the GIS techniques you have learned so far with your students. It is helpful if you create a new thread when you post your Tuesday assignment. Then use the reply function to "talk" to others in your section about their ideas.
This weekly activity is required and occurs from Tuesday, April 6, through Thursday, April 8, 2010.