Mapping My Community

Bathymetry is not a measure of the depths of bathtubs! Through the three lessons, scholars explore two different types of maps and how they are made. The resource focuses on topographic and bathymetric maps and teaching the techniques...

"Humans have become a geologic agent comparable to erosion and [volcanic] eruptions ..." Paul J. Crutzen, a Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist. Using Landsat imagery, scholars create a grid showing land use type, such as urban,...

Is qualitative or quantitative research more convincing when it comes to climate change? In the eighth lesson during this 21-part series, scholars begin by performing a quantitative analysis of deforestation and urbanization. Then, they...

We would be lost without maps! How are they made? Introduce junior topographers to LIDAR technology with a fascinating activity. Set up a mock city, then have learners operate a laser measure to determine the shape of the landscape using...

Amateur seismologists explore Earth's earthquakes in real time using a variety of map styles and parameter selections.

Is GIS the real manifestation of Harry Potter's Marauders Map? Introduce your class to the history of geographic information systems (GIS), the technology that allows for easy use of spatial information, with a resource that teaches...

High schoolers analyze hurricanes. In hurricanes lesson, students use the Internet and GIS to analyze hurricanes. High schoolers view the National Atlas of Maps to discuss the direction hurricanes move. Students study the wind and...

Students discuss the importance of "land." They review the four types of land classification--urban, rural, agricultural and conservation--and participate in an activity involving an apple that demonstrates the use of land in Hawaii....

Geographic information systems (GIS), once used predominantly by experts in cartography and computer programming, have become pervasive in everyday business and consumer use. This unit explores GIS in general as a technology about which...

How does something remain the same in order to change? The video discusses homeostatic evolution from both the continuity and changing perspectives. An analysis of the excretory system in flatworms, earthworms, and vertebrates shows...