Center for GIS
CGIS Celebrates GIS Day 2009!
In 1987 the National Geographic Society established the third week of November as Geography Awareness Week. GIS Day is celebrated on the Wednesday of that week. GIS Day is an international initiative that encourages organizations in academia, government, and private industry to explore with students and the general public the reasons why geography matters, and how and why GIS technology makes a difference in our society.
 CGIS staff will honor International GIS Day this year with outreach programs crafted for two very different audiences.
On GIS Day, CGIS professionals will host 7th grade students from the Crossroads School in Baltimore at a Towson University GIS lab and teach them how to use GIS to build a community map. The map is part of a larger interdisciplinary project to create a tourist brochure about Baltimore from the students’ perspective. CGIS staff previously guided the students in collecting landmark data from various points around the school’s East Harbor location. During their GIS lab time, the students will be given a dynamic overview of GIS and its relevance to daily life and spatial problem solving. CGIS staff will then lead the students through a hands-on activity that teaches them to change the spatial data they collected into an interactive map on the Internet. The map will remain available for the rest of the school year for continuing updates and enhancements, and for parents and other community members to view.
The students will be invited to present the mapping project during the education session of the annual TUgis conference in March 2009. Todd Kenreich, Associate Professor for Secondary Education in TU’s College of Education, serves as liaison with the school and also assisted CGIS with developing a program that not only builds on Maryland’s Voluntary State Curriculum standards for social studies, but also complements the Crossroads School curriculum of integrating rigorous instruction with hands-on projects that apply technology, cooperative learning, critical thinking, and real-world application of knowledge.
On November 19, CGIS will offer presentations for TU faculty and staff that explain what GIS is and illustrate its practical applications for research, business, and government. Participants will also learn about the GIS resources that are available at TU. The presentations will be held at 12:00 pm and 1:00 p.m. in Suite 260 in the Terracedale Building, located at 7801 York Road. Faculty and staff who wish to attend the sessions are requested to register.
In addition to the outreach activities, CGIS will have a presence at the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) showcase event hosted for SHA staff.
Once again, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley issued a proclamation honoring National GIS Day in the state.
Learn more about the Crossroads School, which is operated by the Living Classrooms Foundation to provide hands-on education and job training along with the applied learning of math, science, language arts, history, economics, and ecology.
The CGIS staff wishes everyone a happy GIS Day!
Division of Economic and Community Outreach
Center for GIS
Office Location: 7801 York Road , Suite 260
Phone: 410-704-3887
Fax: 410-704-3888
E-mail: cgis@towson.edu
|
