Latest Contributions by Kylie

Which app should I use to collect data? That's a question I hear a lot – both now, in the education space, and previously, when I was part of the field apps team. Esri offers multiple apps for collecting data in the field – Survey123, Collector, and QuickCapture – and it isn't always clear when to use each one.  I've been making some story maps lately, and I decided to dedicate one to helping answer that question:  ArcGIS StoryMaps > ArcGIS field apps in schools Take a read to learn what is common to all three apps and the data collection power they bring to the field. Continue to think through your data collection project, and its purpose, so that you can determine the right app for your project. (Yes, it depends on the project.) ... View more

Did you know we dump an estimated garbage truck size amount of trash into the ocean every minute?? On Earth Day we give some extra attention to our planet and its health. Are we taking care of it the best we can? And what have we (as humans) done that hurts it? To answer these questions, we need to know how the Earth is. Using a new app, this Earth Day you (and your kids) can help scientists monitoring our planet through the Earth Challenge 2020 initiative. They can only visit so many places on Earth and need your help to collect data on plastic pollution. They'd like to collect a billion data points! Ready to help? Who? You and your kids! This project is "citizen science" which means that everyone can help. What? We're looking at plastic pollution -- or where plastic is found that it shouldn't be! Plastic litter is unfortunately not uncommon. I'm sure you've seen an improperly discarded soda bottle or chip bag.   How? Using the Earth Challenge 2020 app you'll take a picture of plastic litter you find and mark where you found it. Get the Earth Challenge 2020 app: Join the citizen science initiative or just skip and start collecting data. Tap Plastic Pollution, read the intro, tap Continue, and set your language. Read through the instructions by swiping. Take the app on a walk. When you find plastic pollution, take a picture, mark where you found it on the map, and tell what you did with the trash you saw. Keep walking and mark the next plastic pollution you see. Where? Wherever you are. Plastic pollution is a problem around the globe, and by sharing what you see around your neighborhood you give scientists a look at your community. Why? Share data about the world around you (in this case, where you find plastic trash) to help build our understanding of the problem. You can help scientists collect the data they need. What's next? Did you share the plastic pollution you found around you? Thanks! If you'd like to learn more about the project from Esri's Chief Scientist Dawn Wright, see her blog on the app. Interested in air quality citizen science? Check out "Air Quality" in the Earth Challenge 2020 app. It has instructions that take you through collecting that data, too. If you'd like more activities about marine science, check out the Kids Environmental Lesson Plan (KELP) program for free activities you can do from home.   ... View more

It's a (rare) rainy day here in Southern California. A good day to cuddle up with a good.... story map? If you've been looking for GIS activities to do with your kids, here's a story map (built on a map presentation) version of an exercise I often do in classrooms: taking printed maps, looking for clues, and solving the mystery of where (or what) in the world we are looking at! Indoor mapping: Map detectives When you finish guessing, fill out the survey on how many you got right (it's right there in the story map) and see how you match up to others.  ... View more

The first time I go into a classroom of younger kids we explorer imagery on a map. They love seeing places they know! I've put together a digital version of that exercise, so try it out and let me know how it goes! https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/da32eb24f7b24682bce2a52091f0510b  ... View more

There are some great books out there (for children and adults) about journeys, and as we read we follow the characters across a map. Some books show the map, some don't. When reading a book like that, I find myself picturing the map as part of the story and what I know of the places adds to the world the story is building for me. One such children's book that I really like is The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman by Darcy Pattison and illustrated by Joe Cepeda. Oliver is a man (made out of wood) who goes on a journey across the US. It's not hard to draw a connection from that storyline to a map! The book even has a map showing where Oliver went on his journey, but it's not front, center, or even in the main pages of the book - it's at the end. In the fall, our local library was having an event and Joe Cepeda was one of the guests. My daughter and I made a story map of the book. While the book itself tells the story through a series of letters, we took Oliver's point of view, and we brought the map into view more -- and made it interactive! Check out our story map:  ArcGIS StoryMaps > "My Journey" by Oliver K. Woodman  While you don't have to know the original book to enjoy the story map, there are a few ways you could get it now. It is an AR book, and Accelerated Reader has it as a read-aloud book on YouTube: The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman by Darcy Pattison journeys lesson 23 AR read aloud - YouTube. It is also available on Kindle, and some libraries might have digital copies available for you to borrow, too. What next? What book do you like that could be turned into a story map? It could be a fun project to do!  Or if you want to play with maps and books, check out some activities we have for seeing maps about some popular American Lit books - GeoInquiries for American Literature | High School Inquiry-Based Activities  ... View more

Like many of you, I'm currently working at home assisted by my children (7 and 4 years old). My oldest has had some GIS days in her classroom, but my little guy hasn't. So I was thinking of mapping things to do with them and approachable ways to even start talking about GIS. The result was some fun exploration of favorite color, and also wanting to see your favorite colors! So read our story map and add your favorite color to the map:  ArcGIS StoryMaps > Mapping Favorite Color   (Note: this might not be working well on all iPads right now... I'm looking into it) When my kids first saw this story map, I had the favorites of some friends and family shown. My daughter's first observation was that so many people like blue. Ok, really that was second - first she wanted to know why I didn't include teal as a choice, and how, because of that, she wanted to pick two colors. So if you have two favorite colors, fill the survey out twice! And you can put your dot at your city, or state - don't feel you need to use your exact location - it's up to you exactly where you put your dot on the map. As you read our story map, you'll find that we didn't just put our favorite colors on the map and look at colors other people like. We also did some analysis - first using a dashboard to see counts of the different colors, and how many people have added a color. And then we used hotspots to learn a bit more about the data (my son might have wondered off by that point, but my daughter wanted to play with the filters and see different datasets).  I hope you enjoy our story map, and we'll check back to see what color is in the lead once you've added yours. ... View more