"Geospatial Activities"

Activity 1: Mapping the Lewis and Clark Trail across the United States

Age: High School

The students would be put into small groups and each group would take one of the eleven different states on the Lewis and Clark Trail. Each group would be in charge of mapping out the Corps of Discovery’s route through that state and have to make a presentation to the class using technology of some sort. They should include how long it took the Corps to get to each of their sites and how long it would take someone today. Ideas would include a google earth tour, a physical map, a mapquest for a road trip to all of the sites in their state, etc. The objective of this project would be for the students to get an idea of how fast or slow the Corps traveled in each state and how far we have come with our roads.

Activity 2: Local Recreation Areas

Age: Middle or High School

Students would be asked to create a two hour long workout at least three local recreation sites of their choice. This could include participating in activities that the site already offers for example the paddle tour at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park: Fort Clatsop or creating their own, example longboarding on the ocean trail at Fort Stevens State Park. The students would then have to actually conduct one of their workouts and document that somehow. The object would be to show the students that they can use the outdoors to exercise and not just go lift at the gym.

Activity 3: Reading Connections

Age: Higher Elementary

Students would be grouped into literary circles and given a Newberry Honor or Winner book that had a real setting. The students would then each take a location mentioned in the group and make a google earth tour of their book and each student would present their site to the group who would then put all the presentations together and give a report to the class about their lit circle’s book using the google earth tour.

Activity 4: Civil War Battlefields

Age: High School

Students would each be given a different Civil War battle to study. They would have to study and then map out the major points of the battle using a google earth tour. Using balloons, they would need to explain why each of those points was important to the battle. The object would be to gain a deeper understanding of how the battle was conducted. For multiple day battles, a single day could be given to an individual student.