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While a number of things did not go to plan this spring, we were able to complete our Storymap of the Southwick School Nature Trail. Please visit http://arcg.is/1yr1n5 to view our work. It was quite challenging to collect remaining student work remotely, and a few aspects of the project were impossible given the situation: testing out the map with 3rd grade students, sharing the joy of the completed project with the 4th graders who worked on it, collecting spring photographs of each site. But considering all of the plans that went astray all over the world this spring, we were able to stay pretty true to the intent of this project, and it will become a regular part of the Southwick 4th grade, whenever we are back to a regular Southwick 4th grade. Thank you for following along with our progress.

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Our school, along with every other New Hampshire School, has transitioned to remote learning until at least May 4th. I’ve set up a Google Classroom and am working to connect with all of my students. Once things settle down, I will be able to have students revise their writing (which will go into our MapOut! Website.) once we have clear writing pieces, I will be able to put the site together, and students can virtually tour our nature trail. If we are able to return to school, we’ll walk the trail with the Storymap open. For now, we’re mainly just trying to connect with students and make sure they are safe.

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On either side of the February vacation students visited our nature trail to survey the riparian zone (the area of land just before a stream or body of water.) They were looking for evidence in order to make claims about the overall health of our piece of the watershed. Now we are using ArcGIS to extend the reach of riparian zone surveys. Students are using satellite imagery to make claims about the health of the Winnisquam River riparian zone. ArcGIS is allow us to add layers over the imagery, which makes tracking and measuring distances from the river much more feasible. Our goal is to understand our overall watershed health, and to be able to draw a connection from our chosen places along the nature trail to the ecosystem.

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February has been a slow month for our Map Out! activities. After finding signs of wildlife along our nature trail, students began our trout in the classroom program which the NH Fish and Game department supports. This program requires some time for students to learn to take care of eastern brook trout eggs and is used as a jumping off point to learn about the local watershed and issues for wildlife. This will circle back around to our Map Out! project as students learn how water sheds off the land along our nature trail and into the local river systems. Students have begun to learn about the riparian zone of a watershed, and will be using the ArcGIS program from Map Out! to assess our riparian zone. Using ArcGIS in this way is helpful for out project's overall goal, to use technology to look more closely at nature. In this case it has just required us to step away from the project for a bit, but I believe it will reinvigorate students to complete the project as we round the corner to spring and prepare to release our fish into the local river.

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There have been a few freeze thaw cycles along our nature trail recently which have left the snow very compact and stable. Last week we received two precipitation events that each left about one inch of powder snow. When the weather was fairly warm, we took advantage of the conditions to visit our sites and search for tracks in the snow. Many students have predicted what kinds of animals might visit their site, based on it's role in our ecosystem, so it was interesting to see if any of their predictions came true. We found tracks throughout our nature trail of White Tailed Deer, Gray Squirrel, and Coyote.

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This month students became familiar with the ArcGIS platform from which Storymaps is based on. Students were led through activities to add layers to help them understand the watershed of our area. These students will participate in the Trout in the Classroom program, supported by the New Hampshire Fish and Game, beginning in January. We were able to use various layers in ArcGIS to understand how water potentially travels over their chosen sites, into the surrounding tributaries, to the Winnipesaukee River, and ultimately to the Atlantic Ocean. Students were beginning to see how their small spot in our woods is connected to the larger ecosystem, through water. It is my hope that when they begin to learn about and care for baby Brook Trout, they will also be thinking about our nature trails.

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As our outdoor research sites get buried with snow students are being introduced to ArcGIS, the online mapping program that Storymaps is built from. After some initial exploration we will begin to analyze the forested area around the Southwick School, specifically the watershed and how our chosen sites may or may not be effected by pollutants in the runoff water and snow melt. Later, students will be introduced to the Storymaps platform as a means for understanding our project better, and being in a position to offer meaningful input to the design of our collective site.

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November 15th: Revisiting after Research

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November 15th: Revisiting after Research

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During class periods since identifying and documenting research subjects along the nature trail, students have been researching and writing about how these subjects effect the ecosystem.  While the weather was decent, we revisited the sites as a class, and each group shared what they had learned at this point. This activity allowed students to independently identify where they were in need of information, and to get ideas about the numerous connections within our nature trail ecosystem. As a result, students are completing their writing assignments with more meaningful content. Below is an example of a first draft of the writing assignment:

On the Nature Trail at Southwick School, I have identified a field of cinnamon ferns.They come in white, brown, and green.Sawflies and several species of caterpillars eat the ferns.They are all similar sizes.Most have four parts sticking out with leaves on it.The stem`s color depends on the leaf color.Here is one patch of cinnamon ferns, but you can find others in the Southwick School woods.

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October 25th: All of our Sites are in ArcGIS

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October 25th: All of our Sites are in ArcGIS

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All of the students working on this project have found their subject to study, and we've used GPS units to pinpoint all of them. The map below shows the individual locations along our nature trail. Most of our students chose some organic thing, and are beginning to research how it fits into the ecosystem. They are asking questions like "what eats this?" or "what kinds of things live in or under this?" A few students have geologic features and an asking questions about how they formed, how long they have been here, or how did they get here? We will be revisiting the sites soon to take a closer look with a camera, and to look for signs of the other life forms that benefit from their subjects.

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In the past few weeks students have chosen a variety of subjects to study along our nature trail, from small mushrooms, to large Eastern White Pine trees, to the drainage stream which crosses the trail, and the glacial erratic boulders up on the hill. Students have taken up the task of identifying their subject, which was challenging for those studying the mushrooms, and are working to answer questions about how their subject fits into the ecosystem or the landscape. Over the next few weeks the work will shift to their language arts classes, where they will use the Collins Writing Traits to create a short research paper about their subject. Behind the scenes I have been loading images of their subjects into a Storymaps Shortlist format web story. The work from these steps should come together in a few weeks, which will be publishable, though we will continue to document, add, and revise our work throughout the school year before we go ahead and publish the story map for the community.

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September 25th: Our first sites have been chosen

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September 25th: Our first sites have been chosen

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One of our 4th grade classes made it out to the nature trail today to investigate. Students worked in pairs and were all successful in identifying their site and a subject to research. All of the groups chose living things, from trees, to shrubs, small plants, and mushrooms. Below are students investigating the mitchella repens growing on the forest floor (but they don't know it by name yet.) I was able to mark a waypoint (a gps location) for each group, and was able to photograph each subject to be investigated. Over the next few weeks, students will work on identifying their subject and begin their research, and we will collect more photographs, working with the weather as appropriate.

I’ve been able to import the waypoints to ArcGIS (which is the map format behind Storymaps) but I am having trouble importing the photos with a GPS stamp. I’m working on it and am sure it will work out, and may choose to attach the photos to the waypoints manually anyways. But that is a behind the scenes struggle.

This exploratory student work will continue with different classes over the course of the next week, and their choices will make up the points on our Storymap. Together we will be deciding on a Storymap format, though I believe the map tour format will make the most sense for this project.

Perhaps the most Important things to notice at this stage however are the smiles these two students are showing. I see pride in their faces. And I know already that this project is worth the effort.

-Brian

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We received our equipment and have been configuring and setting up this week. After a few test runs, students will use the Garmin GPS units to map out entire trail system and to identify the locations of their particular interests. We will import these data to our base map, which will make the foundation for our Storymaps web site. If the weather cooperates we'll begin this process next Wednesday with 4th grade students, and build up our trail map over the course of one week.

On a personal note, it is so very exciting to be starting this project, after months of planning and preparing.

-Brian

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We are so honored to have been selected by the New Hampshire Society for Technology in Education Chris Nelson Memorial Grant. Below is our proposal.

CHRIS NELSON MEMORIAL GRANT PROGRAM

MAP OUT!

Southwick School

Winnisquam Regional School District SAU59

50 Zion Hill Road

Northfield, NH 03276

Phone (603)286-3611

Fax (603)286-3526

Team Members

Brian Winslow, TEAM LEADER & Southwick STEAM Teacher, bwinslow@wrsdsau59.org

Donna Burbank, Southwick Grade 4 Classroom Teacher, dburbank@wrsdsau59.org

Maria Pearson, Winnisquam Instructional Technology Specialist, mpearson@wrsdsau59.org

Michael Petrun, Winnisquam Regional Agriculture Teacher, mpetrun@wrsdsau59.org

MAP OUT! Project Abstract:

A common criticism of technology today is that young people spend too much time looking at screens, but what if technology enabled our students to look deeply at nature? The Southwick School STEAM program for fourth grade students will be using Global Information System (GIS) technology, paired with high resolution cameras, to explore, document, map, and tell the ecological story of the school’s nature trails.

Outline of the overall goals

Through the MAP OUT! project students will learn how to create Story Maps using Global Information System, GIS,  to visualize, question, analyze, and understand data about the world and human activity. Story maps use Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to combine geospatial data with photos, video, audio, and text to visualize a theme or sequential events. Story maps serve as a great tool for public engagement because they can easily be shared via social media or embedded within a website.

Learning objectives for students include:

Visualizing local, regional, and global data and making connections to their own environment.

Learning fundamental concepts that underlie the use of a GIS with hands-on experience with maps and geographic data.

Guiding through a standard process for investigating a problem using GIS.

Preparing a GIS map presentation on the topic of interest, Southwick School Nature Trails.

Summary of Standards

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

As students walk the school’s nature trails they will collect images and data as they make  observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation (NGSS 4-ESS2-1 Earth's Systems). Students will then analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features (NGSS 4-ESS2-2).  As they return during the year to observe seasonal changes along the trail,  they will record and develop a model using the GIS system to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment (NGSS 5-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics).

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

In the MAP OUT! Project, students will be able to develop and apply several Common Core State Standards in Reading and Writing. Students will explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why change occured along the nature trail and correlate their observations to specific information in the text (CCSS.ELA-Literacy RI4.3). Their explanation will take the form of written informative/explanatory texts that examines a topic and convey ideas and information clearly (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.2) and produce coherent writings in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.4.4).  With some guidance and support from teachers, students will use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish their writings as well as to interact and collaborate with others, as they produce online their section of the GIS Story of the Southwick nature trail.

ISTE Standards for Students

ISTE Standards for Students are designed to empower student voice and ensure that learning is a student-driven process. The MAP OUT! project will have students as Knowledge Constructor as they critically curate a variety of resources, such as images, sketches, and descriptions, using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others through the various data layers in the GIS map. Students also become Creative Communicator as they communicate clearly and express themselves creatively by providing a well planned “story” of the nature trails using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals. Finally, as Global Collaborator, students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams locally and globally.

ISTE Standards for Educators

The ISTE Standards for Educators are a road map to helping students become empowered learners. These standards will deepen educators’ practice, promote collaboration with peers, challenge educators to rethink traditional approaches and prepare students to drive their own learning. The MAP OUT! Project allows educators to be Facilitators of learning with technology to support student achievement of the ISTE Standards for Students. Educators are able to foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes in both independent and group settings, while using technology and student learning strategies in the digital GIS platform, and the virtual environments of the field.

Computer Science Standards

"Because CS is an active and applied field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) learning that allows students to engage in hands-on, real-world interaction with key math, science, and engineering principles, it gives students opportunities to be creators - not just consumers - in the digital economy..." [CSforALL]

The collection and use of data about the world around them is a routine part of life and influences how people live. Students will participate in the collection and presentation of data in various visual formats (CS 1A-DA-06) and identify and describe patterns in data visualization  (CS 1A-DA-07). Additionally, students will work respectfully and responsibly with others online CS 1A-IC-17). Online communication facilitates positive interactions, such as sharing ideas with many people, but the public and anonymous nature of online communication also allows intimidating and inappropriate behavior in the form of cyberbullying. Students will share their work on blogs and/or in other collaborative spaces online, taking care to avoid sharing information that is inappropriate or that could personally identify them to others. Students will provide feedback to others on their work in a kind and respectful manner and tell an adult if others are sharing things they should not share or are treating others in an unkind or disrespectful manner on online collaborative spaces.

Implemented and Assessed

Students will collaborate to create a Story Map of the Southwick School nature trails with layers for:

High resolution photographs of organisms living along the trail, at different times of year.

High resolution photographs of geologic features along the trail, at different times of year, and include changes as they occur over multiple years.

Written explanations of the geologic or ecological significance of their chosen features.

If their feature is a geologic one, students will demonstrate connections between their feature and ongoing weather or erosion events, such as identifying a particular boulder as a glacial erratic, with accompanying information about the most recent ice age.

If their feature is an ecological one, such as a group of ferns growing on the top of a boulder, students will demonstrate connections between their feature and the food web ecosystem.

Deliver map layers for use by students and the community at large on a website or GIS mobile app.

Students will complete formative assessments throughout the project to ensure they are comfortable with the required skills as they work with GPS coordinates and are on track with the project’s timeline. Students will also receive a summative assessment for their completed section of the MAP OUT! project.

The MAP OUT! project will continue yearly, with the primary focus on fourth grade work. Older students will revise the work they completed while in fourth grade, and younger students will vet the work of fourth grade students before it becomes published. Over time the MAP OUT! project will contain more and more layers of student work, and will invite members of the public to explore the features of the Story Map for themselves.

MAP OUT! Project Description and Timeline

Project Goal and Purpose

There are two main goals for this project. First, to encourage students to look closely at the natural world. Second, for students to gain familiarity with GIS mapping technology. The goals will be achieved by asking students to tell the story of what they find interesting along the property nature trails, be it a particular location through the seasons, like one of the drainage ravines, or a particular species such as mitchella repens (partridgeberry) growing next to the drainage ravines. Students will document and research their chosen subject and share their work with the public through a Story Map website. Additionally, curation and revision of the website will occur over time as new students with new interests participate, and as natural changes occur along the nature trails.

Project implementation and timeline

Summer 2019 - The project will begin with professional development in the summer of 2019 for the STEAM teacher in using GIS in the classroom and for all teachers on this application team in ecological story mapping (see below.)  Lesson plans and activities will be created for appropriate pacing for the coming year to incorporate meaningful experiences guided by NGSS science standards, language arts and math standards.

Fall 2019 - Fourth grade students will begin the 2019-2020 school year by exploring the trails and adopting an interest to investigate. Part of this initial exploration will involve creating GPS trail map data and will be quickly followed up with combining the data to a topographical image of the property, this combination will serve as the baseline image for our story map. Students will then learn to pin, through their GPS device, their chosen location onto the map and begin the process of documenting and researching their area of interest. Students will work collaboratively through the year to create their portions of the shared Story Map.  Each portion will include: Images of the feature or specimen and at least one paragraph of researched information about the feature or specimen. Students will begin to curate this information on the Story Map website.

Winter 2019 - Progress presentation at Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference. Fourth grade students will gather new images to document changing seasons, as appropriate. Students will complete research projects and begin drafting their portion of the Story Map.

Spring 2019 - Fourth grade students will complete their portion of the Story Map to be ready for publication. Third grade students will follow the Story Map trail, validating the work of fourth grade students prior to publication. The Story Map website will be made public, and third grade students will begin conversation of the project they will participate in as fourth graders.

Fall 2020 through Spring 2020 - Fifth grade students who created the story map website the previous school year, will update their portion of the map throughout the school year. The process as outlined above will repeat with current fourth grade students, since Southwick serves students in third, fourth, and fifth grade only.

Impact within classrooms, school, district, and community as a whole

All students attending Southwick participate in a weekly STEAM class which is part of their unified arts rotation schedule. Most of the project activities will be carried out by fourth grade students in STEAM class. Further impacts will be felt in science classes, as students investigate and research ecological and physical sciences for this project. The writing portion of the project will impact English Language Arts classes as students research and report on an interest of their choice. The school will be impacted as students share their learning with their peers through the Story Map website, and students in other grades follow the Story Map along the trails. While not explicitly planned, impacts will be felt in the community as a whole through the Story Map website, as the site and the nature trails are made available to the public. The Story Map website will be nestled into the district website and made public to the community.

Assessments within the project both formative and summative

Formative assessments:

Southwick School recently adopted the WONDERS reading program.  In the fourth grade anthology there is an expository text called Energy in the Ecosystem.  Students will read this story and respond as to how a food chain connects all living things.  This informational piece will be graded according to the writing rubric for informational writes used by the District.

This formative assessment helps teachers to instill a practice of appropriate expository writing  that will guide the research portion of the MAP OUT! Project (supports CCSS.ELA-Literacy RI4.3:  Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.)

Additionally, students will take a formative GIS assessment, structured similarly to a Geocache scavenger hunt, with pinned locations along the nature trail. This Geocache activity will provide feedback to the STEAM teacher for students’ abilities to analyze topography and read maps (Supports 4-ESS2-2. Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features)

Summative Assessment:

Upon completion of their research, students will create their page of a Story Map as a summative assessment. This page is the written content to be included in the GIS pinned point of interest, with related data and images. This will be graded through a rubric in three categories, English Language Arts (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.2: W.4.1.B, W.4.4, W.4.6), Science (4-ESS2-1) and Technology (ISTE 3, 6, &7) The result of the summative assessment will be the creation of Story Map pages for the website, and will be vetted by students in other grades before being published.

The rubric for the final story map will include the following areas of focus:

Audience

Student identifies an appropriate audience for their story

Student uses media and template appropriate for audience

Student displays stakeholders relevant to audience

Presentation

Student uses appropriate template for their story

Symbology and color enhances storytelling

Data is presented in intuitive, easy to understand fashion

Text

Student uses appropriate amount of text

Text is at an appropriate level and tone for target audience

Media

Student uses at least one type of media (photo, audio, video, graphs)

Student uses media to effectively enhance storytelling

NHSTE's belief statements of: Learning is essential in our ever-changing world; Technology empowers teachers and learners; and NHSTE inspires, creates, and supports a culture of connected learners

We feel that the MAP OUT! Project meets the belief statements of NHSTE. All of the Southwick students will participate in this project, most directly as fourth graders. The contents of the story map will be driven by student interests and their ongoing learning, through observation and research. Their work will be vetted by other students and then shared publicly through the use of technology, and will inspire others to visit a very particular place. The project will connect learners from other grade levels to the individual work of many fourth grade students, and the body of work will grow with time to build connections between current students, alumni, and the greater community.

Curriculum Standards

Below is a list of curriculum standards that will be addressed based on the content and technology focus of the MAP OUT! project.

Next Generation Science Standards

4-ESS2-1 Earth's Systems Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation. (Summative assessment)

4-ESS2-2. Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features. (Formative assessment)

5-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment. (Summative assessment)

Reading

CCSS.ELA-Literacy RI4.3:  Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text. (Formative assessment)

Writing

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.1.B:  Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details. (Summative assessment)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.2:  Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. (Summative assessment)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.4.4:  Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.  (Summative assessment)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.4.6:  With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting. (Summative assessment)

ISTE Standards for Students

ISTE Standards for Students are designed to empower student voice and ensure that learning is a student-driven process. The MAP OUT! project will assess students on:

3. Knowledge Constructor - Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.

3c Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions. (Summative assessment)

6. Creative Communicator - Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.

6b Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations. (Summative assessment)

6c Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations. (Summative assessment)

6d Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences. (Summative assessment)

7. Global Collaborator - Students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams locally and globally.

7c Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal. (Summative assessment)

ISTE Standards for Teachers

The ISTE Standards for Educators are a road map to helping students become empowered learners. These standards will deepen educators’ practice, promote collaboration with peers, challenge educators to rethink traditional approaches and prepare students to drive their own learning.

The MAP OUT! project will provide educators with the opportunity to be Facilitators of learning with technology to support student achievement of the ISTE Standards for Students.

6a. Educators are able to foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes in both independent and group settings,

6b. While using technology and student learning strategies in the digital GIS platform, and the virtual environments of the field.

Computer Science Standards

Level 1A Standards: Data Analysis

1A-DA-06 Collect and present the same data in various visual formats.

1A-DA-07 Identify and describe patterns in data visualizations, such as charts or graphs, to make predictions.

Level 1A Standards: Impacts of Computing

1A-IC-17 Work respectfully and responsibly with others online.

Capacity for Success

Abilities, expertise, knowledge and support of team members

Teachers will facilitate the learning process by providing guidance, knowledge, activities and assessments of students’ knowledge and skills.

The Winnisquam School District has partnered with dozens of local businesses and organizations in efforts to promote and meet the needs of the community, and to provide meaningful experiences for students. These partnerships have been facilitated by district administrators, and the Southwick Principal and district Superintendent will be the initial promoters of MAP OUT! It was the Southwick School Principal who, after learning of the ideas in the MAP OUT! project,  initially encouraged the team to apply for this grant.

The team leader, Brian Winslow, is the STEAM teacher for the Southwick School. Through that position he has collaborated with each of the other team members on numerous projects. Mr. Winslow has worked with Winnisquam’s Instructional Technology Specialist, Maria Pearson, on efforts to create a makerspace in the school library, to integrate technology into STEAM class, and to supplement the science curriculum for students at Southwick. He has collaborated with fourth grade Teacher Donna Burbank to apply for and receive a schoolyard action grant to improve the school’s nature trails. Together, along with others, they have built a new bridge, cut new trails, re-blazed and pruned older trails, and done much work to make the trails more accessible to students. Winnisquam Agricultural Teacher Michael Petrun (and students in his natural resources class) have collaborated with Mr. Winslow to create an outdoor classroom, to build and fill raised gardening beds for the Southwick greenhouse, to design and create an ADA compliant section of the trail, to bring honey bee hives to the Southwick School, and to set up aquaponic projects at the elementary and at the high school. The team and administration have a demonstrated history of success on collaborative projects for new initiatives in the school.

Role and knowledge of the administration

School and District administration will be the initial promoters and facilitators for community connections. As in most school activities, the school and district administrators will ease the way when hurdles may arise or policies need clarification. The most important role for all administration is to promote our students’ learning and the success of this project as it contributes to the community.

Structures, policies, and/or procedures

The Southwick School and the Winnisquam Regional High School Agriculture Center, also known as the AG Center, currently maintain and improve the nature trails described in this project. Students currently use the nature trails in their STEAM class through the Project Learning Tree curriculum and through additional curricular activities.  The Southwick School and the AG Center are currently working to create ADA compliance for a section of the trail, which will allow for all students and the community to participate in this project. The Winnisquam Regional School District has the goal of connecting with the community, and has made significant efforts to increase its presence through social media and as a place for extra-curricular activities.

Professional Development needs

The heart of the Map Out! project is a basic understanding of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and how they can be useful to us all. Therefore, all teachers in the project will benefit from a basic understanding of GIS concepts. Individuals who are new to GIS will want to review the information found in the free Getting Started with GIS course. This course, offered by the UNH Cooperative Extension, is an introduction to the basic components of a GIS and provides fundamental concepts that underlie the use of a GIS with hands-on experience with maps and geographic data. (FREE Duration: 3 Hours,  30 Minutes)

As the Lead Teacher, Brian Winslow and any other interested members of the team will also participate in the course Teaching with GIS: Introduction to Using GIS in the Classroom prior to the beginning of student instruction. This course presents strategies for integrating GIS to support instruction, discussion, and extended learning on any topic. Many practical ideas for GIS activities that enhance student learning and critical thinking skills are shared. (FREE Duration: 4 Hours,  45 Minutes)

Critical for the final MAP OUT! project would be for at least two of the group members to attend the Instructor-Led course Creating Story Maps with ArcGIS. This course is for anyone that wants to communicate with maps—teaches the concepts, best practices, and decisions that need to be made when creating and sharing a story map.  Story Maps have achieved mass appeal as a vehicle to inform the public, engage stakeholders, and inspire an audience. This is one of the reasons to use this format for the final MAP OUT! project platform.   (FEE of $650 per person Duration: 1 Day - 8 Hours)

Sustainability

Initially this project will be part of the Unified Arts STEAM curriculum for Grade 4. This will continue to be revised and adapted by classes as new data is recognized and should be represented in our mapped story of the Southwick Nature Trails. The initial success of this project is realized when students are able to finalize their mapped stories and link them to our website. Because nature is constantly changing, more observations and data can be shared using the established platform.

Project Promotion

The progress and success of this project will be publicized in the bi-weekly blog with various contributors such as teachers, students and community members. This blog and the final MAP OUT! GIS story will be shared through the district’s communication channels of social media and website news. Presentations will be given to celebrate the project’s success at faculty and school board meetings, science fairs and open houses, community outreach days, Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference, and other potential conferences with related topics, such as NHSTA fall conference.

Itemized Budget

Link to spreadsheet: Budget Spreadsheet

(the budget requests include hand held GPS devices, Cellular enabled iPad with case, Nikon camera, and a professional development course.