Introduction to unit. Pretest.
1. Introduce the “driving scenario problem”:
South Bethlehem has horrible flooding problems when it rains. The rain water
flows like crazy down the North/South roads and water becomes many inches deep
on the East/West street. This is a serious problem. On rainy days, kids are
walking into the 48 Hour Video store with wet socks and shoes to get their video
games. The water also piles up in front of “The Cup” and nobody
wants to walk through big puddles to get ice cream. Business is bad on the South
Side on rainy days. The city of Bethlehem has commissioned us to investigate
this problem. We will learn special surveying skills with handheld Global Positioning
devices – GPS, and GIS – Geographic Information Systems to investigate
this issue and come up with a solution to help out this water problem on the
South Side.”
2. Instruct students to complete the pretest.
3. Instruct students to complete the “Draw a map task”:
"Draw a map of a 2 block area around the school.
Label streets with names.
Label particular areas or objects on the map."
The following are optional activities to use when pretesting is complete:
1. Google Earth scavenger hunt to locate Broughal, Lehigh Valley Mall, Lehigh
Valley airport, Dorney Park, Eagle’s stadium.
2. Show ArcWeb Explorer - http://www.arcwebservices.com/awx/index.jsp
Use ArcWeb Explorer to show students some interactive mapping.
Click on “Find” and type in Broughal’s address.
Navigation lets you zoom in and out.
Map types will let you display satellite and hybrid street images.
3. National Geographic Map Machine - http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/
Show the interactive “Theme Maps” and highlight patterns in natural
disasters, weather – annual temperature, land use, population density.
Materials needed:
GIS Storm Sewers Unit assessment [sewers_assess.pdf]
Assessment Information:
GIS Storm Sewers Unit assessment
[sewers_assess_key.pdf]
Instructional Sequence | GIS Storm Sewers Unit
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