Educator Guide
You are exploring details about a digital tool. If you wish to understand how to apply this tool in teaching and improve your digital skills, we suggest starting with our Educator Guide.
Overview
This website provides activities and exercises accompanied with interactive and explorative maps to engage students in the teaching material. It uses online ArcGIS maps on many subjects, amongst which are Environmental Sciences and Earth Sciences.
Key Features
Scripted lesson plans: Every topic includes a teacher guide, interactive web map, and a student worksheet.
Ability for teachers to edit or create their own maps
Benefits
Maps and data provide a deeper understanding of specific topics and the world at large.
Learners of all ages build skills in data management and analysis while solving problems with geographic information system (GIS) technology.
Promoting student engagement.
Learning how to interpret maps and its data/students learn skills on reading and interpreting maps and its data.
How these features can be used in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning
Teachers can project the lesson for the whole class to see, making it a full-class discussion activity, or it can be modified for students to go through on an individual basis, interacting with the map themselves. Integrate these GeoInquiries into any class or lesson where it's relevant, using it early on in a topic so that students can have these visuals in mind during the rest of the lessons. It's a perfect insert into classes from upper elementary through high school.
Getting Started
Potentially visit the tool's guide first.
Download a GeoInquiry of Earth Sciences or Environmental Sciences and review.
Practice the activity by yourself.
Display the map on your white board.
Use the GeoInquiry in your class.
Consider whether you want to use student worksheets.
Considerations and potential concern of using the tool
Quick lessons may not provide enough depth for any given topic; lessons may need to be modified for independent student use.