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•  Large-scale mapping comprises maps at six inches to the mile or more (1:10,560, superseded by 1:10,000 in the 1950s); it was available in sheet-map form until the 1980s, since when it has become digital.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

First Post!

Okay, first time I have ever blogged, here goes!

I have decided to focus initially on map work but more specifically on GIS.

For starters I feel it's important to get an understanding on what on earth GIS is?

With help from Google and the Geographical Association a fantastic explanation of GIS is as follows: GIS (Geographic Information Systems) is one of the fastest growing software applications in the world. GIS is not one program and different types of GIS serve different purposes: a GIS that tracks and schedules freight on a route network is different from an environmental GIS. More than 80% of data collected can be linked to a location on the earth’s surface, so it is not surprising that GIS and mobile services are taking off. GIS really puts geography on the map!

There are three elements to any GIS: a digital map, data located on the map, and a software application (GIS) that links the two together. A simple school GIS provides display and search facilities for mapped data. More sophisticated commercial GIS functions include spatial querying and analysis, buffering and spatial modelling.

For the purpose of the blog I am giving a ‘grown up’ definition but I understand that in a classroom a teacher would choose a definition or explanation that is most suitable for the class.

I sort of already knew that GIS had something to do with maps and obviously maps have always been important and useful throughout human history. They represent and show how features are distributed geographically. Cities, roads, weather, etc but through computer programs GIS enables people to create, analyse, update and visualise different sorts of information through maps such as areas of crime, up to the minute weather locally and globally, and supermarket reward card information that would be used by retail analysts.

GIS mapping can involve many different layers of information in one place.

Whilst researching I came across this activity that could possibly be used in the classroom.

 Peeling the Onion (Reading Paper Maps in GIS Format). This activity looks at how layers of information form a GIS. Students are asked to identify maps and GIS layers on these maps.

http://www.esri.com/mapping-for-everyone/index.html

and

http://www.gis.com/implementing_gis/data/map_data.html

So that’s my first blog. A small introduction to a sizeable topic!