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ED 589: Investigations in Spatial Thinking
INSTRUCTORS OF RECORD:
EMAIL:
PHONE:
Carolyn Gardner and Dan Morris
[email protected]
and [email protected]
719-440-5528
FAX:
ADDRESS:
303-337-6845
11777 Harvard Ave,
Aurora CO 80017
COURSE CREDIT:
2.0 graduate credits
COURSE INSTRUCTOR:
Joseph J. Kerski, Ph.D.
Education Manager
Esri
1 International Court
Broomfield CO 80021-3200 USA
Tel: 303-449-7779 x 8237
Cell: 303-625-3925
[email protected]
Twitter: @josephkerski
DATES, TIMES, NUMBER OF SESSIONS:
Spring Semester (beginning March
20th – April 30th)
Duration: 5 weeks long:
Asynchronous. Time estimated:
6 -7 hours per week online.
This course includes 5 modules, each composed of discussion forums, hands-on work with
geotechnologies, quizzes, and a student-directed project that begins during the first week of the course
and runs throughout the course. This blended facilitated course includes 30 hours of interactive
tutorials, readings, exercises, individual work and facilitated discussion. This on-line facilitated course
work will take place over a 5 week period, and eNetColorado Certified Facilitators will be provided for
this course.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course builds on the course: Isn’t that Spatial? Analyzing Our World Using Digital Maps and Spatial
Thinking. Participants are strongly advised to take the first course before taking this course, but this
Investigations in Spatial Thinking Course: Module 2: Population and Ecoregions. Page 1 of 12
course will include review of the foundations of Spatial Thinking and geotechnologies so taking ED 589 is
not absolutely necessary, particularly if the participant is familiar with these foundations and the
technology. This course, Deeper Investigations in Spatial Thinking, will deepen participants’
understanding of how to enhance their own curriculum using spatial analysis with web-based maps and
Geographic Information Systems (GIS). These “geotechnology” tools help foster inquiry, critical thinking,
and problem-based learning through the investigation of real problems and issues in our world from a
local to a global scale, such as weather, water, business location optimization, natural hazards, and
historical and current events.
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COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Upon the completion of this course, each participant will:
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(1) Understand how to use existing web mapping tools and geotechnologies necessary to teach
and foster spatial analysis in geography, earth and biological sciences, history, mathematics,
technology, STEM, computer science, and in other disciplines.
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(2) Understand where to find data, lessons, and foundational readings and videos that focus on
investigating standards-based and relevant issues to the 21stCentury including but not limited
to population dynamics, hurricanes, energy, water, current events, sustainable agriculture,
coastal erosion, and business site location.
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(3) Know how to use, create, and share maps to create a project of their own choosing that
incorporates geotechnology skills, the spatial perspective, and content knowledge within their
own course(s).
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STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Upon completion of this course the participant will be able to:
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Use a greater variety of web-based mapping and GIS tools than they could before beginning this
course. Specifically, they will create, save, and share data and maps using ArcGIS Online (AGOL),
Story Maps, and ArcGIS Explorer Online presentations.
Expand their own critical thinking about maps and spatial data.
Identify connections between the relevance of spatial thinking and GIS to education and society.
Integrate multimedia, presentation, and assessment with geospatial technologies.
Plan, create, and implement an instructional project using web mapping tools.
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TEXTS, READINGS, INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES:
The course will include key readings from the GIS education research community about spatial thinking
and GIS in education from research articles, online journals, and current e-newspapers. It will also
engage the participants in hands-on work using web-based GIS tools such as ArcGIS Online, Story Maps,
and ArcGIS Online presentations to investigate topics and issues from the local to the global scale.
Course materials will be provided via the eNetColorado Moodle site (http://moodle.enetcolorado.org).
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
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Reading and watching assigned text and videos focusing on spatial thinking.
Hands-on work using web GIS tools.
Responses via online forums to the readings and hands-on work.
A project of their own choosing where they incorporate spatial thinking and web GIS.
Participant feedback and assessment are important components of this course. In order to provide a
high-quality learning experience and ensure that participants receive regular feedback, facilitators will
use the Gradebook within the Moodle platform to document each participant's performance on
required assignments, including the forum discussion, quizzes, hands-on activities, and the project. In
order to receive credit for the course, participants must attend and actively participate in all class
modules unless alternative arrangements are approved in advance.
Assignments need to be completed by the due date assigned by the instructor.
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GRADE DISTRIBUTION AND SCALE:
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10% - Participation in online Discussion Forum Responses
20% - Quizzes
50% - Hands-on activities
20% - Project Completion
2% per week
4% per week
10% per week
Grade Scale:
93 – 100 % = A
85 – 92% = B
80 – 84% = C
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Description of Weekly Modules:
Each week includes 5 main components:
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Introduction
Readings and Reflections
Hands-on Activities
Quiz
Your Project
Module Theme
/ Week
Readings with
Discussion Forum
0
(before
and as
course
begins)
Orientation
1
Introduction:
Foundations
of Spatial
Thinking
--Course Goals
--Structure of
Course
--technical notes
--How to sign up for
graduate credit
--Syllabus
--Add your location
and information to
a live ArcGIS Online
web map
Foundations of
Spatial Thinking:
-- Watch and
respond to Course
Introduction Video
--Read selections
from NRC report,
Gersmehl examples;
Kerski 3 legged stool
framework.
Hands-on Activities
Quizzes
Project of
Participants’
Own Choosing
Telling Stories with
Maps:
Examine 3 ways to tell
a story with maps:
Telling Stories
with Maps:
Spatial Thinking
and web GIS
skills; ways to
tell stories with
maps.
Your Project:
Planning, Create
AGOL Public
Account: Plan
your project;
create a
storyboard.
--Think about the
desired theme,
data, scale, and so
on.
--Create AGOL
personal public
account.
Your Project:
Adding,
Symbolizing,
Metadata: Add
content to your
map using existing
map services.
--Symbolize your
data.
1) ArcGIS Online
multimedia maps.
2) ArcGIS Online
presentations.
3) Esri Story Maps:
2
Global
Population
and
Ecoregions
Investigating Global
Population and
Ecoregions:
-Describe the
population density
where you live and
your ecoregion.
--Discuss ecoregions
globally and
Investigating Global
Population and
Ecoregions:
-- Build an ecoregions
and population map;
save it; share it.
Examine relationships
between ecoregions,
latitude, climate, and
Investigating
Global
Population and
Ecoregions:
Content:
Ecoregions.
Skills: Adding
data, changing
scale,
Investigations in Spatial Thinking Course: Module 2: Population and Ecoregions. Page 4 of 12
regionally.
3
Weather and
Water
Investigating
Weather and
Water:
--Describe climate,
weather, and water
use in your region.
--Predict the future
water situation in
your region.
--Reflect on water
use in the USA via
USGS report.
--Examine current
streamflow
conditions.
4
Location
Analytics
Location Analytics:
--Discuss data
sources.
--Discuss data
quality issues
-- Discuss privacy
issues surrounding
geotechnologies.
5
Telling Your
Story with
Web Maps
Telling Your Story
with Web Maps: -Discuss the
effectiveness of
maps as a story
telling tool.
-- Examine (1) AGOL
maps with
bookmarks and
popups; (2) AGOL
presentations:
Weird Earth, Why
altitude.
--Examine population
and discuss ecoregions
most under threat from
climate change and
population growth.
Investigating Weather
and Water: Examine
relationships between
terrain and watersheds.
--Examine relationships
between current
weather and
streamflow.
Digging Deeper:
--Draw a line across
watershed and Use the
terrain profile
template.
--Examine Esri disaster
response maps using a
variety of real-time
data.
Location Analytics: -Examine pattern of Bail
Bonds and Car Washes
in OKC.
--Add a mystery
business.
--Embed a map in a
web page.
Telling Your Story with
Web Maps:
--Create an ArcGIS
Online presentation
from the volcanoes of
the world web cam
map.
examining
relationships;
saving and
sharing maps.
--Save your map.
--Adding
metadata to your
map.
Investigating
Weather and
Water:
Content:
Weather,
water, terrain.
Skills: Adding
data via other
means (tables,
creation of map
notes, share
your map,
discuss AGOL
groups.
Your Project:
Map Notes,
Template
Publishing: Add
content to your
map via map
notes.
--Publish your
map to a mapping
applications
template.
Location
Analytics:
Content: Data
sources,
quality, and
privacy.
--Spatial
patterns of
businesses.
Your Project: Add
Tabular Data,
Embed in Web
Page: Add content
to your map via
data tables.
--Embed 1 of your
maps in a web
page.
Telling Your
Story with Web
Maps: -Content: Skills:
Creating
presentation.
--1 most useful
thing from this
course?
--What 2 topics
or skills you
would like in
next course?
Your Project:
Create
Presentation and
Tell Your Story: -Create, save, and
share
presentation that
describes your
project.
End of Course
survey.
Investigations in Spatial Thinking Course: Module 2: Population and Ecoregions. Page 5 of 12
GIS in Education, 10
Landscapes AGOL,
10 most expensive
streets, and
(3) Story Maps.
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Module 2: Investigating Global Population and Ecoregions
Welcome to Module 2! In this module, you will have the opportunity to investigate global population
and ecoregions, build additional skills with web mapping tools, and make more progress on your own
project.
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Module 2 Readings and Reflections
Welcome to Module 2: Investigating global population density and ecoregions.
Now that you have reflected on some definitions of spatial thinking and had some practice with
ArcGIS Online, we will now dig a little deeper using global population density and ecoregions as the
topic for this week’s investigation.
Your assignment for Module 2 is to:
(1) Read the text in the Module 2 Readings and Reflections section, reflect upon the contents, and
share your reactions to these questions with your colleagues taking this course.
(2) Complete the Module 2 hands-on activity by working through the tasks posted there and
uploading your answers to the questions into the hands-on activity reflection area.
(3) Complete Quiz 2.
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(4) Do further work on your project that you began thinking about in Module 1.
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Module 2: Investigating Global Population and Ecoregions
A) The Whys of Where.
The most important question that a spatial thinker asks is not "where?" but "why?" Where by itself is
important, but to stop there cuts short spatial thinking and the subsequent spatial analysis that could
result. At its best, where by itself is a scaffold upon which we can hang other geographic knowledge and
build skills. At its worst, where by itself is the place-name, imports-and-exports, and capes-and-bays
memorization stereotypes that makes geographers and educators twitchy. To nurture spatial thinking,
we must couple the where with why.
B) Data: Opportunity and Challenge
We have a variety of data sets at our fingertips nowadays with web mapping tools to examine themes
and issues in our world at a variety of scales, to help us understand the whys of where. For example, in
terms of population, we not only have the locations of cities, but the size of those cities. We not only
have the total population counts, but also the population density, how the population is changing, and
the characteristics of the population such as median age, ethnicity, median income, education level, life
expectancy, and many more variables. We can examine population related to other phenomena,
represented as map layers, to determine the impact of the population on those phenomena or layers.
In this module, you will examine population density and ecoregions to determine the impact of
population on those ecoregions, and also the effect that elevation and latitude has on the pattern of
world ecoregions.
One of the essential components when using web maps is the “details” or “metadata” about the map.
This describes characteristics about the map that are important for 2 main things – (1) keywords that
help people search for and find maps, and (2) providing information that is important for those using
your map to be able to judge whether it is something they wish to use in their own decision making.
Metadata is therefore “data about the map.”
Do you want to be able to find your map in the future? Just as it is important to name your files on your
own computer with descriptive names (rather than file1.doc, file2.doc, etc), it is important to name your
web maps descriptively, as well as add keywords to further aid in finding them. Secondly, as it becomes
easier and easier to create web maps that contain layers from a myriad of sources, it becomes more
important than ever to document your data sources. Otherwise, what may be wonderful maps with rich
content may not be used because the sources are not documented, and thus they are questioned.
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This documentation should include things such as who created the data, when it was created, how often
it is updated, the sources used to create it, the scale at which it was created, the features contained in
the map, the attributes of those features and what they mean, the map projection used, the explanation
of the classification used on the map, the range of the variables used, the citation information that
should be used with the map, and the restrictions of use on the map including the copyright, if any. The
Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) in the USA, as well as the International Standards
Organization (ISO) maintains metadata standards for spatial data content, and certainly, other
information could be included in the metadata documentation. But at a minimum, always keep in mind
to document your map as fully as possible, especially if you make it public.
C) Ecoregions and Population
1) What is an ecoregion? Do some research if you need to in order to provide an answer.
While there are several definitions, often at opposition with each other, it is generally accepted that
an ecoregion nests inside a biome. A biome is a very large region containing a certain continuum of
plants, animals, climate, and vegetation, for example, grasslands, temperate rainforest, tropical
rainforest, taiga, desert, and so on. Furthermore, an ecoregion usually contains some information about
the specific location in which it is located. For example, the North American mid-latitude Great Plains
shortgrass prairie ecoregion is located in the Steppe Grassland biome. This biome can also be found in
Argentina, in Russia, and elsewhere in the world, but the ecoregion is specific to that part of the biome
in west-central North America.
2) In what ecoregion would you say you live and work?
3) Name 3 factors that influence population density in a given area.
4) Describe the population density in the neighborhood in which you live and work.
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Module 2: Hands-on Activity
Module 2 Hands On Activity. Complete the following tasks and respond.
In this hands-on activity, you will investigate the relationship between land use, population density, and
ecoregions.
Go to http://www.arcgis.com/home - ArcGIS Online - and search for and then open the following ArcGIS
Online map:
http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=8b6d6ce07c4244bc8b3a9f7c1c274e48
This map shows ecoregions, population density, and imagery. Notice the buttons above the text to the
left of the map image: About This Map, Show Contents, and Map Legend. Get comfortable with what
these buttons do. The map will look similar to that below.
Use Bookmarks and select World. Turn off the ecoregions layer.
1) Describe 2 characteristics of world population density.
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Change the base map back and forth from Imagery to Terrain With Labels so that you can refer to
country and city names that are part of the Terrain with Labels layer, if you need to.
2) Examine the “details” behind the population world (density) layer. Who created this data, and what
sources did they use?
Use Bookmarks and select India-Nepal. Toggle between population density and the imagery base map.
Try making the population density layer transparent.
3) Name 2 reasons for the difference between the population density in northern India versus that of
Nepal.
4) Turn on the ecoregions layer. Name the predominant ecoregions in the most densely settled regions
of northern India. Name 2 ways in which the dense settlement here has an effect on the ecoregions of
this area.
5) Describe the ecoregion and the population density in the region in which you work based on the map
you are examining. How does the population density compare against your observation from the first
part of Module 2, where you were asked to reflect upon the population density without the aid of a
map?
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Module 2: Your Project
Module 2: Your Project: Adding, Symbolizing, Metadata
Open ArcGIS Online and log into your account. This is your public account (that is, not an ArcGIS Online
organizational subscription account, which we can talk about later. However, if you are using an
organizational subscription account, that, too, will work just fine for this course.).
Think about the project you would like to build for this course that you could use in your own
instruction. You could begin your project by opening an existing map and modifying it, or starting with
a new map and adding data to it. Either way, begin your map project.
1) Make sure there is at least 1 layer in your map besides the base map. Remember that these layers
can be added in many ways, such as from field data that you collect, from points, lines, and areas that
you draw on the map screen, from GIS shapefiles, from text and spreadsheets, and from content served
from a variety of nonprofit organizations, industry, academic institutions, government agencies, and
other organizations around the world. Use the Add button and add at least 1 layer to your map. If you
need some help:
Investigations in Spatial Thinking Course: Module 2: Population and Ecoregions. Page 10 of 12
A deeper dive into ArcGIS Online: My series of videos on using ArcGIS Online in education:
Here is the link: Copy this into a browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m0I5SmnVc0&list=PLiC1i3ejK5vtyUTMRDSZYcSZwJ12E2VCN
Or click below:
Lots more video tutorials are here:
http://video.arcgis.com
2) Recall that when you worked with the population density and ecoregions map, there were a few
bookmarks included. In your map that you are constructing here, make sure you create at least 2
bookmarks that direct the reader of your map to 2 different locations at 2 different scales.
3) Recall in the population density-ecoregions investigation that you examined the metadata for the
map. For the map that you are constructing here, access the metadata “details” area, and edit that
area: Begin populating it with information about what your map is all about, where you are obtaining
the data for it, and an appropriate thumbnail image.
4) Save your map, share it by making it public, and provide the URL here. Note: It is recognized that
your map is a “work in progress.” This is perfectly fine! You’ll have plenty of time in future weeks of this
course to refine your map. But share it now so others can have a look at what you are up to and be
inspired.
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Module 2 Quiz 2
1) How is examining population density different from analyzing a choropleth map of world population
by country?
2) In this module, I had you reflect upon your local neighborhood and describe its population density.
Can you see how this might be a useful technique in your courses to invite students to make personal
and local observations and then connect it to observing city-wide, regional, national, or international
trends and characteristics?
3) What is 1 way in which the natural or physical environment influences population density?
4) Name 2 base maps that you can use in ArcGIS Online.
5) What is one function within ArcGIS Online that you used in this module that you could use in your
classroom? In one sentence, name the function and how you plan to use it.
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