Detailed Agenda

Come explore how middle school students immerse themselves in GIS thinking and problem solving! In this presentation, you will see how our students used Nat Geo MapMaker to design their own Silk Road between eastern China and Istanbul by minimizing elevation gain and drop, maximizing access to fresh water, and minimizing additional miles between the two locations. You will also see how students compared the maps they created to known routes of the ancient Silk Road. This presentation showcases how to introduce spatial thinking and problem solving to middle school students via social studies.

Teachers often struggle with using GIS for local investigations. Finding data and learning GIS skills pose real obstacles. See how the Missouri Botanical Garden is addressing these issues with "sandboxes" of ready made data for exploring local ecoregions and watersheds no matter where you are in the US. With these, they are also developing scalable project supports that enable basic inquiries while embedding more advanced options for use as teachers' and students' develop their GIS skills. All of these projects are free for use and local adaptation under a Creative Commons license.

Join Natalie Teboul, a master educator and the creator of Traveling Miss T.'s Math Maps, on a field trip by Coordinate Plane! This interactive, hands-on workshop is where geography meets math and imagination. Participants will create their own creative Maps of San Diego County, using mixed media, to explore how spatial thinking enhances math learning and art. Create your own Math Map and experience an unforgettable adventure!

After experiencing the application of GIS for the first time through the ESRI educator conference last summer, I was catapulted into a new way of thinking and engaging with my students. I began experimenting, completely revamping labs and activities. My students have increased their investment, application, problem solving skills and approach to novel problems. I have generated activities for teachers to apply with the goal to reduce the learning curve for teachers trying to implement GIS technology into their curricula and classrooms to engage the next generation in the science of where.