Giving Ninth Graders Their First Taste of GIS
How do students know whether they might be interested in GIS if they have never had an opportunity to experience it?
At Clark Magnet High School, teachers Dominique Evans-Bye and Shalini Singh are giving ninth graders that opportunity with National Geographic MapMaker.
We spoke with Dominique and Shalini at the 2026 Esri Education Summit about how they are using MapMaker as part of a Technology Literacy course that introduces students to different career technical education pathways available at their school.
Making GIS approachable
Dominique teaches GIS, Living Earth, and sometimes AP Environmental Science. Shalini teaches business. Together, they participate in a ninth-grade rotation that gives students exposure to both the GIS and business pathways.
Students rotate between the two teachers, which means the GIS content needs to be approachable for students who have never used GIS and easy for an instructor without a GIS background to deliver.
They found MapMaker worked well for both.
“We found that MapMaker is a perfect venue for us to deliver the GIS content at a level that ninth graders can easily access and become successful with and gain an interest with,” Dominique said.
Learning independently and from each other
Dominique and Shalini use the MapMaker lessons during their 90-minute block classes. Students watch a video introducing what they are going to learn, follow the instructions, and then work through the activity independently.
They use the Taking It Further portion of the lessons to assess what students have learned.
They have also brought Dominique's advanced GIS students into the classroom to help ninth graders who get stuck. These students have experience with more advanced GIS applications and can offer their perspective and support to students who are just getting started with MapMaker.
Giving students a taste of GIS
The larger goal is to give ninth graders enough experience with GIS to understand what it is and what they might be able to do with it.
“We're using the MapMaker lessons as a way to get them interested,” Dominique said.
Students get a taste of GIS before deciding whether it is a pathway they would like to continue exploring.
And students have fun exploring along the way.
Dominique and Shalini said students enjoy experimenting with MapMaker, including making it snow where they live or in the Amazon and making it rain in the Sahara Desert.
Those experiences can also lead to conversations about real-world issues.
Shalini described discussing the Los Angeles fires with students and asking questions about how many fire departments or firefighters might be needed. When students were able to connect the conversation with maps, she saw the concepts begin to make sense in a different way.
She said MapMaker introduces students to areas of study they may not have explored deeply before and gets them thinking about things differently. She said the experience has been, "So positive."
For Dominique and Shalini, MapMaker is giving ninth graders an approachable introduction to GIS while helping them discover what they may want to learn next.
Watch the video to hear Dominique and Shalini share how they are using National Geographic MapMaker with their ninth-grade students.
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