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2024 Map Competition for Iowa Students
Theme: Mapping Iowa's Unique History, Geography, and/or Nature
Sponsors of this competition include the Iowa Geographic Information Council (IGIC), William Penn University and Esri
What: An ArcGIS Online map competition for Iowa middle school and high school students.
Deadline for submitting maps to Iowa Contest Coordinator: Monday, May 6, 2024.
Who is eligible: All Iowa public, private, or homeschooled students, grades 4 - 12, are eligible to enter the contest. Maps can be submitted individually or as a team of two students. Limit of one entry per student or team.
Entry Limit: Each school will be limited to five maps for submission to the state contest. All maps entered should be judged using the rubric under the Judging Criteria tab.
Theme: Any topic of interest within the boundaries of Mapping Iowa's Unique History, Geography, Business/Industry, and/or Nature.
What kind of story could be told with at least one map? What kind of analysis is possible using your map analytic tools? Here are a few ideas:
Choose an Iowa Feature - Natural or Manmade. Maybe your favorite conservation area(s), the system of Iowa railroads or state parks...The Manson Crater, Loess Hills, Effigy Mounds or other historic sites...Mining towns and their location history - or the look and location of watersheds or agriculture and conservation features...the loss of trees due to the Emerald Ash Borer, etc...the path of the Derecho or tornadoes...Or the Native American heritage rich in Iowa. Use your imagination.
Create a map to tell your story, perhaps its history or its importance to you, or to other Iowans or tourists.
Create a map to tell a story of how a place was developed; is it a naturally occurring place? Did someone or some entity create it? How old is it? Is it open to the public? Free? Is there a fee? Is it accessible year round or only during certain times of the year?
Does your chosen feature impact the surrounding community? Is it of local interest only or does it attract people from the rest of the state or beyond?
Add an analysis component (REQUIRED): How near is the feature to you? Others? Can you drive to it? Hike to it? Is it a hot spot? For example, if analyzing a watershed, what is the quality of water? What forces impact the water quality? Is this feature a tourist destination in Iowa? If it is historic, what did it look like years ago versus what it looks like now.
Iowa is rich with unique geography and history. Use your imagination to create a StoryMap using Iowa themes of interest to you!
Sounds of the Wild West
This StoryMap is a collection of images, text, and audio which showcases areas and sounds of the Wild West.
Link to story map example: Sounds of the Wild West.
This is just one example of a story map! Explore other story map albums, including Iowa entries, at https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-storymaps/gallery/.
ENTRIES
1. Entry forms (student/s to school, school to state, state to Esri) will be made available to state leads in January 2024.
2. Student entries must be from an ArcGIS School Bundle license's ArcGIS Online Organization (not a "public account", Developer license, Personal Use license, StoryMaps.com license, higher ed license, or other license). Any K12 school (public, non-public, or homeschool) or formal youth club can request for free an ArcGIS School Bundle (includes an ArcGIS Online Organization).
3. Entries must be an ArcGIS StoryMap (must use a current template [standard or "Briefing"], not one of the "classic" templates), using an address of "storymaps.arcgis.com" (not "storymaps.com"), and be a single ArcGIS StoryMap (not a Collection, nor a story that launches other stories as integral parts of the project).
4. Entries must focus on content within the state borders. States may choose to refine the focus further, but the geographic scope of the project must be within the state. The project may reference data outside the state "for context," but may not extend the focus of the study beyond the state borders. For example, broader patterns of environmental characteristics or demographic movements may be referenced for context, but the focus must be on phenomena within the state.
5. Schools must announce their own internal deadlines, in time to complete judging and provide information to the state by its deadline. States must announce their in-state deadlines, but can be no later than 5pm Pacific Time on Wed May 8, 2024. States must submit data to Esri no later than 5pm Pacific Time on Mon May 13, 2024.
AWARDS
The five maps judged the best in each division at the state level will be awarded a $100 cash gift each.
Middle School Division - grades 4 - 8
Senior High Division - grades 9 - 12
Note: Teams spanning grade levels will be entered in the division of the student at the upper grade.
Award-winning maps must remain visible to the public for one year.