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![Page 1: 9GPS to GIS - National Geographic Society€¦ · GPS to GIS: What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery? • Teacher Instructions • Page 166 TEACHER INSTRUCTIONS How does the mapping](https://reader031.vdocument.in/reader031/viewer/2022011823/5edca598ad6a402d66676704/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Project 9 of Investigating Your World with My World GIS • www.natgeoed.org/MyWorldGIS
Guiding QuestionHow does the mapping of a cemetery allow one to discover burial patterns?
Project Duration Two or three 45-minute class periods
Grade Level Grades 6-12 (ages 11-18)
Learning ObjectivesStudents will be able to: •investigatetheroleoffieldworkin
the development of GIS data sets•visualizepossiblepatternsofhuman
activity•experimentwithcurrenttechnologyas
a mapping tool•collectandimportGPSdatainto
My World
Subjects•Geography•History
GPS to GIS What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery?
By Steven Branting
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GPS to GIS: What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery? • Teacher Instructions • Page 166
TEACHER INSTRUCTIONS
How does the mapping of a cemetery allow one to discover burial patterns?
Activity OverviewEvery community has intriguing historical mysteries worthy of student investigation. National Center for History in the Schools states that nothing “more powerfullyinitiateshistoricalthinkingthanthoseissues,pastandpresent,thatchallengestudentstoenterknowledgeablyintothehistoricalrecordandtobringsound historical perspectives to bear in the analysis of a problem.” This project allows students to collect and use local data from ground observations and satellites and to createandusetheirowndatasetsofGPSwaypoints.Asafinalstep,studentslearnhowtocategorizetheirfielddata to display the burial patterns in their community’s cemetery during a period of history of their choice.
Connections to National Standards NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS • Standard3:Howtoanalyzethespatialorganizationof
people,places,andenvironmentsonEarth’ssurface• Standard17:HowtoApplyGeographytoInterpretthe
Past
NATIONAL HISTORY STANDARDS • Standard4:HistoricalResearchCapabilities
Vocabulary• spatial, adjective—having to do with location and
placement.• waypoint, noun—asetofGPScoordinatesusedfor
navigation.• attribute, noun—non-spatial information about a
geographicfeatureinaGIS,usuallystoredinatable.example:thenameonatombstone.
• metadata, noun—dataaboutdata;describesanddocumentsitssubjectmatter,forexample:how,when,where,andbywhomthedatawascollected
Teaching NotesBeforethelesson,checkyourequipmentandbecomefamiliar with how it operates. Test the uploading process foryourGPSunitspriortostartingthislesson.Ifyourcomputerhasaserialport,useCOM1.IfyouareuploadingusingaUSBcableadapter,mostcomputersuseCOM4.
MyWorldGISusesGPSdataindecimaldegrees.YoucancheckyourGPSunitsbyopeningtheSETUPfunctionandsetting the UNITS to hddd.ddddd. The format allows the datatoimportedinspreadsheets,whichcanalsobeusedformathematicsactivitiesonmean,median,andmode.
FamiliarizeyourselfwiththeStudentActivitySheetandcompletetheintroductoryGPSactivities.Studentsworkwellingroupsof2-3whenmasteringGPSusageskills.
Engage the students in a discussion about cemetery layoutandplanning.Solicitpriorknowledgeaboutcemeteriesandhowtheyareorganized.Askstudentstodrawadiagramshowinghowtheythinkacemeteryisorganized.Sample Classroom questions: • Whatfactorsshouldbeconsideredwhendeciding
whatyearswillbracketthefielddatagatheringinvestigations?
By Steven Branting
GPS to GIS What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery?
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GPS to GIS: What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery? • Teacher Instructions • Page 167
• Whydon’tcemeteriesburyindividualsinasequentialmanner,plot-by-plotinarow,asdeathsoccur?
Help students to design their own class data recording form to be used when they visit the local cemetery. Show them a photograph of a sample headstone and what informationwillneedtoberecordedbyafieldresearcher.Possibleattributesmightbelocation(lat/long),name,dateofbirth,dateofdeath,epitaph,stonestyle,conditionofstone,relatedfamilynearby,etc.Thedatacategories they choose to use will be added later to the layerofGPSwaypointsthataredisplayed.
Providestudentswithamapofthecemeterythatyouwillbevisiting.Whilemanycemeterieshavethese,youmayneedtocreateanewmap.Ifyourcemeteryislarge,you may need to limit the area to be studied. If a short historyofthecemeteryisavailable,youmaywanttoshareit with students.
Provideportablewritingboardsornotebooksforstudentuseinthefield.
IfyouhaveanolderversionofMyWorld,youmayseeanerror message when you try to edit the attribute table for the points. This can only be resolved by installing My World 5.0.1 or later.
Thereisnodatadictionaryforthisproject.Asstudentscollectuniquedataandbuildaprojectfile,teachersmaywant to have students record metadata and create a data dictionary.
Extending the Learning• ContactyourcityorcountyGISoffices,whichwillhave
a wide variety of local and current data sets. This data willallowstudentstocreateacontextforthespatialpatternofwaypointsfromtheirfieldexercise.While,asnotedabove,thesedatasetsarenotnecessaryforthislesson,localdatasetsarethemostaccurateforyourparticular location.
• AstudentmightalsotestthereliabilityofaGPSunitbymarkingthesamelocation50-100timesatvarioustimesofthedaytotakeadvantageofthechangeinthesatellite constellation. Uploading these points into a MyWorldlayerofthetown’sroadnetworkwillproduceawaypointscatter.ThestudentwilldiscoverthattheGPSunit does not plot the same point but calculates within “accuracyrange,”whichcanbedrawnasacirclearound the data points. Mathematics students may wish to transfer the pattern of the waypoints to a scatter plot onanX-Ygrid.
• Thedistributionofanynumberofitemscanbediscoveredusingthetechniquesinthislesson.Groupsofstudentscoulddeterminethepatternofaspecificspeciesoftree,recordingtheapparentageofthetreeforinsertionintothedataset.Otherdistributioninvestigationscouldbestrayanimals,litter,homesbuiltduringaselectedperiodorinaspecificstyle(e.g.,QueenAnne,Craftsman,Victorian),orsignsfoundonschool property.
Additional Resources• Branting,Steven.“NotYourFather’sHistoryLesson.”
Western Historical Quarterly.LoganUT:WesternHistoricalAssociation.XXXVIII,2,pp.205-213,2007.
• “ResurrectingaPioneerCemetery.”Idaho Yesterdays. BoiseID:IdahoStateHistoricalSociety.Volume4.Number1,pp.28-45,2006.
• “OverviewofStandardsinHistoricalThinking,”NationalCenterforHistoryintheSchools.LosAngeles:University of California.
TEACHER INSTRUCTIONS
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GPS to GIS: What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery? • Student Instructions • Page 168
STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS
InthisMyWorldGISandGPSactivity,youwillcollect and use local data from ground observations and satellites aswellcreateanduseyourownsetofGPSwaypoints.
AftercollectingandimportingGPSdataintoMyWorldGIS,youwillcategorizethefielddatatodisplaytheburialpatternsin a local community’s cemetery during a period of history of your choice.
Use your student answer sheet to record data and answers for thequestionsbelow.
Part I: Test the accuracy of your GPS unit and the MARK function GETTING STARTED1.TurnyourGPSunitonandallowittoacquiresatellites.(Note:youneedtobeoutsideforthistowork.)
2.Inthechartonyourstudentanswersheet,recordthedateandyourlocaltime.
3. Write down the coordinates and elevation in the area on your student answer sheet.
4. MARKthesitewiththeGPSunitandplaceaphysicalmarkerofsomesort(i.e.,flag,rock,orpencil)onthegroundatthe spot you are standing.
5. Repeatsteps1-3every three minutesuntilyouhavefivesetsofdata.Usethebuilt-inclockinyourGPSunittotelltime.
6.Calculatethearithmeticmean,oraverage,ofthelatitude,longitude,andelevation.Answerthequestionsaboutyourdata.
QUESTION 1. Whichcolumn(lat,long,orelevation)hadtheworstaccuracy? QUESTION 2. Whydoyouthinkthenumberschanged?
Part II: Design your own InvestigationNowthatyouhaveasenseofhowtheGPSworksandhowaccurateyourcollecteddatawillbe,youwilldesignageospatialinvestigationtocarryoutatyourlocalcemetery.Considerthefollowingquestionswhendesigningyourcemeteryinvestigation. • Whatfactorsshouldbeconsideredwhendecidingwhatyears(starting,ending)youwillusetoforyourdatagathering
investigations? • Whydon’tcemeteriesburyindividualsinasequentialmanner,plot-by-plotinarow,asdeathsoccur?• Whatpatternsmightemergeasyougatherlocationdataandmapit?
By Steven Branting
GPS to GIS What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery?
How does the mapping of a cemetery allow one to discover burial patterns?
![Page 5: 9GPS to GIS - National Geographic Society€¦ · GPS to GIS: What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery? • Teacher Instructions • Page 166 TEACHER INSTRUCTIONS How does the mapping](https://reader031.vdocument.in/reader031/viewer/2022011823/5edca598ad6a402d66676704/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
GPS to GIS: What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery? • Student Instructions • Page 169
1.Outlineyourdatacollectionplan;whatdatawillyourecordatthecemetery?Makealistofdatatocollect,anddraftatentative data table on your student answer sheet.
2. Planandassignteammemberrolesforthefieldtrip.Listtasks,andreviewequipmentneeded.
3. Afterthetriptothecemetery,returntoyourcomputer,launchMyWorld,andimportthedata.• TurnonyourGPSunitandconnectittoyourcomputer,withaserialcord.• WiththeGPSconnectedtothecomputer,chooseFile > Import DatafromGPSDevice.• Adialogboxwillopenshowingyoutheconnections;checktheyarecorrect,andclickGo. • MyWorldwilldownloadthepoints,createalayer,andputitonthemap.
4. Choose Layer > Save Layer As…tosaveyourfile.Saveittothedesktoporyourprojectsfolderdependingonyourteacher’s instructions.
5. Choose Layer > Start Editing Layertoopentheeditingwindow.Intheeditingwindowyoucanaddfieldstoyourtabletoincludetheadditionalattributedatayourecorded,suchasname,date,orplotnumber.Whenyouhavefinishedediting,choose Layer > Stop Editing Layer, to return to your map.
6. Edit the layer’s appearance and add other layers to your map as needed to continue your investigation.
STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS
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STUDENT ANSWER SHEETS
GPS to GIS: What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery? • Student Answer Sheets • Page 170
Answerthequestionsfromyourstudenthandoutinthespacesbelow.
Part I: Test the accuracy of your GPS unit and the MARK function GETTING STARTED
1.Whichcolumn(lat,long,orelevation)hadtheworstaccuracy? ________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
2.Whydoyouthinkthenumberschanged? ___________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Name __________________________________________ Date ______________________________
GPS to GIS: What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery?
Date and Time
Latitude Longitude Elevation
ddd.dddd N/S ddd.dddd E/W feet
position 1
2
3
4
5
Average
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GPS to GIS: What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery? • Student Answer Sheets • Page 171
Name __________________________________________ Date ______________________________
GPS to GIS: What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery?Part II: Design your own investigation
1.Outlineyourdatacollectionplan.Whatdatawillyourecordatthecemetery?Drawoutyourtentative data table below. Be sure to include columns for both the spatial and the attribute data.
2.Planandassignteammemberrolesandtasksforthefieldtrip.Listequipmentneeded.
STUDENT ANSWER SHEETS
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GPS to GIS: What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery? • Student Answer Sheets • Page 172
Answerthequestionsfromyourstudenthandoutinthespacesbelow.
Part I: Test the accuracy of your GPS unit and the MARK function GETTING STARTED
1.Whichcolumn(lat,long,orelevation)hadtheworstaccuracy? ________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
2.Whydoyouthinkthenumberschanged? ___________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Name __________________________________________ Date ______________________________
GPS to GIS: What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery?
Date and Time
Latitude Longitude Elevation
ddd.dddd N/S ddd.dddd E/W feet
position 1
2
3
4
5
Average
Elevation generally is the most
variable (least accurate.)
Answerswillvary.Dependingonthenumberofsatellites
availableandtheviewofthesky,therecanbealargevariabilityinthedata.
ANSWER KEY
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GPS to GIS: What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery? • Student Answer Sheets • Page 173
Name __________________________________________ Date ______________________________
GPS to GIS: What’s So Spatial About the Cemetery?Part II: Design your own investigation
1.Outlineyourdatacollectionplan.Whatdatawillyourecordatthecemetery?Drawoutyourtentative data table below. Be sure to include columns for both the spatial and the attribute data.
2.Planandassignteammemberrolesandtasksforthefieldtrip.Listequipmentneeded.
Possiblecolumnheadsforthechartsmightbelocation(lat/long),name,dateofbirth,dateofdeath,epitaph,stonestyle,conditionofstone,relatedfamilynearby,etc.
ANSWER KEY