GIS and GPS lesson plans and resources for k-12 curriculum

There are a number of resources available to assist you in developing GIS lesson plans. There are books complete with step by step instructions, teacher notes, rubrics and data sets such as Mapping Our World. There are also many ‘ready to use’ lesson plans for GIS available from the internet. Below you will find links to sites that offer these resources.

ESRI Arc Lessons is a resource for you to share lessons for using GIS in the classroom. You can browse a list of lessons by category or use the search tools to find lessons in your area of interest. You also can contribute your Lessons or Lesson Paks to Arc Lessons for other educators to use. http://gis.esri.com/industries/education/arclessons/arclessons.cfm

National Geographic - The GIS lesson plans on this site were written by educators and have been tested in the classroom. Together, they address all of the U.S. National Geography Standards, the five geography skills, and the main geographic perspectives.

U.S. Census in Schools – this site has resources including teaching materials. You can download lessons that use Census data as well as teaching kits (K-4, 5-8, 9-12, Adult ESL Literacy) and maps, FREE of charge. http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/teachers.html

NOAA Ocean Service Education provides information on curriculum and lesson plans Information on Geodesy at http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/geodesy/geo10_cors.html

USGS - GIS in Education - Explore this website for a large collection of resources and lesson plans for GIS and GPS topics
http://www.gis2gps.com/GIS/lessons/lessons.html

Click here for the GPS PowerPoint from the July 2008 Staff Development Workshop

For GPS geocaching enthusiasts check out http://www.geocaching.com/

More geocaching for kids at http://www.eduscapes.com/geocaching/kids.htm

Using GPS in the classroom - http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/space_geodesy/ATLAS/classroom.html

Download Free GIS datasets & Free GIS lightweight desktop application

Free GIS application ArcExplorer - CLICK HERE

From the geography network - these files are in GIS shapefile format ready to use: http://www.geographynetwork.com/data/downloadable.html

From the U.S. Census Bureau - these files are in GIS shapefile format ready to use: http://www.esri.com/data/download/census2000_tigerline/index.html

Download Free GPS conversion program to GIS

From Minnesota State - this program is for use with Garmin GPS units (you may have to download the driver for your unit onto your PC

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mis/gis/tools/arcview/extensions/DNRGarmin/DNRGarmin.html