Use of geodata in geography
Life skill related:
Self-regulation
Methodology:
Group work
Subject:
Geography
Age/Grade:
14 years old
Timing:
60 min
Materials/suggestions
Children of the age of 14 who need knowledge about the use of geodata in geography.
Description of the activity:
Preparation
Teachers should check in advance the relevance of the proposed applications and choose current and accessible platforms for students. If it’s not possible to use of geolocations on the phones than this part can’t be trained to be added to the description. In the event of difficulties in entering/sharing geographical coordinates, a photo album of the physical locations chosen for the experiment can be prepared to be given directly to the students. Alternatively, the respective geographical coordinates can be associated with each photo (Google Earth/Actionbound/Padlet can be used) to overcome the problem of sharing data In time management, take into account the time needed to prepare the activity. Organize a short practical session before starting the activity to ensure that all students can use the geotagging function and the necessary applications.
Implementation
Step 1: The students (or a group of students) receive photos with geotags as a start for a search. The photos contain objects that are recognizable to the students (buildings, statues, fountains, etc.). The challenge is to find the exact place where the photos were taken, using relevant software (e.g. Picasa, Google Earth, Street View). The data are kept in print or on the computer.
Step 2: The students look for the exact location and possibly use a map or street plan. When they think they have found the exact location, they take a new photo with geotags with their mobile phone.
Step 3: back at school, the geotags of the new photos are compared with the original ones.
If the coordinates of both are correct, a positive evaluation follows.
Points of attention
This exercise requires cell phones with a geotagging function. Not all mobile phones have this. However, recent digital cameras also have such a function.
Using Picasa and Google Earth requires you to download (free) software for this. You will find them on the download pages below:
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com
Google Maps and Street View: http://maps.google.be/intl/nl/help/maps/street
Additional information and resources