K-12 Education: Integrating GIS and GPS

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K-12 Education Integrating GIS and GPS

• February 17, 2012

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Global Positioning Systems

• GPS is a revolutionary navigation system
• 24 satellites orbiting the earth
• Provide location within metres or less anywhere
  on the globe.
• Now available in many cars as an option
• Created and operated by the US Department of
  Defense

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More about GPS satellites

• Constellation of 27 satellites
• (24 active 3 spare)
• Orbit 12,600 miles above earth
• (10,900 nautical miles)
• Satellites in 12 hour orbit
• First satellite launched in 1978, 24th became
  operational in 1994
• Selective availability was removed in May, 2000
• Handheld receivers are now much more accurate

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How does GPS work?

• Measuring distance by measuring time
• Satellites send coded signals indicating their
  position in space and the exact time the signals
  are being sent
• Receivers use the time it takes signal to travel
  from satellite to receiver to determine distance
  from satellite to receiver
• Information from multiple satellites is used to
  determine position through triangulation

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How does GPS work?
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More about GPS receivers

• A GPS receiver's job is to locate four or more
  satellites, figure out the distance to each, and
  use this information to deduce its own location.
• Hand-held receivers for recreational use with
  accuracy of 10-15 metres
• Vehicle mounted receivers for navigation or
  agricultural use with accuracy of lt 1 metre
• Backpack or tripod mounted receivers for
  surveying use with accuracy of 5 10 centimetres

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More about GPS receivers

• Receivers require clear line-of-sight thus, they
  will not work indoors or where tall objects
  obscure the sky

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Whats so cool about GPS?

• GPS units
• Can be used as a digital compass
• Can be used to determine ground speed
• Can store landmarks (locations)
• Can be used for dynamic routing
• Can be used for mapping applications

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Applications of GPS

• In-vehicle Navigation (car, boat, airplane)
• Asset Management
• Construction
• Geologic Research Mining
• Military Navigation and Operations
• Mapping Surveying
• Precision Agriculture
• Public Health
• Public Safety
• Wireless Communications

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GPS in the classroom
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Integrating GIS and GPS

• Collect a series of latitude and longitude points
  using GPS receivers
• add them into an existing digital map
• Skills in
• data collection/creation
• GPS reading
• observation
• Digital photos

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Geocaching

• A great way to introduce students to GPS
• Teach latitude/longitude
• Take advantage of the wonderful features and
  capability of your GPS unit
• An entertaining adventure for GPS users
• Individuals and organizations all over the world
  have set up caches and shared the locations of
  these caches on the Internet
• Participate in a cache hunt to find an existing
  cache or create your own
• www.geocaching.com

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Classroom projects

• There are many ways you can incorporate GPS data
  collection into your classroom
• Possibilities include
• a virtual trail in your area
• mapping the locations of litter and garbage cans
  to determine if there is a relationship, and if
  more garbage cans are necessary
• collecting data about tree types and locations on
  school grounds and beyond
• gathering water samples from a local stream and
  taking GPS readings at each location
• orienteering/navigating (hiking, boating, biking,
  driving)

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Getting started

• GPS units - Garmin eTrex
• perfect for introducing students to field data
  collection and the power of GPS
• industry's smallest and lightest handheld GPS
  receiver
• sleek waterproof housing will fit in your shirt
  pocket and weighs only 5.3 ounces
• a 12 channel parallel receiver, differential
  ready, with a built-in patch antenna
• runs for 22 hours on just two AA batteries
• Pencil, clipboard, paper

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Getting started - additions

• Connection cables for your GPS units
• Allow you to download data from your GPS unit to
  your computer
• Free extension available to convert to shapefile
• Local data
• Create a base map for viewing the data you have
  collected
• Provides context and other features for GIS
  analysis with ArcView
• Digital camera

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Collecting data

• Collect data in the field using GPS
• Write down point coordinates and additional data
  observations
• - OR -
• Use tracking function of your unit to store
  points, lines, or polygons, and write down
  additional observations

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Using the data you collect

• Manually enter the coordinates and observations
  into a table (Excel, etc.)
• Save as a .dbf file
• Add to ArcView
• Use Add X,Y or Add Event Theme to create
  points on your map
• - OR -
• Use your GPS unit cable to download the data from
  the unit to your computer

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For more information

• Books from ESRI Press
• Integrating GIS and the Global Positioning System
• Karen Steede-Terry
• Fun with GPS
• Donald Cooke
• Community Geography GIS in Action
• Kim Zanelli English and Laura S. Feaster

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For more information

• Lessons on the ESRI Canada website
• http//k12.esricanada.com
• Integrating GIS and GPS (ArcView 3.x)
• Exploring Pukaskwa National Park (ArcView
  8.x/9.x)
• Garmin website
• http//www.garmin.com/
• Trimble GPS
• www.trimble.com/gps
• How stuff works
• www.howstuffworks.com