This page lists, links to, and briefly describes files developed for the purposes of teaching social studies using geospatial tools (primarily Google Earth and My World GIS). Most, but not all, of these files have been developed at Lehigh University by students in the Teaching and Learning with Geospatial Tools (TLT 368) course taught by Dr. Hammond.
If you find these materials interesting, we recommend that you also visit similar efforts–we keep a running list of relevant resources at delicious.com/tchammond/geospatial, but notable parallels include
- Carol Larow's Google Historical Voyages and Events
- Joshua Radinsky's GIS for History project at the University of Illinois - Chicago
- Jung Eun Hong's GIS for Social Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder
- The Virginia Geographic Alliance's GIS Lessons for K-12.
Our files are currently organized chronologically by topic.
circa 4000 BCE - 0: Cradles of Civilization (as per AP World History)
Google Earth file developed by Tom Hammond, 2012: APworld_cradles_of_civ_ver03.kmz.
Description: Provides placemarks (with perspective) for settlements from six 'origin' civilizations specified in the AP World History curriculum.
Source file (heavily adapted): heritage-key.com/files/PradPatel/googleearth/great-cities.kml
Still in development: Add dates / contextual detail; re-consider representation of Andean highland civilization (currently singles out Chavin; should probably include Caral-Supe/Norte Chico)
circa 200 BCE - approx. 1500: Silk Route(s)
Google Earth file developed by Tom Hammond, 2012: Silk_Roads_ver03.kmz.
Description: Placemarks of stops along the Silk Roads; no contextual detail.
Sources used (just folded together, no editing)
circa 200 BCE - approx 1500: Great Wall(s) of China
Google Earth file developed by Yuanyuan Zhang, 2010; revised by Tom Hammond, 2012: Great Wall(s) of China ver04.kmz.
Description: Depicts the multiple time periods and places of the development of the wall; it is not a single, monolithic concept but took different forms in different time periods. Perspective applied to selected points along the wall to illustrate topography; includes Badaling tourist stop.
Sources consulted:
circa 1607: Jamestown area Native American groups
Google Earth file from the Virginia Center for Digital History, Virtual Jamestown Project:indian_groups.kmz
Description: Jamestown viewed from "inside the longhouse" -- rather than view the English settlement in a vacuum, this overlay shows the inverse: the Native American settlements in the region. For the English, it was a New World; for the Chesapeake-area residents, it was a familiar territory.
For more information about the file, see www.virtualjamestown.org/ge_indian_groups.html
For more information about the Virtual Jamestown project, including other geospatial displays of the area, see www.virtualjamestown.org/page2.html
1754 - 1763: French and Indian War
My World GIS file developed by Jeff Snyder and Yuanyuan Zhang, 2010-2011:French_and_Indian_War_ver02.m3vz
Description: Uses an adapted form of the 1790 census to show the British settlers' desire to cross the Appalachian Mountains. Political markups include disputed territories, battle sites, etc.
Still in development: Merging data from the 1790 census and the research on border counties in 1750.
1787: Constitutional Convention
Google Earth file of relevant places in Philadelphia developed by Jeff Snyder, 2010:Constitutional_Convention_places_ver02.kmz
Description: Provides viewers with a sense of the space occupied by delegates at the Constitutional Convention (primarily the historic district). Includes an image overlay of a period map of Philadelphia plus placemarkers for Independence Hall, local boarding houses and gathering places, etc.
GIS file of population data developed by Jeff Snyder, 2010: Constitutional_Convention_ver01.m3vz
Description: Uses the 1790 census to explore the political dynamics of the 3/5ths Compromise--how to balance the voting power of southern and northern states?
Still in development: Adding layers showing the data used by the convention members, removing states to conform to the 1787 map (e.g., Vermont).
1790 - 1870: Antebellum African-American population
My World GIS file developed by Doug Scott, 2010: Af-Am_pop_1790-1870_ver02.m3vz; version for Arc by Tom Hammond, 2012 – see filelist.
Description: Allows users to inspect population data to view the gradual extinction of slavery in the north and the intensification of slavery in the south--in 1790, the southern states' populations had at most 40% (approx.) enslaved persons; by 1860, this figure had risen to almost 60%. See teaching notes for suggestions.
Still in development: Adjusting the organization of population data and map displays.
1791 - 1794: Whiskey Rebellion
My World GIS file developed by Jeff Snyder, 2010: Whiskey_Rebellion_ver01.m3vz
Description: Shows the western Pennsylvania counties in rebellion and uses the 1790 census data to explain the distance from the primary markets and the economic significance of distilling grain into alcohol. Features placemarks for events of the rebellion, including Washington's march towards western Pennsylvania.
1804 - 1806: Expedition of Lewis & Clark
Google Earth file developed by Natalie Green, 2008: Lewis_and_Clark.kmz
Description: Provides a path from the expedition's starting point to its terminus on the Pacific Coast. Includes images from places and encounters along the way, and makes use of the Rumsey historical map collection to include the engraved map produced from the expedition's sketches.
1820-1860: Major Products of North and South in 1820 to 1860
Activity developed by Jung Eun Hong, University of Colorado: Activity 1
- Uses ArcGIS Explorer; runs in a browser
- Requires MS Silverlight, not compatible with all browsers
- Requires (free) ESRI account
Description: Draws upon textbook information to "compare nine major products and industries of the U.S. between 1820 and 1860--Cattle, Cotton, Grain, Iron/Steel, Lumber, Mining, Rice/Sugar cane, Textiles, and Tobacco."
1820s - 1920s: Morris Canal
Google Earth file developed by Doug Scott, 2009: Navigating_History_Along_the_Morris_Canal.kmz
Description: Shows the segments and locks along the Morris Canal as it crossed northern New Jersey between the Delaware River (opposite the Lehigh Canal) and the Port of New Jersey (opposite New York City).
1933 - 1945: The Holocaust
Google Earth timeline of Nazi camps, 1933-1945, from the US Holocaust Memorial & Museum: http://www.ushmm.org/maps/camps.kml
Description: Timeline of placemarks, starting with Dachau. For the selected camps, provides dates of opening / closing, types of prisoners held there, estimates of population and number killed, companies that used labor from the camp, etc.
My World GIS file created by Tom Hammond, 2011: Jewish populations circa Holocaust ver01a.m3vz
Description: Uses data from Yad Vashem to show pre-war Jewish populations and number of victims of the Holocaust for selected countries. Allows students to grasp the full extent of the Holocaust (e.g., it includes countries such as Tunisia and Libya, which were then under Italian control), and to note discrepancies in patterns (e.g., percentage of Jews killed in Germany vs. Poland; the strong contrasts within the southeastern Europe such as between Bulgaria and Greece).
Sources consulted:
...http://www1.yadvashem.org/IMAGE_TYPE/8381.jpg & ...8380.jpg
Still in development: Adapting the map files to the historical reality--for example, the former Yugoslav and former Soviet states need to be re-configured to square up with the politics of 1933 and 1945.
1939-1945: World War Two
Google Earth file developed by Tom Hammond, spring 2012: World_War_2_ver04.kml
Description: Still very much a work in progress. Overviews events in the European and Pacific theaters.
GIS fileset on World War Two casualties developed by Eric Budge, summer 2011–see fileset page.
Description: World-wide (country-by-country) and American (state-by-state) figures for casualties (civilian as well as military) during World War Two. Great for getting across the points that (a) this is truly a world-wide conflict, and (b) the scale of human destruction is staggering, especially once you consider some of the non-US contexts.
1962: Cuban Missile Crisis
Google Earth file developed by Yuanyuan Zhang, 2010: Soviet vs US warheads.kmz
Description: Displays the warheads (and other strategic sites) in Cuba as well as the NATO warheads stationed in Turkey, allowing students to grasp the quid pro quo worked out between Dobrynin and RFK.
Sources consulted:
...http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/dobbs/warheads.htm
Contemporary / non-chronological material
Refining macro-geographic understandings
Google Earth file developed by Tom Hammond, spring 2012: Continents_and_components_draft01.kmz.
Description: An incomplete effort to section the continents into meaningful components, loosely following the framework used by many middle school textbooks (e.g., sub-dividing Asia into "Near East", South, East, etc.)
Rationale: Students' first exposure to world geography is commonly presented via continents/oceans and political geography. Both frames are self-limiting: The continents' divisions are not only geographic but also political (e.g., Europe vs. Asia) and also obscure important comparisons (e.g., Egypt and Jordan are geographically similar but in different continents; Asia contains many different components with high levels of geographic, cultural, and political diversity). An emphasis on political geography creates a sense of determinism that is quite separate from the economic and cultural realities (e.g., post-colonial Africa, the Himalayan regions of Asia). This overlay cuts each continent into components that reflect their geographic / cultural characteristics. For example, Africa is divided into North (Mediterranean-adjacent), Saharan, West, East, Central, and Southern Africa. This is a VERY incomplete and tentative project; feel free to adapt / critique / suggest.
(end)