Stories and Geographical Information

Stories and Geographical Information

Chris Durbin, County Inspector for Geography

Geographical information is everywhere at present. How do we teach about GIS in our schools. Simple digital maps from postcodes is a good place to start.

Some websites to get you started

	The Environment Agency www.environment-agency.gov.uk/
	Friends of the Earth Factorywatch www.foe.org.uk/factorywatch/index.html
	Up my Street www.upmystreet.com/
	Mapblast www.mapblast.com/mblast/index.mb Ordnance Survey www.ordsvy.gov.uk/
	The Map Machine www.nationalgeographic.com/maps/
	Smartraveller www.smartraveler.com/
	Infonation www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/infonation/e_infonation.htm

There are two ways to access these websites

You will need:

an Internet linked computer with a web browser [Internet Explorer]
the word processor [Microsoft Word] open

Method one - Click on the blue underlined words and it should launch an internet connection and the web site.

Method two - Highlight the text of the blue web location address[URL] and COPY. Switch to your web browser and clear the URL that is there. Then PASTE the URL in the space and press RETURN.

Some websites to take you further

These will take you to place that find out what companies, governments, councils and environment agencies are doing with GIS.

	Arc View a GIS from ESRI www.esri.com/ A good explanation of what GIS is, as well as a GIS to download. An introduction to GIS - an unofficial guide at student level http://boris.qub.ac.uk/shane/arc/ARChome.html Rough and ready guide to using arc view
	LaserScan www.lsl.co.uk/ Commercial site which is working in marketing and store location. Good description of what GIS does for Safeway http://www.laser-scan.com/papers/safeway.htm Gmap www.gmap.co.uk/ Commercial site which is also working in marketing and store location - good explanation of the potential GeoData www.geodata.soton.ac.uk/geodata/ A commercial site, which includes more physical geography case studies
	USGS and NASA www.usgs.gov/ www.earth.nasa.gov Where do you start with these? A site of enormous potential but to see the power of GIS see this mineral data GIS http://mrdata.usgs.gov/av/usa1.html The Tropical Rainforest Information Centre is useful too. www.bsrsi.msu.edu/trfic/index.html
	Atlases of Cyberspace This will give you enough information, not only about the superhighway but also the superbypass. www.cybergeography.org/atlas/atlas.html