Interactive Mapping Online
Todd W. Kenreich
National Council for the Social Studies
tkenreich@towson.edu
18 November 2005
270 to Win (10)
The
site contains electoral maps of the results for every presidential
election in U.S. History. Also of interest is the opportunity to use the map
to chart a strategy for winning the 2008 presidential race.
http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en
Sponsored for the U.S. Census Bureau, this website includes two types of maps
under the geography and map browser bar. Reference maps may be customized,
allowing the user to add themes, boundaries and features. Thematic maps show
themes based on data sets determined by the 2000
Google. Google Maps. (8)
This site is specifically made to find locations, find businesses, and to get
directions. The beginning page gives a tutorial on how to use Google maps,
which allows teachers to understand the site’s features before use in the
classroom. The maps include three types: standard road maps, satellite, and
hybrid – a combination of the satellite and standard map. With an excellent
zoom tool, students can easily view the streets and buildings of their local
community through Landsat images. Such images can immediately tap students’
interest and help them establish a context for a given topic. This website
serves as a great resource for both students and teachers. While some Landsat
images are dated, the maps are nonetheless easy to read and easy to navigate.
*Note: A similar site, but not as recently updated, is MSN Virtual Earth:
http://virtualearth.msn.com/.
National Geographic Society. Xpeditions Hall. (7)
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/hall/
This site is an interactive hall designed to introduce each of the 18 National
Geographic standards. Each room in the hall contains several activities that
relate to a specific standard. The rooms in the hall feature various cultures
from around the world. The entire hall is interactive with maps that are
easily interpreted. All of the activities are easy to understand and easy to
read. There are simulations that help students understand geographic concepts.
Globalis: An Interactive World Map (7)
Sponsored by the
Public Broadcasting Service. The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: Interactive Maps.
(7)
http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/geography/geography.htm
Thematic maps focus on state by state statistics for lynching and race riots,
Jim Crow legislation for segregated education and public facilities as well as
legislation against miscegenation. A map also highlights the rise of Black
colleges and universities from 1830 to 1960. In addition, a map traces
state-by-state statistics for African-American and White populations shifts
from 1870 to 1960.
Eye on
http://www.eyeonisrael.com/map_Israel.html
Sponsored by Eye on
Public Broadcasting Service. Wide Angle: H5N1 – Killer Flu. Interactive Map:
The Spread of H5N1 Influenza in
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/shows/vietnam/map3.html
The
series of three thematic maps is part of much larger website for a PBS special
on the H5N1 influenza. While PBS describes these maps as interactive, only the
first map allows the user to link to additional data by clicking on specific
countries. Nonetheless, the sequence of maps explores the geographic
distribution of human and animal cases, bird migratory patterns, and human
trade routes. Taken together, the three maps help students to visualize the
geographic connections among various factors that contribute to the spread of
this virus.
United Nations World Food Programme. Hunger Map. (6)
http://www.wfp.org/country_brief/hunger_map/map/hungermap_popup/map_popup.html
Sponsored by the United Nations, this site highlights hunger in ten areas
including Darfur and
Geodata.gov.
This website is for those with advanced mapping skills. Teachers may want to
use this website for creating their own maps. The map viewer allows the user
to place layer upon layer of information onto a map. Some of the layers that
may be used are: forests, roads, cemeteries, water bodies, and even buildings.
The maps may be printed and saved, but publishing requires registration. This
website is not for those with limited mapping skills. Students may be
frustrated with complicated terms and acronyms. The site is more geared
towards those at the university level rather than those in K-12 settings.
Geodata.gov is a great website for publishing and creating maps. However,
teachers should use the site as a resource for teaching advanced geography
such as AP Human Geography.
http://www.education.usgs.gov/
The
U.S. Geological Survey provides a wealth of information regarding maps and
science. Within the education section, teachers may find suitable resources
for their various grade levels. There are many activities, a learning web, and
special features. The learning features lesson plans, homework help, and
project ideas. Many of the features are specifically geared towards geological
sciences rather than the entire realm of geography. The site contains
information that can be overwhelming for younger students. However, high
school students can navigate throughout the site. The homework help would be
more relevant for an earth science questions rather than for social studies
questions. The site is designed to inform users about physical geography. The
features are easily understood within the context of human-environment
interaction.
Public Broadcasting Service. Wide Angle: AIDS Warriors: Interactive Maps: AIDS
in Sub-Saharan
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/shows/angola/map.html
Using data from the U.S. Census International Data Base, the PBS sites
provides several thematic maps of demographic data including: HIV infection
rates, life expectancy (with and without AIDS), and refugee statistics.
National Atlas (5)
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Interior,
the National Atlas provides a
map maker with printable maps that can be saved. The maps can be layered to
see a variety of information and to compare data. Some of the layers include
features connected with agriculture, biology, humans, people, transportation,
water, geology and history. As users scroll over the buttons on the page, each
button’s function is highlighted. The zoom tool will zoom out as far a
continent and as far in as about 50 miles. The map maker and does not require
much extra reading to understand its functions. Students from grade level four
should be able to use the map maker. The website allows users to navigate maps
smoothly and independently. Note: A similar website is The National Map by
USGS - http://nationalmap.gov/
Cable News Network. CNN Cold War: Knowledge Bank Interactive Maps. (5)
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/maps/
Part of a CNN Perspectives series on the Cold War, this web site houses a
series of maps, categorized by the following episodes: Comrades 1917-1945,
Iron Curtain 1945-1947, Marshall Plan 1947-1952, Berlin 1948-1949, Korea
1949-1953, After Stalin 1953-1956, The Wall 1958-1963, Vietnam 1954-1968, MAD
1960-1972, Red Spring: The Sixties, China 1949-1972, Soldiers of God 1975-1988
(Afghanistan), The Wall Comes Down 1989 (Five Eastern Bloc cities).
Newseum. Today’s Front Pages. (5)
http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/
Sponsored by the Newseum, a DC-based non-profit institution, this site
provides a glimpse of the scanned front page of more than 400 newspapers from
the
http://lewisclark.geog.missouri.edu/website/kansascity/viewer.htm
Sponsored by the Department of Geography at the
http://kangis.org/mapping/sdm/
The
student data mapping tool lists data-collection projects created by teachers
and students. The projects listed are interesting for students as well as
teachers. It would be easy for students to create their own projects and
research questions. To create a question or project, though, one must register
with the site. The KanGIS site is great for creating class projects linked to
students’ interests. The map quality is rather basic, but the resolution is
best when viewed with the “zoom out” feature.
Lewis and Clark in
http://www.lewisandclark.state.mo.us/maps/main.asp#
This Missouri Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission map includes a list of
historical sites along the Lewis and Clark trail.
AIDS Data Animation Project (2)
http://www.ciesin.org/datasets/cdc-nci/cdc-nci.html
Dr.
Robin Blake of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Case
Western Reserve University School of Medicine led a team of researchers to
create an animated
WWII Concentration Camps: Birkenau 1996, Malthusen 1996. (2)
http://www.remember.org/camps/
Sponsored by the non-profit
Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection. Online Maps of Current Interest. (2)
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/index.html
Sponsored by the
A GIS Atlas for
http://129.79.145.5/arcims/statewide/viewer.htm
Sponsored by the Indiana Geological Survey and the Indiana Department of
Transportation, this site offers thematic maps of
http://www-map.lib.umn.edu/bessie/start.html
Sponsored by the
http://atlas.library.arizona.edu/map.html
Sponsored by the
Place-Name Location Activities
Rethinking Schools. Just For Fun Map Game.
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/just_fun/games/mapgame.html
This map challenges the user to identify place-name locations for 35 nations
in north Africa and the
Teacher Resources for Maps
National Geographic Society. Map Machine.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/
At
no cost, this website provides several hundred types of maps including: street
maps, aerial maps, satellite maps, and topographic maps. However, some of the
maps are not as detailed as expected. For example, the aerial and satellite
maps do not zoom in much more than patches of land. Also, the street maps are
several years old, failing to feature recent developments in land use. Each
map contains a legend and source. The site also includes a save feature,
allowing students to save past maps. Finally, the site has country profiles,
as well as, state profiles for the
National Geographic Society. Xpeditions.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/
This site provides a wealth of tools for social studies teachers. The site
includes teacher-tested lesson plans for K-12, an atlas, and more than 30
activities for specific lessons. Each lesson plan details not only the basic
outline of the lesson but also connections to the curriculum, connections to
the National Geography Standards, and geographical skills. The atlas contains
printable maps by continent and shows political features such as borders and
cities. However, the most distinct maps are outline maps without color.
Although the activities are designed for students, most of the site should be
used by teachers. The atlas shows black-and-white maps a teacher might use
during a test, but such sparse maps may not immediately be of interest to
students. This site serves as a great resource for teachers planning map
activities.
Caveat Emptor
Flash Maps: The Mapping Resource for Macromedia Users
Interactive Flash Maps
Both vendors of online maps offer no free content.
Maps.com: The World's Largest Map Store
http://www.maps.com/radiusmaps.aspx
This vendor offers almost no free content. One tool of interest to teachers
may be the custom radius map tool. While the company hopes that you'll spend
at least $95 for a print-version poster of a custom map, you can at least
explore the tool using varying radii for free.
Context and Methodology for Selection of Interactive Maps Online
There have been increasing calls for
the integration of technology in the social studies curriculum (Doolittle &
Hicks, 2003; Mason et al., 2000). The rise of digital history projects using
primary source documents is one example of new interest in the potential for
technology to shape curriculum, instruction, and assessment. At the same time,
the availability of online maps has presented challenges and opportunities for
teachers and students. Too many sites for online maps are simply “dead links”
or links to maps of poor quality with limited opportunity to meaningfully
explore the maps. Although some students prefer traditional paper maps to
online maps because of the greater opportunity to examine such maps in detail
(Pederson et al., 2005), the potential exists for online mapping tools to
engage students in more active forms of learning geography.
The level of interactivity of with
maps may be measured by various criteria. After all, how might the user
interact with the map? At it best, a highly interactive map allows the user to
vary scale, add and subtract layers, and re-center the map. The technology
should “flow” so that the user is not frustrated with awkward pauses while the
website updates a map based on the user’s request.
The author began the search for
interactive maps online using the search engine, Google. With the search terms
“interactive map” and “social studies,” the initial search yielded more than
several million hits. However, this search as well as a search for
“interactive map” and “geography education” proved disappointing. In each
search, website after website claimed to include interactive maps, but often
the map failed to meet the author’s criteria for a truly interactive map. For
this project, the author broadly employed the search term “interactive map”
and limited the search to the first 200 websites identified by Google. Then,
the author eliminated most websites as not germane to the topics commonly
studies in a social studies classroom. For example, a website that included an
interactive map of the campus of the
References
Doolittle, P. & Hicks, D. (2003). Constructivism as a theoretical foundation
for the use of technology in social studies. Theory and Research in Social
Education 31(1), 72-104.
Mason, C., Berson, M., Diem, R., Hicks, D., Lee, J., & Dralle, T. (2000).
Guidelines for using technology to prepare social studies teachers.
Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education [Online serial], 1
(1). Available: http://www.citejournal.org/vol1/currentissues/socialstudies/article1.htm
National Geographic Society Education Foundation. (2002). Roper-Gallup survey
2002.
Pederson, P., Farrell, P. & McPhee, E. (2005, Oct./Nov.). Paper versus pixel:
Effectiveness of paper versus electronic maps to teach map reading skills in
an introductory physical geography course. Journal of Geography 104(5):
195-202.
A Rating Scale for Interactive Maps
High
Moderate Minimal
10 9
8 7
6 5
4 3
2 1
Highly Interactive
Rapid and Seamless Zoom Tool with No Pauses
Rapid and Seamless Re-Centering
Extensive Choice of Layers
Rapid Addition of Layers
Multiple Layers of Data
Highly Logical Tool Bar
Moderately Interactive
Zoom Tool with Brief Pauses
Re-Centering with Brief Pauses
Limited Choice of Layers
At
Least Two Layers of Data
Logical Tool Bar
Minimally Interactive
Zoom Tool with Awkward Pauses or No Zoom Tool
Re-Centering Difficult or Impossible
Limited or No Choice of Layers
Slow and Cumbersome Addition of Layers
Only One Layer of Data
Insufficient Tool Bar
Using Maps to Ask and Answer Geographic Questions
I.
Rebuilding
View the New York Times’ map section on
Play the role of one
White Bus Driver, 64 years old
African-American Businesswoman, 32
Second-Generation Latino Nurse, 24
Bi-Racial Architect and Community
Activist, 40
II.
The 2008
You
work as a highly-paid political consultant. View the electoral maps of the
presidential races of 2000 and 2004.
What strategy would you recommend to Mr. Giuliani (R) or Sen. Clinton (D) to
win the presidency in 2008? How do the maps shape your strategy?
The
author acknowledges the research and valuable contributions of research
assistant, DeAnna Harris.
Ms.
Harris is a preservice social studies teacher at
©
2005. Todd W. Kenreich.