Mapping
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📚--->Supplemental Resource!
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🦸♀️️🦸♂️️ Above photo is students mapping populations of pitcher's thistle using handheld GPS units.
Mapping may support objectives in direct resource stewardship or add value in communication efforts. It is also a great way for students to further refine their issue identification.
Read the short descriptions below each broad category and if you're interested in a specific tool for the category, we're providing some ideas and tips for use in PBSE efforts. Most PBSE focuses will benefit from incorporating mapping - how might it fit in with your project design or be an added value for students' learning or stewardship?
Printed or Hand-Drawn Maps
Printed or hand drawn maps can be used across all grade levels and in a variety of PBSE focuses.
Aerial maps may be useful for projects with elements focused on surface type, water movement on a site, recreation access or design of a space.
Fill in the blank maps may be useful for projects focused on individual element locations or where your students need to focus on detail for one element so providing the others can hep do that efficiently.
Students creating maps from scratch can help if they're working to identify an issue and need a broad site overview or are brainstorming solutions on a site that can be modified.
Run into printing limits or budget issues to utilize these? Reach out to community partners for support!
Aerial Maps
🛑Only click the arrow to the right if you want to use this type of tool! Optional ideas and tips below. 📚
📚 Using an aerial map can help when mapping a larger site or working to understand how site elements are interacting vs. if they simply are there or not. Examples of efforts this might be useful for include:
Determining how water is flowing across the surface of your site - a walk to map the general slope changes with directional arrows and any inlets/outlets of the water;
Estimating surface types on your site - an aerial map used in the field would help confirm the imagery is reflective of actual site conditions; and
Designing where pathways/trails or other human use spaces might be best situated.
📚 Tips/Resources for Aerial Maps
Be sure to still have students indicate date, data collector names and other relevant information.
Use your Screen Clip or Print Screen tools to snag aerial imagery from most mapping sites (resource list).
You'll want to use Sharpies or other pens that don't smear on the ink. Depending on your purposes, color may be helpful but isn't always necessary for in-field work and color ink can be harder to write on top of than black and write. When students can be on a device, they can make any connections lost with the lack of color.
Fill in the Blank Maps
🛑Only click the arrow to the right if you want to use this type of tool! Optional ideas and tips below. 📚
📚 Using a fill in the blank map can help when focusing on a specific element and may allow for some efficiency in tight field timelines. Examples of efforts this might be useful for include:
Determining the location of a schoolyard habitat - providing elements like hard surfaces or buildings will help students focus on areas that could hold a habitat and make notes;
An inventory of one specific species presence or absence - providing key landmarks with increase students' confidence in estimating the location of individual plants/animals they locate; and
Noting location of trash during a clean up to identify best locations for trash cans or signage.
📚 Tips for Fill in the Blank Maps
If you aren't familiar enough with a site to formulate this one your own, reach out the community partner that is.
These can be done using copies of a drawing you make, via Paint or other Microsoft program (word, powerpoint, etc) that allows you to draw shapes, or using tools like Google Drawing or Canva.
If you'd like students to fill these in as a small group, consider using flip charts or designating a scribe.
Maps from Scratch
🛑Only click the arrow to the right if you want to use this type of tool! Optional ideas and tips below. 📚
📚 Drawing a map from scratch can help when brainstorming stewardship actions or if students are broadly investigating issues at a site. Examples of efforts this might be useful for include:
Determining the boundaries of your field study site;
Prioritizing which features belong on the map; and
Orienting students to the lands/features that border their field study site and how they may influence the site.
📚 Tips for Maps from Scratch
Practice by mapping your classroom (or their home or neighborhood) before heading to the field.
Here are some instructions for getting started with drawing maps from scratch.
Obtaining GPS Locations
GPS, or Global Positioning System, provides access to location data determined by satellite collected information - essentially, it helps provide latitude and longitude data. If your project requires specific location information about individual species or a more precise measurement of area, collecting GPS data can help accomplish that.
This may be at the request of a community partner or something that is adding value to students' learning and contributing to your required standards/content expectations. Be sure to pause and ask yourself the question: Is this use of technology adding value to student learning, the stewardship effort, or a community partner's need?
Handheld GPS units come in varying sizes and complexity. They are often more precise and may be preferred by community partners utilizing the location data students collect. The NEMIGLSI network has a set for lending or it may be useful to acquire some that remain at the school.
Mapping software on tablets and smartphones often will provide location coordinates even when not connected to internet or service. Using this in a larger site situation may be helpful or for students to collect location data outside of the school day.
Run into technology access or budget issues to utilize these? Reach out to community partners for support!
Handheld GPS Units
🛑Only click the arrow to the right if you want to use this type of tool! Optional ideas and tips below. 📚
📚 Using handheld GPS units can help when you need coordinate locations of individual site elements or are following a data collection protocol that requires latitude and longitude information. Examples of efforts this might be useful for include:
Monitoring for rare species - students may be writing down lat/long coordinates or they may be saving specific points for upload to a mapping software; or
Delineating size or boundaries of a larger space - these units often will allow you to trace a walking path or provide the coordinates so that size can be specified once in the classroom.
📚 Tips for GPS Units
Practice with the specific units students will be using in the classroom ahead of field time.
Understand the specifics of what type of location data is needed. Ask questions of community partners like - is there a particular coordinate system or unit that students should be collecting? what type of labeling should we do for any data points? how will you be using the location data or how do other people use the data (if submitting to broader databases)?
Decide if the data will be downloaded from the units to a computer for any reason - reach out to partners for support on this as it may require additional software for the students to then utilize the data in classroom.
Tablets/Smartphones
🛑Only click the arrow to the right if you want to use this type of tool! Optional ideas and tips below. 📚
📚 Using tablets/smartphones for GPS locations may not be as common due to technology limitations/access but is helpful to keep in mind as a resource. Examples of efforts this might be useful for include:
Neighborhood or community wide focused projects where students are walking or collecting location data as part of homework; or
If you already use either of these tools as part of your classroom and it will be more efficient or effective to stick with these instead of a handheld unit.
📚 Tips for Tablets/Smartphones
You will want to use the same mapping app for all students to maintain data consistency. This may be tough with the variety of technology access in a student group but most are available across all systems.
The data often can't be saved on the mapping apps so be sure students have recording procedures set up.
Because most mapping apps will show the aerial coverage, these do add a level of confidence that you may not have with handheld units.
Using GIS
GIS, or geographic information systems, allows us to capture, store, analyze and display various types of data and relate them to each other. If your students are collecting data that is then provided to a community partner or statewide database, this data is most likely being stored and processed with GIS. If your project includes any communication effort and has a need for information to be stored and displayed over several years or a large geography, making use of GIS may be helpful.
Be sure to pause and ask yourself the question: Is this use of technology adding value to student learning, the stewardship effort, or a community partner's need?
Highlighted below is one company (Esri ArcGIS) with a robust K-12 offering for software and support and one type of communication facilitated with GIS (Story Mapping) that may be of interest at the middle and high school levels. QGIS is an additional free and open source GIS software access that may be appropriate for your use.
Run into technology access or budget issues to utilize these? Reach out to community partners for support!
Esri ArcGIS
🛑Only click the arrow to the right if you want to use this type of tool! Optional ideas and tips below. 📚
📚 Using ArcGIS, which includes a suite of products for both field collection and data processing/display, can be helpful for project communications and any broad mapping you may need to complete.
These can be overwhelming and will take time to learn and teach but open up the types of data collection that can occur as well as how students can develop communication efforts or share information back to partners.
📚 Tips for Esri ArcGIS
Start small or with a few students focusing on this. This software is user-friendly for various grades but can take some exploring to get used to yourself and then teach. You can find professionals willing to mentor teachers on this site (click to the number 4 on the upper left).
Esri offers free software bundles for school districts; learn more here.
Use this site for implementation guides as well as lesson locators (with a great filter feature).
Story Mapping
🛑Only click the arrow to the right if you want to use this type of tool! Optional ideas and tips below. 📚
📚 Story mapping is a tool to communicate about field experiences, stewardship efforts and beyond. Examples of efforts this might be useful for include:
Displaying habitat types on a public land or in a school forest;
Highlighting different features of a watershed; and
Outlining facts and features about a schoolyard pollinator garden.
Story maps are a great storytelling tool that allows your students to synthesize locations with photos and words into a product that can be shared with stakeholders, community partners, parents or fellow students.
📚 Tips for Story Mapping
Start small, build out from there. If all students are building a story map, start with small goals like created one map that highlights 2-3 pieces of information. Because of the steeper learning cure, it may be a good idea to designate a story mapping team within a project, whose goal it is to communicate through this medium.
ArcGIS New Story Maps display in a website-style format, using a sequenced series of pictures/videos, narration and of course, maps, to tell a story.
Check out an example ArcGIS student-created Story Map and ArcGIS's how-to's for creating a story map.
Google My Maps is a free, basic story mapping tool that allows creators to add info, like photos and text, to points pinned on a map and sequence them in order to tell a story.
Check out this Google My Maps tutorial to get started.
The MiPines Map, created using Google My Maps, is a collaborative project between Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education and the Michigan DNR, and is living resource for discovering local spaces that can be used as an outdoor classroom.