GIS Basics

The Ordnance Survey website has some great information and ideas for teachers and some fun activities regarding map work for students.The website also has a no nonsense section on getting to grips with GIS. For the basics on what GIS is, how it works and how students can use it is available through the link below.
 
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/gisfiles/section1/page1.html

Showing real, practical examples of how GIS actually works is also important. We can also see how affective GIS mapping can be in this feature below. It's not the most exciting thing you'll ever watch but it's a good example of GIS mapping working for a whole city.

 Students and adults a like can test their knowledge by entering the GIS zone and agreeing to take on a GIS mission. How will you fair?

 http://mapzone.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/giszone/english/gismissions/

Mapping

Moving slightly away from GIS mapping and on to general map work,
I wasn't completely aware of when and why Britain was systematically and accurately mapped. I think it is important for students to also be aware of this information.

Quick history and information.

•  Ordnance Survey is the national mapping agency for Great Britain.
• OS does not produce maps of Northern Ireland.
• It is one of the worlds largest producer of maps..
• Ordnance Survey go back to 1747, when Lieutenant-Colonel David Watson proposed the compilation of a map of the Scottish Highlands to facilitate the subjugation of the clans following the Jacobite rising of 1745 In response, King George II commissioned a military survey of the Highlands, and Watson was placed in charge under the command of the Duke of Cumberland.
• In 1791, whilst planning defences to repel any invasion, that the Government realised the South Coast of England needed to be comprehensively and accurately mapped. So it instructed its Board of Ordnance – the defence ministry of the day – to carry out the necessary survey work.
  That historic decision led to the mapping of the whole country in detail, and is also the source of the intriguing name 'Ordnance Survey'.
•  Large-scale mapping comprises maps at six inches to the mile or more (1:10,560, superseded by 1:10,000 in the 1950s); it was available in sheet-map form until the 1980s, since when it has become digital. Small-scale mapping comprises maps at fewer than six inches to the mile and includes the "leisure maps", such as the popular one inch to the mile and its metric successors, still available in traditional sheet-map form
• In 1995 Britain became the first country in the world to complete a programme of large-scale electronic mapping.
• Today Ordnance Survey is a dynamic, self-financing £120-million-a-year civilian organisation. We’re at the forefront of the digital economy, producing digital mapping products and paper maps for business, leisure, administrative and educational use

It is important to remember that paper maps still have an important role to play especially within the leisure industry. However, we need to ask what are the limits of using them with students?
Looking at map work and getting pupils enthused is a vital start to then topic, especially in year 7.
An idea could be to look at older and more recent maps and share the differences. Pupils could then move on to looking at map keys and the different symbols used. What symbols would they use for certain objects? They could then perhaps create their own map and use their own symbols.

Below is a link which points out the current symbols used on OS maps.

http://mapzone.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/docs/50Kenglishlegend08.pdf

Using cross curricular links, notably to maths, pupils could place treasure or an object somewhere on their map and using compass directions have to guide a partner there.

http://mapzone.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/PagesHomeworkHelp/docs/mapabilitycompassesanddirections.pdf