Latest Contributions by CharlieFitzpatrick

Hurricane Maria was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Puerto Rico since 1928. Originating from a tropical wave that the US National Hurricane Center began monitoring on September 13, Maria developed into a tropical storm on September 16 east of the Lesser Antilles. In conditions remarkably favorable for further development, on September 18, Maria underwent explosive intensification, doubling its sustained wind speed to 260km/h (160 mph), becoming a Category 5 hurricane. As of October 4, the hurricane has caused no less than 79 deaths. Puerto Rico has suffered catastrophic damage. Total losses from the hurricane are estimated between $15.9 and $95 billion. The entirety of Puerto Rico has been declared a Federal Disaster Zone. Maps and GIS were used to monitor the development of the hurricane and to coordinate initial rescue efforts. GIS continues to be used to assess damage and help with recovery efforts. In the next two images for example, maps illustrate the effect of the hurricane on the electrical grid. The first map shows an average summer night in Puerto Rico, with the electricity grid working in normal conditions. The second map shows what the activity looked like on September 24 immediately after the hurricane when most of the electricity grid was out of service. This is one of the many ways geography and maps can be used to help Puerto Rico recover. We propose an activity for students to learn a practical use of GIS technology for emergency recovery operations. This will be a fun yet didactic exercise.  Using high resolution imagery donated by Vexcel Corporation, students will use ArcGIS tools to identify and assess damaged buildings in Puerto Rico. Working as a team, damage across the entire island can be mapped! Assessing Building Damage Using High Resolution Imagery This imagery was captured right after the hurricane, which makes it easy to identify damage.  For clarity, proper damage assessments need to be validated on the ground, but the initial interpretation from imagery is a great step to get an initial approximation to the severity of damage. Here are some examples to illustrate what you can expect. We have a pair of images, one before the hurricane, and one right after it. A small red dot has been added on top of the building indicating that it was completely destroyed. The next set focuses on an area near the coast. Note that some building have been flagged in green, indicating that no damage has been observed, whereas others are flagged in orange (damage observed) or red (completely destroyed). Properly identifying damage takes some practice but can be effectively done through careful observation, common sense, and lots of patience. Do You Want to Try? Esri has setup all the aerial imagery required to perform damage inspections in Puerto Rico as shown above. We also have setup a powerful web application that will let students easily compare images pre- and post-hurricane as well as tools to flag buildings. Watch this short video to see and understand the process in operation. To participate, you will need to join our ArcGIS Online Maria Damage Assessment Exercise Group. Click the link and join the group using your ArcGIS Online Organization credentials. (If your school or youth club does not have an Org account, you can request one.) We recommend that all people in a school or club share a single credential that clearly identifies your group (e.g. "IL_Ourtown_LincolnHS" or "TX_Ourcounty_4Hmappers"), so you and others can look at your team's collective work. Once you access the ArcGIS Online Maria Damage Exercise group, open the Damage Assessment Application and start mapping. Navigate the map to find an area where you want to start working. Engage the swipe tool (upper left) and use it to compare the images before and after the hurricane. Engage the edit tool (at left) and use the Green, Orange, and Red tools to flag buildings as appropriate. Emphasize accuracy, not speed. To see all points contributed across all teams, open the General Dashboard (improved version allows viewing by contributor). [[Added Oct.18]] Please see also the Oct.18 Update, which provides examples and feedback. [[Added Nov.13]] Please see also the Nov.13 Blog, which provides important context and results What is next? The most important aspect of this exercise is to learn and have fun, but you should know that your contributions have a meaning beyond your own. We at Esri are also learning through this entire process with the intent of enabling similar activities in the future.  Thanks for your participation. [[Note: This document was updated Oct.18 and Nov.13 to clarify the project's purpose and provide links to subsequent write-ups.]] ... View more

Perhaps the most fundamental activity of a citizen is voting. In the US, this is stunningly dependent on geography. The simple act of casting a ballot is a profound demonstration of faith in a system. But some argue that the system today is imperfect, even tainted, since the political party in power in a state defines the boundaries of each district. We can simulate this, and so discover the importance of understanding complex problems and grasping how GIS can foster critical thinking and problem solving.   The lesson "Ohio Apportionment" lets teachers and students explore quickly the population of an example state -- Ohio -- and work on dividing it up. But different people will make different choices, with different reasons, and different impacts. Very quickly, and without login, users can explore and make some decisions, and start contemplating other patterns. In just a few minutes, users can test various scenarios.     Teachers with time can do a deep dive into the makeup of their home state. Students with time and interest might consider turning this into a substantial project, perhaps even an entry to a competition. Helping the citizenry choose their representatives equitably is a Gordian knot -- one of many in our time -- demanding attention from many minds and perspectives, with give and take on all sides, seeking common ground through The Science of Where. It takes exposure, and practice, and analysis. It can begin with simple exploration … an open mind … thinking scientifically … investigating. This is what education is about. It begins with little steps. ... View more

"Ready set go!" Opportunities abound for students and educators both, even in relation to GIS. The chance to match a set of criteria defined by someone else is excellent practice for all the years ahead. Understand what someone seeks, think creatively, and show what you can do. And for all the GeoMentors out there, this is even a chance for you to shine, with encouragement, instruction, and supportive critique.   Esri's ArcGIS Online Competition for US High School and Middle School students is underway. Work singly or in pairs, students investigate and report on a topic of interest within the state borders, and present findings as a web app or Story Map. Students submit their entries to the school, the school submits its top five to the state, and the state chooses 5-HS and 5-MS entries each to receive $100, then submits these to Esri for the next level, with top 1-HS and 1-MS awardees from the nation earning a trip to the Esri User Conference in San Diego.       Esri's Teacher Video Challenge is for US K12 teachers to create a 60-second video of how they work with ArcGIS Online, post it publicly, and create a database entry. Each month, Esri selects one for digging deeper with a richer video, and provides a $500 honorarium.   Even the US Congress is in the act, with the US Congressional App Challenge. This is for US high school and middle school students. While it is a much broader "STEM education" challenge, it is a great opportunity for students to submit an original application using GIS to a panel of reviewers who may be less familiar with, and thus more impressed by, the power of geospatial apps. This has a tight deadline -- Nov.1, 2017 -- but there can be winners within the boundaries of each participating legislator.   It takes courage to explore an opportunity, empathy to see the goals and constraints, dedication to do the work, and humility to propose a solution, on top of the technical skills. But all these traits are highly prized among adults, and take practice to develop, so every attempt brings rewards. ... View more

Here is a more visible link to full information: 2017 ConnectED Workshop $upport Grants  ... View more

Experienced GIS users (even K12 students) often speak in terms of custom projects. This is where GIS helps students be at their most powerful -- digging into a topic of one's choosing, allowing the user to explore, analyze, and customize at will. Tom Baker's blogpost on instructional materials and this Instructional Use of GIS document from Esri's T3G Institute show custom projects at the "high end" of learning activities. But it's tough to start there.   GeoInquiries let teachers and students jump into "core content" through maps. Their primary intent was as intro in situations where educators want quick nuggets and focused guidance. Some educators are going beyond the original purpose of GeoInquiries, enhancing and saving the maps as their own, but that takes some experience.   EarthXplorers was designed as a free, powerful guide along the path toward projects. Built by the Learning Technologies Media Lab at the University of Minnesota, with rich content support from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, this is a "scaffolded guide to learning the GIS project process." Six modules invite users to investigate historical sites and contexts, working with one's ArcGIS Online Organization account along the way. After walking through a carefully crafted activity with rich supports, students are challenged to turn around and apply the same tools and processes on a local project.   The best module for starting out is the "History of Cartography," which gives users interesting background about mapping and essential instruction about the ArcGIS Online environment. After that, users could do any of the other five projects in any order, as appropriate to time and interests: Elkhorn Ranch, Mississippi Delta, James River, Hinchliffe Stadium, and Manhattan Project. Through it all, a teacher management system helps teachers track and review student work. While big screens are always a help with GIS, EarthXplorers can work effectively in a 1024x768 environment like a tablet. (As always with online mapping, adequate bandwidth to handle each computer is a critical resource.)   GIS has unlimited capacity for instruction, but it takes experience to engage in the most powerful ways. Just as one doesn't start pole vaulting at 19 feet, projects require important skills that take time and experience to establish. The resources of EarthXplorers can help educators who want students to step into projects, but would like to provide students "project training wheels" to keep them upright at the beginning. ... View more

GIS aids exploring complex situations and solving problems. Countless industry leaders, front-line analysts, behind-the-scenes developers, and in-the-trenches workers rely on it, for simple daily tasks on up to the biggest challenges. They seldom have step-by-step instruction, especially when venturing into new realms. They puzzle and explore, attempt and stumble, test alternatives, seek guidance from peers and public, encounter "Eureka moments," generate knowledge, and shed light. And students can do this, too!   For the 2017-18 school year, Esri challenges US high school (gr.9-12) and middle school (gr.4-8) students to explore something inside their state in a custom way, and present their results in an ArcGIS Online web app or story map. Teams of one or two students investigate their chosen topic and tell their story. The process can happen in or out of school (e.g. via clubs or even independently), but the channel for presentation is through school. In participating states, schools submit their top five entries to the state, and the top five HS projects and top five MS projects across the state each earn a $100 prize and national recognition, with 1-HS and 1-MS project from each state entered into a final national level competition.     Participation in a state requires application by and approval of a state leadership team. Information and guidelines are available online. Application deadline is Friday Sept 29, 2017. State teams can build out their "support crews" (publicity, judges, etc) down the road, but leaders need to move quickly so educators and students can know if they get to participate.   The 2017 results are visible online, and model well what students can do on their own. Creations by the HS and MS winners and runners-up, and all the other awardees in all the participating states, are viewable without login required. These students blazed the trail in Esri's first national student competition; returning students and educators alike are anxious to try again. This is what the millions of adult users of GIS do … explore, attempt, learn, repeat, and improve … building knowledge, making a difference, changing the world. ... View more

With skill, passion, and analysis, high school and middle school students are exploring their world and creating interesting map products with ArcGIS Online. Esri challenges US students to create and share maps about something in their home states, striving to be among the best in the school, state, and nation. Esri's 2018 ArcGIS Online US School Competition is open to high school ("HS," gr.9-12) and middle school ("MS," gr.4-8) students in the US who can analyze, interpret, and present data via an ArcGIS Online web app or story map. In 2016, Minnesota and Arkansas held state-focused challenges. In 2017, Esri launched a national challenge, and 30 states participated (results below). For 2018, Esri offers to all states the chance to participate, with grants to states supporting ten equal prizes of $100, for the five best HS and five best MS projects in the state. Schools can submit up to five projects to the state, and states submit to Esri up to ten awardees (up to 5 HS, up to 5 MS), with one project each at HS and MS tagged for a final level of competition. From across the nation, one HS project and one MS project will each earn a trip to the 2018 Esri Education Conference in San Diego, CA. State Leadership Team: Esri seeks state teams to conduct each state's competition (limit of one team per state, covering all 4th-12th graders in the state). The team may consist of geo-savvy adults from schools, higher ed, informal ed, government, business, and non-profit realms; different types of expertise are important; the team's key tasks are spelled out in "VII" below. Team leaders can apply using this form. (Collaboration, commitment, and proven experience working across the state is required.) The US K12 GIS story map has key resources, including (in map#2) full 2017 results, visible also here. (Use navigation tools, and click on states and point symbols.)                 2018 Contest Details: I. Eligibility: Entrants must be pre-collegiate students registered in grades 4-12, from public schools or non-public schools including home schools, under age 19, who have not yet received a high school diploma or equivalent Entrants must reside and be in school in the United States or its districts or territories: 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, US Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. (Thus, "state" in this document means one of these 56 units.) Students can work singly or in a team of two, but can participate in only one entry. Teams with one student in middle school (gr.4-8) and one in high school (gr.9-12) must be considered as high school. Entrants may work on the challenge through school, via a club, or independently, but entries must be submitted to the state from a recognized school or home school. Any school or home school program can submit to the state a maximum of five (5) entries total, counting the sum of middle school and high school entries. II. Entries: Entry forms (student/s to school, school to state, state to Esri) will be made available to state leads in November 2017. Entries must be from an ArcGIS Online Organization account (not a "public account"). Any K12 school (public, non-public, or home school) or formal youth club can request for free an ArcGIS School/Club Bundle (includes an ArcGIS Online Organization account). Entries must be an ArcGIS Online "web app" or "story map". Entries must focus on content within the state borders. States may choose to refine the focus further, but the geographic scope of the project must be within the state. The project may reference data outside the state "for context," but may not extend the focus of the study beyond the state borders. For example, broader patterns of environmental characteristics or demographic movements may be referenced for context, but the focus must be on phenomena within the state. Schools must announce their own internal deadlines, in time to complete judging and provide information to the state by its deadline. States must announce their in-state deadlines, but can be no later than 5pm Pacific Time on Thu May 17, 2018. States must submit data to Esri no later than 5pm Pacific Time on Thu May 24, 2018. III. Awards Esri will announce its awards decision by 5pm Pacific Time on Mon June 4, 2018 Esri will provide a travel grant to one HS team and one MS team, each team consisting of the student(s) and at least one parent/guardian (could be teacher/rep). Awardee teams must agree to attend the Esri Education GIS Conference ("EdUC"), arriving by 10amPT Sat July 7, and staying through at least 4pmPT Tue July 10, 2018. Awardees will be responsible for handling any tax implications, be personally identified including name and photograph, and post a graphic in the Esri User Conference ("UC") Map Gallery on Mon. Awardees will be recognized at EdUC and UC Map Gallery on Mon, and may have additional attention. Because only the top 1HS+1MS nominees from a state will be considered for the national competition, states should ensure that, if selected, their top nominees are willing and able to accept the award and attend. IV. State Registration, Mentoring, and Judging States may determine but must announce in advance if they will require any form of "pre-registration" by schools as potential participants, and any cutoff date. Any such exclusive operation must be clearly announced and applied equitably. States are encouraged to establish an "Early Mentoring" option. In this scenario, states set an "Early Mentoring" deadline, recommended as no later than Fri March 23, 2018. Entries submitted to the state leadership group by the state deadline would go to state judges for review and comment (but not scoring), so students might benefit from learned guidance. States would be responsible for constructing and implementing their own submission/comment/return process, ensuring adequate opportunity for judges to review and respond, and students to consider and revise. Any such process should require "transparency," to foster good instruction and prevent inappropriate communication; only a student's parent/guardian/teacher/leader should be communicating with the student; all other communication should be between adults. In considering this model, states are encouraged to seek early commitments from many judges. The only data Esri will seek from this optional preliminary phase is school ZIP and grade band for each entry. States using an "Early Mentoring" process may determine but must announce clearly in advance if entries must have gone through the formal "Early Mentoring" process to be accepted for final state judging, and must apply the policy equitably. V. Design/Judging Criteria Entries should be analytical in nature, map-centric rather than photo-centric. Entries must be visible without requiring a login. Entries engaging "premium data" (login required, such as Living Atlas) must set the display to permit access without needing a login. See helpful note. Entries must be "original work by students," but may use data generated by outside persons or institutions, within guidelines of "fair use." (Students are encouraged to use appropriate professionally generated data, but the integration, treatment, and presentation must be original.) Entries must provide to the school/state/Esri two links in "short URL" format, e.g. "http://arcg.is/1A2b3xyz" one link goes to the "display" page (the app or story map) one link goes to the "item details" page (the metadata page for the app or story map) Users can create a short URL in "arcg.is" format at http://bitly.com. Esri has a relationship with bitly so that any URL string formatted as "[anything].arcgis.com/[anything]" will be turned into a short URL formatted as "arcg.is/[shortstuff]". National scoring rubric. The state can vary this, and even use different rubrics for HS and MS, but must apply the same rubric to all entries in a single grade band, and the rubric must be clarified for the entrants at the start. The national competition will use this rubric, and recommends it to the states (100 points): (5) topic is clearly identified, meets [nation's/state's] criteria, focuses on content within state borders (10) overall presentation within the app or story map is effective in informing about topic (20) cartography is effective -- the composition, visualization, and interplay of layers (display scale, transparency, classification, symbolization, popups, charts, tables, labels, filtering, legend appearance) facilitates the viewer's grasp of individual elements of the topic and story (20) data used is appropriate -- engages an adequate volume and array of clearly significant elements, does not exclude clearly significant elements, does not include irrelevant elements; of the 20 "total data points possible," 5 are reserved for rewarding the creation, documentation, and inclusion of one's own data [0=none, 1=little/weak, 2=some/modest, 3=satisfactory, 4=much/good, 5=most/excellent] (so an otherwise ideal project that contained no user-generated data could receive at most 15 points) (20) geographic analysis (classification, filtering, geoanalysis) is evident, appropriate, and effective; the "map product" is not "simply uniform dots/lines/areas on a map" nor "simply pictures" (25) documentation in the item details page is clear and complete; all non-original contents (including images) in the presentation/ web app/ story map are appropriately referenced and/or linked so their sources are clear, and original contents are described and/or linked; documentation identifies processes used to analyze the content, plus any persons who assisted in project (including specifying if no one did) VI. Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Schools should consider issues around exposing PII. See http://esri.box.com/agoorgsforschools for strategies for minimizing PII. Teachers and club leaders should help students minimize exposure of their own PII and that of others, including in map, image, and text. States must help potential entrants understand the level of PII required. Entries submitted to Esri for the top national prize (i.e. 1-HS and 1-MS) must agree in advance to expose student names, school names, and school city/state (homeschool students would be identified to closest city/town name). Esri will not seek, collect, or accept student names for any entrants other than the national prize entrants (1-HS and 1-MS per state). These and only these will have names exposed by Esri. VII. State Leadership Teams Team leaders can apply using this form. (Contact Charlie Fitzpatrick if your state is making progress but needs assistance.) The state leadership team is the key to student participation in a state. All students in grades 4-12 are eligible to participate if a state has submitted an application to and been recognized by Esri. If there is not a formal state leadership team, no students from the state may submit entries. State leadership teams can include anyone who is willing to help develop the state rules and apply things fairly for all students in the state. Team members can be teachers, education leaders, college instructors, GIS practitioners, nonprofit or for-profit groups, or any adults interested in students across the state being able to participate. The tasks that must be handled by the leadership team are these: Decide state customizations: particular themes, dates, and participation policies. Submit appropriate paperwork to Esri, including the address of the state website and active email to which state participants may submit questions. The paperwork defines whom Esri will deal with on rules, participation, and grant funds. Post the necessary information, including state customizations, to a publicly accessible website. This can be quite elaborate (see MN 2018 example), but can also be just a single page of text, as long as it provides all the relevant info. Let schools, clubs, educators, and students across the state know about the competition, website, and email. Recruit and organize judges, and coordinate any "early mentoring option" communication. Post the state's official versions of Esri's template entry forms. Ensure the entries from school to state carry complete information. Submit to Esri proper information about participation and awardees from the state. Receive funds and distribute prizes. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS: Email Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri K12 Education Manager, cfitzpatrick@esri.com Shortcut to this page: http://esriurl.com/agoschoolcomp2018 ... View more

The document "AGO Orgs for Schools" has had some important updates to text, with some key additions to "Best Practices", and more links to assistance for getting started and long-term managing. Same address as before: http://esri.box.com/agoorgsforschools ... View more

Michigan's GRACE Project (GIS Resources and Applications for Career Education) helps students use GIS. GRACE uses a coordinated and multi-tiered approach for educators and students alike, and works with communities across the state to identify partners interested in high school student interns with GIS knowledge and skills.   Last week, at the Great Lakes Research Center at Michigan Tech, in Houghton, in "copper country" of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, I joined dozens of community members to watch 10 presentations by students. They had worked for six weeks on paid internships, building data about their communities, analyzing it, interpreting it, and preparing their findings for the community. These were students in grades 9-12 who had learned about GIS from their teachers, been interested enough to complete an independent training program of about 20 hours of online courses from Esri Training, done the necessary paperwork and interview for an internship, and then exercised their brains day after day in summer.   (Graphic courtesy of Don Lafreniere) The students grappled with issues common to GIS professionals and others: challenging community problems don’t come with a manual; data capture takes brains and persistence; not all data are equally good; initial findings don't always match expectations; there are many ways to analyze data, which can influence interpretations; and, no matter how much work one puts into a project, there are always more questions. Wrestling with such challenges required substantial skills, and new ones every day. Students needed to work independently and in groups, learn new concepts and skills aggressively, cope with different data formats and resolution, and use and interpret different means of converting many individual reports into a more useful broad display.   Across the state, GRACE has worked with cohorts of teachers, building their skills, and helping them introduce students to GIS. Their first summer of student internships, in 2016, yielded impressive stories. This summer expanded on those, from big cities to small towns. Students in varied communities recognized GIS as a stepping stone to a better future, for themselves, their community, and the larger world. Teachers recognized that GIS has value in all industries. Employers recognized that students have tremendous capacity and interest in the welfare of their world, and what they lack most are the pointers and permissions. GRACE points the way to a better tomorrow with GIS. ... View more

Roxana Ayala was the opening speaker of the student team on stage at Esri's 2013 User Conference. Having just completed 11th grade at the Math, Science, and Technology Magnet Academy of Roosevelt High School and LAUSD, in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles, Roxana and her 90 classmates had worked with GIS for only four months, in a pair of adjoining classrooms (Social Studies and English) housing 15 laptops between them, on a wireless network that ground to a halt when a 12th computer signed on. But she and they persevered, digging deep into learning about their community by gathering data of personal interest and analyzing it in ArcGIS Online. Some continued the next year, and because of her work, Roxana got to speak to educators, and governors, and even stand in the White House and shake President Obama's hand. At college, she continued using GIS, getting into summer internships in support of her double major in environmental science and urban studies.   To help mark the 25th year of Esri's program for K12 schools, Roxana agreed to come back and talk about how GIS had helped her discover and steer toward some big goals.    Roxana Ayala, senior at University of California Irvine "I hope that in the future I go to graduate school and attain a Master's in the field of environmental science, and continue using GIS in order to demonstrate to the world how precious and vulnerable the planet is, and how important it is to fight for our planet. I also do hope to become a role model for many low-income, first generation students of color, and empower them to dream big, just like I did ... GIS has the power to create powerful maps that tell stories, and that can be translated throughout the world, and I really do hope to continue this legacy, and ... continue telling stories in an effort to build a better tomorrow."   Roxana Ayala, summer Intern at University of Minnesota Two days after her EdUC talk, and four years after her initial appearance on the main stage of the Esri conference, Roxana strode out after a terrific presentation by three 4-H youth from Tennessee, to help the world connect the dots about deep learning with GIS in school. Students like Roxana, who get exposed to powerful ways of seeing the world, and get to dive into personal projects with it, can make a tremendous difference, for their future, for many others in communities near and far, and for the planet.   Just a little change in trajectory early enough can help someone change the world. Jump in to GIS in your class, and help someone else begin to in theirs. Imagine a future in which all students join Roxana in changing the world. Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager ... View more