All posts by Thomas Herman

Events

My California GIS Mapping Showcase and Competition – 2024 Winners

The California Geographic Alliance is proud to announce the winners of the 8th Annual My California GIS Mapping Showcase and Competition.

This exciting statewide opportunity encourages middle (4th-8th grade) and high school (9th-12th grade) students to harness the power of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and connect with their state by producing a StoryMap. The state competition is part of a national competition sponsored by Esri, creators of ArcGIS Online software and educational resources that are freely available to K-12 schools. $100 in prize money is allocated to the student author(s) of up to five award-winning projects in each division. The first place project in each division also advances to the national competition.

The contest is coordinated by Dr. Waverly Ray of San Diego Mesa College. Dr. Ming-Hsiang Tsou of San Diego State University serves as head judge. The CGA is grateful for this support and for the advocacy of these individuals to support GIS in K-12 education!

The CGA also sincerely thanks all of the educators across the state who gave their students the great experience of using GIS to create their own maps and projects. Participation in the competition was low this year, and we understand the challenges that teachers are facing in a year shaped by pandemic recovery. Teachers are the best, and we know you’ll continue to make learning engaging for your students. We appreciate your help in bringing the power of geographic thinking and geospatial technologies to your students.

The first place prize in the 4th-8th grade division is awarded to Ava Kruttschnitt of Ross School in Ross (Marin County) for a project entitled “OR-93: A Trailblazing Trek.” This is a great story of nature’s resilience and a creative use of mapping to help readers connect with one pioneering individual who is helping to lead the way toward re-wilding California. And as a back-to-back winner, Ava goes into the Student GIS Mapping Hall of Fame.
UPDATE: Ava has been selected as the winner of the national competition for 2024!!!

The first place prize in the 9th-12th grade division is awarded to Arek Boynerian of Clark Magnet High School in La Crescenta (L.A. County) for a project entitled “Volatile Organic Compounds In Gas Stations.” This StoryMap presents original data and thoughtful analysis of VOCs that occur at and near gas pumps. Data create a better understanding of how people are exposed to VOCs, and maps relate the hazard to the location of schools and bike lanes.

Other students recognized in the 4th-8th grade division include:

Other students recognized in the 9th-12th grade division include:

Instructional Resources

Explore Data About Your Place in the World Using Geography and GIS

Get to know your community better. Studying the people and the environment in the place where you live has numerous benefits.

  • A local scale inquiry builds on experience and insights that you are already accumulating through your everyday lived experiences.
  • You can take advantage of opportunities for experiential learning and develop your skills through direct observation and interaction.
  • You can connect learning to civic action and find ways to contribute to your community based on what you are learning.

These are two tools designed to help you access, collect, and learn from information about your local area. These can help you better understand the place where you live and study. They can also help you find ways to connect with and contribute to your community.

  • Community Environmental Justice Screening Tool (PDF)
  • 2020 US Census Community Demographic Data Collection Sheets (PDF)
Professional Development

Integrating Computer Science and Geography in Grades 3-12

Fellows in this program explore how education in computer science and geography concepts and skills can be integrated in highly engaging and relevant lessons across a range of subject areas and at any grade level. They invest time in creating and piloting lessons to meet the needs of their own students. They also participate in a community of practice, which is a vehicle for supporting other teachers and creating meaningful learning experiences for more students. Continue reading Integrating Computer Science and Geography in Grades 3-12 →

Professional Development

Teaching Geography with the Atlas: Online Course Is Open Now

CALLING ALL FOURTH GRADE TEACHERS IN CALIFORNIA!

The California Geographic Alliance and California Global Education Project have collaborated to create an online professional learning course that supports teachers in using the revised student atlas, California: A Changing State (2nd Ed.), as a teaching and learning resource.

Enroll now for this asynchronous 1-unit course.

  • The course has 3 modules, requiring approximately 4-5 hours per module to complete. It is offered through the University of San Diego Professional and Continuing Education program.
  • The instructor is Thomas Herman, PhD, Director of the CGA.
  • Enrollment in the course is $169, but an automatic discount of 25% is applied for registrations during the month of May 2024.
  • Atlas and all required materials are provided online.
  • 4th grade teachers in California who complete the course will receive a classroom set of atlases (20 copies) plus additional instructional materials, while supplies last!
Events, Professional Development

Environmental Justice for California Communities: An Interdisciplinary Workshop Series for Secondary Teachers

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This is an exciting Professional Learning program presented by the California Environmental Literacy Initiative, several California Subject Matter Projects, and the California Geographic Alliance. We are excited to support a cohort of teachers to become leaders in using an exciting new resource for place-based environmental learning and action.

In the 3-part series, teachers will get experience with classroom-ready resources and will learn how they and their students can use geospatial tools to develop their own inquiries. The CHELA (California’s Hub for Environmental Learning and Action) website helps educators, students, and collaborators:

  • use powerful GIS mapping tools to access current data and visualize, understand, and analyze important issues in a way that centers their own communities and concerns, wherever in the state they may live;
  • follow their interests and hone their own questions across a broad range of topics related to the environment, sustainability, and environmental justice; and
  • share their stories of environmental learning, action, and advocacy.

Continue reading Environmental Justice for California Communities: An Interdisciplinary Workshop Series for Secondary Teachers →

Events, Professional Development, Uncategorized

Celebrate California Biodiversity Day by Documenting Biodiversity in Your Spaces, Sept. 4-12

To recognize California Biodiversity Day , the California Geographic Alliance is organizing students across the state to become Biodiversity Explorers and Mappers. In the interest of developing environmental literacy and stewardship in all young people, this will be an opportunity for close observation and appreciation of the amazing diversity of organisms present in our state, which is a global biodiversity hotspot.

Continue reading Celebrate California Biodiversity Day by Documenting Biodiversity in Your Spaces, Sept. 4-12 →

Uncategorized

SDSU Geography Class Examines Impact of COVID-19 on Campus Community

Students in San Diego State University’s Geography Department‘s course on Qualitative Methods in Geography (taught by Dr. Kate Swanson) worked together to produce this excellent StoryMap that examines the impact of COVID-19 on the SDSU community.

This is information and perspective that you won’t get anywhere else, and geography helps pull it all together. Congrats to Dr. Swanson and the whole team!

From Dr. Swanson: “Overall, our findings pull from 458 student surveys, 131 faculty surveys, as well as 24 interviews with students and faculty. The StoryMap integrates graphics, recordings, maps, office space photos, and compelling first-hand testimony to uncover how students and faculty are coping. Key sections include: student financial report; housing, food security and education impacts; impacts of online learning on student well-being; and impacts of online learning on faculty well-being. We conclude with a series of recommendations. I’ve attached a few figures to highlight some of our findings.

Please share widely! My students are really excited to share their impressive work. We hope that these findings help uncover further ways to support students and faculty during these difficult times.

A special shout-out to Ana-Felix Ibarra who put the StoryMap together! It’s beautiful!“

This image shows the professor and students in the Qualitative Methods in Geography course at SDSU while engaged in a Zoom call.
Uncategorized

Student Atlas of California Completely Updated and Available Now Online

We are happy to announce the availability of a completely updated and improved second edition of our popular student atlas of California!

Image shows front cover of student atlas titled California: A Changing State, second edition. Cover shows map of California with icons representing recognizable features of the state.
Image shows front cover of student atlas titled California: A Changing State, second edition. Cover shows map of California with icons representing recognizable features of the state.

Continue reading Student Atlas of California Completely Updated and Available Now Online →

Uncategorized

Encountering California Biodiversity Close to Home

California has pledged to make all students environmentally and climate change literate. Outdoor education, fieldwork, and deeper connections with place need to be built into K-12 education to make that happen.

As part of this year’s recognition of California Biodiversity Day (September 7, 2020), the California Geographic Alliance is organizing students across the state to become Biodiversity Explorers and Mappers. In the interest of developing environmental literacy and stewardship in all young people, this will be an opportunity for close observation and appreciation of the amazing diversity of organisms present in our state, which is a global biodiversity hotspot. Using the citizen science platform iNaturalist, students will document plants, animals, insects, and other organisms that they observe in their yards, school grounds, or local parks and open spaces. In addition to the individual observations contributing to science, the collective efforts of students will be shared in a unique map using online mapping software (ArcGIS Online) that is freely available to all schools.

Optional informational webinar on 9/3 at 3:45 p.m.

Project links:
iNaturalist project page (and umbrella project for California Biodiversity Day 2020)
Media release
Instructions for participating
Flyer for project and 9/3 webinar
California biodiversity collage