Fun with GIS 323: 2023 ArcGIS Online Student Competition
Can you identify spots in your community with unusual concentrations of car accidents, or makeshift camps for homeless people? More importantly, can you figure out why it's happening there? More importantly still, can you identify strategies for improving conditions? That's what the winning projects did at high school and middle school levels in the 2023 ArcGIS Online Competition for US High School and Middle School Students.
Students in grades 4-12 pick a topic of personal interest occurring within the bounds of the state in which they attend school, research it, and assemble an ArcGIS StoryMap about their investigation. They need to gather data of relevance, which might mean assembling professional data, or require generating new data, as the honorable mention winners at high school and middle school levels did.
Even more, it requires students to employ maps as analytical tools. This is the all-important stage where they seek patterns and explore relationships using the science of where. There is no one way to do this; it takes analysis, critical thinking, asking "what if" questions, trying different strategies. Then, when assembling a synopsis, students need to synthesize many hours of work into something viewers can digest in a few minutes. The skills and attitudes practiced here will serve these students for life.
A full 600 entries were crafted by students working solo or in teams of two, with 169 earning $100 awards from their states. And many of these students get to tackle this again and again before leaving school, building powerful experience for college, career, and community. You can explore all projects at https://esriurl.com/agoschoolcomp. And join us for the Competition Results Webinar, Thu June 15, 5-6pmPT, public invited (free registration required). And start planning now for the 2024 event!
