Latest Contributions by TomBaker

  Growing up in the 70's and 80's, each holiday season, I awaited the arrival of the NBC special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It is a 1964 stop-motion show about Rudolph and his adventures, including a stop at the Island of the Misfit Toys. This holiday season, we are sharing our GIS adventure puzzle, Finding the Island of Misfit Toys - a storymap with an instant app of the Arctic. The puzzle begins to let students use clues to narrow in on the likely location of the famous imaginary island. Explore this geographic puzzle and others at https://esriurl.com/puzzles     Learn about the Esri Schools program. ... View more

Mappy Halloween! is an interactive ArcGIS StoryMap activity where students explore real-world places with spooky names—like Ghost Ranch and Witch’s Canyon—while building mapping and critical-thinking skills. Designed for middle and high schoolers, the activity connects geography, culture, and storytelling through a map-based interface that highlights how place names reflect legend and creativity. This StoryMap reinforces concepts such as spatial patterns and human-environment interaction, making it ideal for introducing toponymy or practicing digital mapping. Teachers can use it for fall lesson plans, Halloween-themed days, or as a fun way to show that maps tell stories beyond navigation. Students may work alone or in groups to investigate eerie locations, compare naming trends, or create their own haunted maps. Whether teaching geography, Earth science, or cultural studies, Mappy Halloween! offers engaging learning with a seasonal twist. Explore the StoryMap here: Mappy Halloween!. ref StoryMap: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e9035a73ceaa47318ce681341def5f4a ... View more

Many Earth science teachers begin teaching freshwater units in early fall.  Usually these investigations cover at least the flow of freshwater in the water cycle, paying attention to  rivers, lakes, and streams.   Explore how rivers and streams flow to the sea—connecting local landscapes to some of the planet’s most iconic waterways. Explore how topography and gravity shape river systems. Measure elevation changes, trace tributaries, and analyze how watersheds connect land, water, and life.  Inspire students to see rivers not just as natural features, but as lifelines of ecosystems, cultures, and communities. Dive in and let curiosity flow—one watershed at a time.   Resources: MapMaker activity: Where rivers run Mapmaker activity: Is water really running out? Map Viewer GeoInquiry: A river runs through it App: The water balance app – see how the water balance in a place is changing over time. App: Drought Aware – near real-time, local to national maps and analyses Data: Live stream gauge data for use in Map Viewer or ArcGIS Pro ... View more

Managed by the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Litzsinger Road Ecology Center (LREC) is a beacon of growth for students in the Saint Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area.   Dr. Bob Coulter, a former classroom teacher and the center’s director, has had a long commitment to educational innovation. In the late 1990s while he was still working in classrooms, he taught an elementary curriculum codeveloped by the Missouri Botanical Garden called What’s It Like Where You Live? As Coulter explained, “We want students to deepen their understanding of what’s outside of their window. For instance, how does the local temperature and precipitation enable certain plants and animals to survive? With this, how are the plants and animals adapted for these conditions? Equipped with these perspectives, students can compare local, distant, and future ecosystems.” Read more about Bob's amazing adventures with kids and GIS. +++++   Learn more about GIS in the instruction of youth in ecology and environmental science with activities from Esri: Climate shaping cultures Farming and the rural landscape National parks and public lands and more!   +++++   ... View more

Teaching topography and topographic maps are important in Earth science and physical geography; it builds a foundation for understanding how the surface of the Earth shapes natural processes, ecosystems, and human activity. For this reason, topography is often taught at the beginning of Earth science and geography courses - in September!   Explore three different teaching activities to help teach topography using GIS maps. 1. Exploring topographic features (with MapMaker) https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/08021f4b5b554cf69f0dc2e360173fd7 Explore topography in 2D and 3D while using the elevation profile tool to examine elevation. No account or login required. Time to complete: Two class periods. 2. VR: Topography and our natural heritage https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/bb4795fa2aea4885b1d31c8bbb5863ce No virtual reality hardware required!  Explore topography in this simple activity that uses Yosemite National Park. No account or login required. Time to complete: 20 minutes. 3. Topography and our natural heritage (with Map Viewer) https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=e3ada52bdc7149829b71d16c33841b54 The topographic GeoInquirry from Esri using the modern map viewer. No account or login required. Time to complete: About 15 minutes. +++++ Other mapping tools and their potential use: Historical topo map explorer The Historical Topo Map Explorer provides a visual way to search and explore the USGS topographic map collection via geographic extent, publication year, and map scale. https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/topomapexplorer/#maps=&loc=-98.54,40.15&LoD=4.00   ... View more

In most schools, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is hotly debated and frequently regulated by school district policy.  With the addition of AI Assistants to the ArcGIS platform, there’s no better time to know how to enable or disable AI Assistants and understand the capacities of the tools. As of this writing, AI Assistants must be enabled by an ArcGIS Online Organization administrator.  When enabled, all AI Assistants are available to all users in the organization. To check your organization, login with an admin account and click Organization >> Settings >> AI Assistant.  By default, AI Assistants are turned off.  Also note that while this blog focuses on the four AI Assistants in StoryMaps, there are several AI Assistants now available across multiple Esri tools. During July of 2025, Esri announced the addition of four new AI Assistants for ArcGIS StoryMaps.  AI Assistants use large language models to create or alter text. They are generative AI. These four StoryMap AI Assistants are: Insights assistant — located in the About this story section of the Insights panel, this provides some metrics and indicators that can be used to help define, describe, and quantify your story. Accessibility assistant — found in the Accessibility tab of the options for images that are added to a story. It uses AI to generate suggested alt text for the image. Writing assistant — part of the text formatting toolbar when a chunk of text is highlighted. It uses AI to make the designated text clearer, more concise, grammatically correct, and/or fit one of four general “tones”. Theme assistant — appears as one of the initial starting point options when creating a new theme. It responds to a written prompt by generating a theme with some color and font selections already made (text from W. Hackney). >>> Read more about these tools in William Hackney’s post. For classroom teachers, there are a handful of key take-aways to understand. The new Insights AI Assistant and panel will calculate the Flesh-Kincaid grade readability score of a storymap you have created.  It will also estimate reading time for a typical adult. Each of these metrics can be invaluable for teachers creating storymaps. The Writing AI Assistant can improve but also generate written text, if prompted properly. If a student writes: “The bear gracefully walked through the creek”, the AI Assistant can rewrite, correct grammar, or change the tone of the sentence. “Write a paragraph about a bear walking through a stream”, the AI Assistant will generate the requested new paragraph when asked to “Rephrase” the text. All AI Assistants are either available to all users in the organization or turned off for everyone.  This means there is currently no option to allow teachers access but disallow student access. To learn about workflows, security, AI bias and more, see the Esri documentation. The AI Assistants in StoryMaps are a powerful addition to the story-telling tools. Be sure you understand the capacities and nuances of these AI tools moving forward.   ... View more

What is an ArcGIS Public account? An ArcGIS public account is a free account that is available for individuals to create and share content with limits on usage. This free, limited-functionality account gives you permanent access to create and share basic maps. It's intended for personal, non-commercial use. Using a public account, you can: Create, store, and manage maps, scenes, layers, apps, and other geospatial content. Share content with others. Access content shared by Esri and GIS users around the world. Since MapMaker is an ArcGIS Online app, you can use your ArcGIS Public account to save and share maps. What’s the catch? ArcGIS Online public accounts can only be created by adults!  So, public accounts are great for teachers wanting to make and share maps with students. Example scenario Ms. Johnson, a second grade teacher goes to MapMaker and opens a map she likes.  She moves the map and zooms in to her community and turns off one layer she doesn’t feel her students need. Ms. Johnson presses the Save button and selects “Save a Map” – which prompts her to login.  Using her public account, she then saves a map file to her ArcGIS Online Public account and sets the sharing to “Everyone”.  She is then able to copy and paste her map’s URL into her school’s LMS where the students can interact with the new map. How to set up an ArcGIS public account Use a service like Google, Apple, or Facebook to create your ArcGIS Public account.  Your name and email address are provided by the selected service.  Pro: This method is fast to create – and fast to login later!  Con: You may want to use a different email address with ArcGIS Online than the one provided by the third-party. See a demonstration video.  Create a new, standard public ArcGIS Online account.  Pro: You control all submitted information for the profile. Con: It’s a little slower to set-up. Save you username and password to your browser to speed up subsequent logins.  Use your new public account with MapMaker Head over to MapMaker, here. Press the “Save” button. Click “Sign in”. Click the “Sign in” button. (This should pop open a new browser window.) Once signed in, the Save panel will show your profile (see below). You are now ready to save maps or open your saved maps.   ... View more

Join Esri at the annual meeting of the National Council for Geographic Education in Omaha, October 17-19. We will be exhibiting and sharing new instructional activities, Esri Press books, and the latest enhancements to our software.  Look for the Esri lab room on Saturday, October 18th. You’ll find sessions on a variety of software and instructional materials. Below is a daft schedule for the Esri BYOD lab in the Missouri room. Instructors include: Anita Palmer, Joseph Kerski, Charlie Fitzpatrick and Tom Baker. 8:00 - Introduction to National Geographic MapMaker 9:00 - Physical geography activities for the classroom 10:00 - Introduction to StoryMaps for Teachers 11:00 – Creating StoryMaps - intermediate techniques 1:00 - APHG resources from National Geographic Learning 2:00 - Utilizing National Geographic Learning resources: World Cultures 3:00 - Map Viewer - Basic map making 4:00 – Designing projects with Survey123 Learn more about the NCGE conference here.   ... View more

Throughout his career, Chris Bunin has specialized in teaching geography, AP Human Geography, and history. Embracing innovation to keep students engaged, he has moved away from traditional worksheets and textbooks, integrating GIS technology into his lessons.   But Bunin’s journey with GIS began unexpectedly. “I stumbled across GIS and fell in love with it,” he said. Initially unsure about his career path, he discovered his passion for teaching and mentoring while working at youth summer camps. During his social studies teacher training, he took a mapping course that introduced him to Esri’s ArcGIS software, which he found particularly engaging. Read the full article. >> ... View more

As I outlined in the May 5 2025 blog, the summer migration of GeoInquiries is complete and reflects the specifics presented in that blog.  If you have questions or concerns moving forward, please don't hesitate to email schools@esri.com Please also note that you can directly explore the state of each GeoInquiry from the Getting to Know GeoInquiries storymap. ... View more

The new 360° image block is now available in ArcGIS StoryMaps and allows posting of these images directly into StoryMaps – no more embedding needed from third party sites! I put together some of my past 360° media from the Esri User Conference and the Esri Education Summit into this StoryMap.  I’ll post images from the 2025 Esri Education Summit and User Conference next week, while the conference is happening. Aside from showing off the new block, I want to capture an event using 360 media for eventual incorporation into a map (coming soon). https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/09f5b06c3470487e9ee226aeba6f7b8d   If you have 360 images or video from an Esri conference, post a link in the comments below! Reference links: Learn how to add 360 images. View other StoryMaps with 360 imagery See what else is new in StoryMaps June 2025 ... View more

We’re thrilled to welcome all the first-time attendees to this year’s Esri Education Summit! Whether you’re a brand-new educator or new to the world of GIS in education, this event is designed to inspire, connect, and empower you. As you step into the dynamic world of GIS and innovation, know that you are not alone—this conference is full of supportive peers, experienced mentors, and exciting opportunities. Did you know? Historically, about 50% of Education Summit attendees did not attend the previous year’s event - and many of those people are first-timers. This conference brings together educators, tech developers, researchers, and thought leaders who share a passion for improving education through innovation. It’s a place to explore new ideas, ask questions, and discover practical tools that can make a real difference in your teaching. Tip: The sessions start at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 12. Arrive at the north tower of the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina early to get checked-in. Throughout the conference, you’ll find a wide variety of sessions that are perfect for beginners. From hands-on workshops and labs to panels and a plenary, there’s something for everyone—no matter your comfort level with GIS. Look out for sessions labeled “Beginner”, “Introduction”, or “Basic” - to find content tailored to your experience. Ed Summit session types: Hands On Learning Lab – Self-paced, technical learning with a monitor in the room, if you get stuck Instructor lead lab – A person at the front of the room walks everyone through a set of technical work0flows. User Presentation – One-hour blocks with multiple presenters. Easch session has an Esri moderator to keep time and manage flow. Each presentation is about 10 minutes long. Technical sessions – Workshops that teach technical workflows around a theme, like climate, or project design, or story-telling. One of the most valuable aspects of attending this conference is the chance to meet other educators who are on a similar journey. Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself, ask questions, or share your experiences. There are coffee breaks, receptions, meals, and special interest groups (SIGs)  designed to help you connect. Collaboration is at the heart of teaching and learning, and many lifelong professional relationships and friendships begin at events just like this one. Pro tip:Be sure to take advantage of the Esri-hosted lunches and evening socials on both Saturday and Sunday.  See the Agenda At-A-Glance for times and locations. We are honored to have you join us. Your passion for teaching and your willingness to learn make you a vital part of this community. Welcome to your first GIS education conference—we hope it’s the first of many, and that you leave feeling energized, connected, and ready to bring new ideas into your classroom. Did you know? Upon request, Esri can provide a certificate of attendance after the event. Email confregis@esri.com to request your certificate. Unfortunately, we do not offer continuing education credits for attending the Esri Education Summit. Links: Esri Education Summit home Agenda At-A-Glance ... View more

Passionate about integrating GIS and innovative strategies into your K12 classroom? Join us for an engaging Special Interest Group (SIG) meeting focused on instructional materials, professional development, and the use of GIS software in K12 education. This session is a great opportunity to connect with fellow teachers, share ideas, explore  instructional resources, and learn about the latest tools and training opportunities in GIS. Whether you're just getting started or already using GIS in your classroom, this SIG offers valuable insights and community support. Let’s collaborate, learn, and inspire one another to bring powerful spatial thinking into our schools. We hope to see you there! Sunday, Jul 1311:45 AM - 12:45 PM PDT, Grand Ballroom Salon 2,  Marriott Session details: https://uc2025.esri.com/flow/esri/25uc/eventportal/page/detailed-agenda/session/1742847045423001noJ4  ... View more