Back to School - How to Enhance Your Lesson Plan with GIS
Embrace the new learning environment
Another school year has begun, with a new opportunity to start fresh. Whether you’re teaching in person or online, the last few years have made us all more technically savvy. Digital technology has been central to the teaching environment, allowing students of all ages to further explore what computers can do and what we can do with them. If you are looking for a way to continue expanding your students’ digital horizons and connect your lesson to students' interests, try integrating mapping and location intelligence skills into your curriculum. Esri’s ready-to-use maps and apps teach spatial skills while helping you integrate more visual and interactive elements in your lesson plans.
Try GIS in your classroom!
This school year, use Esri resources to enhance your lesson plan with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS are computer systems that allow you to create maps and analyze information. These systems provide data, visualizations, and scenarios to the concepts in your course content. Location technology is used globally, from independent use to classroom settings, as well as larger institutions and government agencies. This technology helps summarize data and global issues to a visual language that can be used to simplify real-world topics in the classroom.
Watch this video below to see how teachers have engaged with and utilized GIS in their classrooms.
Opportunities in GIS
Students today are increasingly computer literate, and GIS is an excellent tool to enhance STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) skills. Interacting with maps allows students to immerse themselves in the learning material and improves their understanding and enables them to be a part of the solution to real world issues. GIS is used to explain issu es across multiple fields including Politics, City Planning, Public Health, Engineering and many other industries. Adding GIS analytic and technical skills to your students' resumes gives an added advantage in the workforce.
Teacher Guides to Get You Started
| Mapping Epidemic's with Mrs. Sinclair | Check out a curriculum created by Teacher Lauren Sinclair which uses ArcGIS to map epidemics. It includes a great teacher's guide for lesson planning and step-by-step, interactive lessons you can complete with your students. This lesson could aid in subjects such as Science, Geography, Health, Social Science, and more. |
| Sandra Turner’s On An Island | Follow along with National Geographic Educator, Sandra Turner, and explore a series of ecology and nature-focused lessons on understanding mapping, designed to encourage geo-literacy skill development. This series of ArcGIS StoryMaps lessons invites early ArcGIS users to explore Caribbean landscapes and to meet the Island People who call this region home! |
Explore Additional GIS Resources for Teachers
These resources have been curated by teachers, subject matter experts, and industry professionals to make it easy to access relevant data, learning tools, and GIS skills for your classroom. Find more in the Teach with GIS hub and the Learn ArcGIS Lesson Gallery