New Galleries of Geography and Mathematics Maps and Lessons in ArcGIS Online
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10-31-2014 12:00 AM
by
JosephKerski
I have created 5 new geography-based lessons and 5 new mathematics-based lessons and placed them in 2 galleries in ArcGIS Online. All 10 lessons are geared toward Grade 6, but can be modified for primary or for upper secondary school. All are based on ArcGIS Online and can be used without logging in; they are designed to introduce students to spatial thinking while focusing on core geography and mathematics standards and content.
The geography lessons include investigations of volcanoes, rivers, oceans, cities, and agriculture, while the mathematics lessons ask students to study demographics, temperature extremes, earthquakes, the shape of the Earth, and latitude-longitude. Each lesson is grounded in educational content standards, and takes advantage of the ArcGIS Online live web mapping environment to foster critical thinking, problem-based learning, and inquiry.
For example, the earthquake activity's introductory questions include, "Can you apply the principles of probability to real-world events and data? Can you compare and interpret information using maps, databases, and timelines so that you can better understand earthquakes over space and time?" Mathematics standards embedded in this activity include: (1) Describe and order simple events using familiar language, and describe and compare the likelihood of future real-life events using 0, less than ½, ½, more than ½, 1. (2) Understand, explain, and use the probability of earthquakes at the global, regional, and local scale. (3) Describe and compare the likelihood of future real-life events (earthquakes) at the global, regional, and local scale. (4) Understand, explain, and use the place value of positive numbers of any size. (5) Round numbers to the nearest 10, 100, and 1000 and justify rounding in terms of closeness to the number. (6) Order and compare whole numbers of any size in ascending and descending order. (7) Select and apply an appropriate numeracy strategy to solve addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems and justify the choice of strategy. (8) Add and subtract decimal numbers with the same and different number of decimal places. (9) Investigate the units for time and convert between them, and (10) Draw and interpret timelines to record events.
The other activities are similarly grounded in solid content, and foster key skills and the spatial perspective.
I encourage you to try the lessons, but also to consider using galleries in ArcGIS Online to serve your own activities. The gallery presents students with a convenient "one-stop shop" to access content. Galleries point to a group containing the content that you wish to show, and are easy to set up, as this video explains. And as you can see from the two galleries I set up here, they can point to more than just web maps. In the case of my galleries, I point to PDFs of the lessons, and in each PDF is a link to the web map that the students are to open to begin their investigations. Try it!
The geography lessons include investigations of volcanoes, rivers, oceans, cities, and agriculture, while the mathematics lessons ask students to study demographics, temperature extremes, earthquakes, the shape of the Earth, and latitude-longitude. Each lesson is grounded in educational content standards, and takes advantage of the ArcGIS Online live web mapping environment to foster critical thinking, problem-based learning, and inquiry.
For example, the earthquake activity's introductory questions include, "Can you apply the principles of probability to real-world events and data? Can you compare and interpret information using maps, databases, and timelines so that you can better understand earthquakes over space and time?" Mathematics standards embedded in this activity include: (1) Describe and order simple events using familiar language, and describe and compare the likelihood of future real-life events using 0, less than ½, ½, more than ½, 1. (2) Understand, explain, and use the probability of earthquakes at the global, regional, and local scale. (3) Describe and compare the likelihood of future real-life events (earthquakes) at the global, regional, and local scale. (4) Understand, explain, and use the place value of positive numbers of any size. (5) Round numbers to the nearest 10, 100, and 1000 and justify rounding in terms of closeness to the number. (6) Order and compare whole numbers of any size in ascending and descending order. (7) Select and apply an appropriate numeracy strategy to solve addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems and justify the choice of strategy. (8) Add and subtract decimal numbers with the same and different number of decimal places. (9) Investigate the units for time and convert between them, and (10) Draw and interpret timelines to record events.
The other activities are similarly grounded in solid content, and foster key skills and the spatial perspective.
I encourage you to try the lessons, but also to consider using galleries in ArcGIS Online to serve your own activities. The gallery presents students with a convenient "one-stop shop" to access content. Galleries point to a group containing the content that you wish to show, and are easy to set up, as this video explains. And as you can see from the two galleries I set up here, they can point to more than just web maps. In the case of my galleries, I point to PDFs of the lessons, and in each PDF is a link to the web map that the students are to open to begin their investigations. Try it!
Gallery of Mathematics Lessons in ArcGIS Online. A new Geography gallery exists as well.