Geographic information system (GIS) in Elementary Education

Just attended an amazing lecture series at the Library of Congress today about the use of geographic information system (GIS) in K-12 education. Now while we might consider something like this for use with high school or even middle school students, I love the idea of using it with elementary students.

Currently, we have students who are working on identifying problems with natural resources and then developing a solution. This is all part of being a part of FabSLAM, a multi-week, team-based, digital fabrication competition where youth learn and practice design, iteration, and rapid prototyping skills primarily focused on 3D Design and 3D Printing (https://www.digitalharbor.org/whatwedo/projects/fabslam/).  In my experience, students have difficulties doing quality research to identify real problems. As I sat in the K-12 GIS lecture series, I could envision students using natural resource map data to identify areas of concerns. In Idaho, they may find there are increasing issues with access to public lands. Maybe it's the dangers of forest fires and their impact on the loss of natural resources.  I could go on. This is just one way GIS could be useful in the elementary classroom. Imagine if students could make their own data to then analyze.  Students could even create a presentation that includes their data with https://storymaps.arcgis.com/en/.  The integration of GIS can take place in multiple subject areas and create valuable practice in analysis and presenting information.

You can request a free esri software bundle for your school at https://www.esri.com/en-us/industries/education/schools/schools-mapping-software-bundle.

There are even mentors available across the country to help!