The Londonderry Green School GIS Project

GIS/Visualization Technologies Utilized in the Project:  

The Internet is an extensive resource for schools to access spatial data and images. GIS technology  gives students the power to create and interact with their own maps, deciding which data to display and on which base maps to display the data. These images are not simply pretty pictures. In each example they are used as rich sources of information and focal points for visual inquiry and extended investigations. This use of visualizations is profoundly different from their traditional use in classrooms as captioned textbook illustrations. The GIS is a tool that uses the power of the computer to pose, analyze, and answer spatial questions. It does this by arranging and displaying data about  places in a variety of ways: through maps, charts, tables, and graphs. With a GIS both "where" and "what" questions can be asked. GIS is analogous to a base map and a set of transparencies. The base map shows an area of interest. Each transparency contains specific kinds of data related to the area of interest ( streets, soil type, watersheds, neighborhood boundaries, etc.). Spatial relationships arise when multiple "layers" of data are overlaid on the  base map. These emerging relationships promote questions about the over laid features ("what" questions) which in turn prompt questions  about the locations of other  similar features or relationships  ("where" questions). Because these types of questions and their interrelationship involve critical thinking and analytical skills, GIS has the potential to be a dynamic tool for education, particularly in the domains of science, mathematics, and geography. Teachers who have used GIS in the classroom have told us that  students need to create mappable information that reflects their own interests. Additionally, teachers feel they and their students need to have easy access to other local data. These local data serve as a foundation and resource for student investigations.

We can make available a web link to a collection of local data from various public and private sources such as PASDA (Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access, http://www.pasda.psu.edu/). The data in this "local library" come in a variety of  forms, including aerial photographs; linear features such as streets and trails; point features like schools,  hospitals, or water sampling sites; and aerial features such as geology, soils  and water bodies. Through our efforts, we seek to realize the potential of GIS in enhancing critical thinking and spatial  analysis, and we are striving to make GIS a readily available  tool in schools for environmental education. In our vision of science education, students work with real data gathered by themselves and professional scientists. Using computers and scientific visualizations, they manipulate the data to search for patterns and relationships. The data and tools inspire students to ask questions and conduct investigations. They alternate between following a planned sequence of discoveries and carrying out original investigations. By using images, maps, and graphs, they learn to organize and communicate their ideas effectively.