ES - TLT 368, Summer 2013 - Course record
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Session 1 - Wednesday, 22 May
Before class
If you can, get into CourseSite and poke around
During class (ppt)
Introductions
Going through the first part of the syllabus
Online resources for you to use
Software tools–things you might want to download are here.
Going through second half of syllabus: Assignments we'll be doing
Topics of interest in this course
Guiding principles for the course
Activity: Where should we place the SuperMart? Here are the handouts (instructions, analysis form); choose your dataset
(If you want to see this activity in the context of the full unit on Land Use Change, it's part of the Environmental Literacy & Inquiry project.)
Back to "Topics of interest"
Closure
After class
Reading
Bodzin & Cirucci, 2009
Broda & Baxter, 2003
Optional: Snyder & Hammond, 2012
Assignments
Download and mess around with Google Earth (brief video introduction); find your Birthday Coordinates!
WTL
Post your selected Birthday Coordinates to the WTL thread.
Brainstorm topics for your upcoming assignments (Google Earth & GIS) and final project
Session 2 - Wednesday, 29 May
Before class
Complete reading
WTL
Download and try out Google Earth
During class (ppt)
Housekeeping
Conceptual work
Opening activity: Let's go outside! Scaffolded geocaching
De-brief of activity
Learning the concepts: Spatial thinking is...
Learning the tools: Google Earth how-to: You've collected your data, now what?
Example of a Google Earth project I'm fiddling with: Energy extraction in Pennsylvania – here's my current draft of the file.
Learning the pedagogy: Examples of K-12 instructional sequences following recipe #1 (students' hands-on collect / plot / interpret)
Closure
After class
Reading
Ferster, 2013, Ch. 1
Optional: Golledge, 1995
Optional: Bodzin, 2008 (the stream study)
Assignments
WTL – try reading and responding to a classmate's topic ideas
Download (and try out, but you may want to hold off) a GIS – see links in CourseSite. My recommendation is My World GIS, version 4.1, but you can choose whatever you like.
Session 3 - Friday, 31 May
Before class
Complete reading
During class (ppt)
Housekeeping
Everyone is launched in CourseSite -- don't forget to keep up with WTL
How is everyone for software?
Google Earth
AEJEE
My World (using trial download)
Sign up for meeting times next Wed.
Conceptual work from last class: Reviewing pedagogy, focusing on recipe #1 (collect - plot - inspect)
Trees, cars, and carbon activity. The webpage calculator I'm using is here.
Conceptual work: Moving from Google Earth into GIS: AEJEE, and My World
Organizing framework for geospatial tools: LINIQES: Load, interface, navigate, inspect, query, edit, save
Google Earth
Load
Mix of client-side and server-side data.
Satellite imagery: What are we looking at? Mix of current and dated material (see imagery date in lower left); it's only as good as "they" let you have (e.g., contrast One Observatory Circle vs. 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW)
Layers -- my recommendation is to turn OFF as much as possible. But I do like leaving 3-D buildings on...sometimes turns up fun surprises (for example, Amsterdam!).
File > Open to load a .kml or a .kmz. For our demo, we'll use this file that I created while trying to craft a lesson about energy extraction in Pennsylvania. It's interesting b/c it has points, lines, associated links, uses the history feature, etc.
Interface
Sidebar vs. display area vs. toolbar
Sidebar on and off
Navigation tools on, off, or auto
Sidebar fields: Search, My Places, Layers
Navigate
Search box, or
Double-click on an item in a list (Search or My Places)
Double-click on any point on the globe to go there.
Navigation tools: Tilt/pan, move NSEW, zoom in/out
Inspect
Single-click to open up info box.
Right-click and select "Properties" or "Get Info" -- gives more access to point/line/polygon data (e.g., lat/lon, URL of any imported images). More importantly, you can EDIT items in this mode (see below)
Query
Actually, not much we can do here beyond typing in search terms.
Some of the other tools are handy--use the ruler to measure, use the time-of-day feature to look at shadows, historical imagery to see earlier images, and the newest Easter egg that I've found: Show elevation profile (draw a path and right-click it!)
(And of course Google Earth is not just Earth -- View > Explore gives you options of Earth, Sky, Moon, and Mars!)
Edit
Add something new: either
Search for it and then drag it into My Places and work on it, or
Click on Add Placemark, Add Polygon, or Add Path.
Editing something once it's been created: Open up Properties (or Info) and modify.
Save
For our purposes: Right-click the item, folder, or file name and "Save Place As"
You can also
Save out snapshopts
Record a tour
Move into Google Maps
AEJEE - Note that this runs on Java, so it requires a Java Runtime Environment...and some patience.
Load
All client-side data. We'll start by loading a blend of demo, downloaded, and self-generated data.
Loading demo data: File > open > us_hd.axl. (In case you need to browse to this: The file path is ESRI\AEJEE\Data.) What you're looking at: spreadsheets rendered visually. But we'll get to this in "Inspect"
Interface
Similar to Google Earth: tools across the top, left-hand layers, main area = display
Note importance of layers
Turn on/off
Re-order (e.g., pull cities layer down in the stack)
Navigate: Move about the map in at least three ways
Drag the map around
Zoom in/out
Zoom to full extent or active layer
BEWARE getting zoomed in or out too far -- correct using "Zoom to" tools (select layer and then zoom to it)
Inspect
Identify tool ('i') -- can be hard to use unless you're properly zoomed in.
Finder (Binoculars)
Try looking in the 'cities' layer for 'Denver'
Repeat this for 'San' -- select all the results and look at them on the map. What was expected? What was a surprise?
Query
Query-builder: Try POP_CLASS = 10. Repeat with POP_CLASS = 9, POP_CLASS >= 9
Table of results and displays on map.
Edit
Modify visuals
Right-click cities and select 'Properties'
Code cities by POP_CLASS, all one size, use color to differentiate ranks (e.g., red for highest rank -- largest cities -- and green for lowest rank)
Right-click states and select 'Properties'
Bring up 'Labels' tab and select STATE_NAME
Modify data -- all done in spreadsheet editor
Add new fields to existing layers: add a column, don't make the new column name more than 10 characters! Save as tab-delimited text
Creating new layers: MUST edit outside of AEJEE, bring it in.
Can add point data fairly easily -- just give it a lat and a lon
Adding lines or polygons is much trickier. Take a look at the demo files of 10grid_hd.axl and 10gridpn_hd.axl to get a sense of this.
Save
Saves out as ArcXML (axl) files; viewable in Arc products.
HOWEVER: Note that each project file is pretty tiny (just a couple kilobytes) -- they're referencing the REAL data sources, down in the data folders. So if you're trying to move data around, move both the project file and the data sources.
Transitioning from AEJEE to My World: Just to demo the limitations of AEJEE, let's load some non-demo data
Here is a web directory with files with the streets for our immediate surroundings.Go to the directory and download the listed files (Note that part of the challenge in using AEJEE is just file management....)
Lehigh County streets
Lehigh shp
Lehigh shx
Lehigh dbf
Northampton Country streets
Northampton shp
Northampton shx
Northampton dbf.
WHAT TO DO WITH THESE FILES
Download them all to the same folder / location, make sure you know how to find them.
Hit the "Add data..." button (between 'Print' and 'Remove layer') and browse to where you stored the data; you should see the .shp files there. Select them and they will become new layers.
And here is our scaffolded geocache data as tab-delimited text. Save this file to your machine, then do View > Add Event Theme. Browse to where the .txt file is, select it. BE SURE to specify 'lon' as the X Field, and 'lat' as the Y field.
Given that this is pretty boring (b/c we can't see Iacocca Hall -- we don't have the satellite image here, and we don't have a polygon for Iacocca), you can also look at some (very dirty) sewer data for the Southside: sewers.txt – use the same process as before.
My World
Load
Here, everything is built in: The "Construct" tab is where you assemble your data. You can add your own custom data, but for the moment, just
Set the Library to "United States"
Pull the following to the "Layer List" column: U.S. States, Counties, Rivers, Major Highways -- whatever you like.
To get our geocache data: Do File > Import Layer From File. Browse to wherever you stored the file, and note that this program is a little smarter -- given lat and lon, it recognizes them automatically.
Interface: You have the usual menus, but the tabs are the key
"Construct" is where you assemble the dataset
"Visualize" gets you more screen space and lets you see what's in each data layer. This is also a good place to re-order / re-stack layers, adjust colors, icons, turn layers on/off, etc. (You can do these in "Construct" as well, but you'll have a more cramped screen.)
"Analyze" is where you run your queries.
"Edit" lets you change your data set or add new layers from your own data.
Navigation:
The same tools and concepts apply: drag, zoom, zoom-to-active
Important new tool: Step forward / step back among views
Inspect: You still have an Inspect tool, but you can do a lot more browsing using the records fields to the right.
Query
This is actually pretty different: The Analyze tab is where you do this, and it's all split out by function. Note that this tool lets you do a lot of math (calculations, graphs) as well as maps. For example: Figure out a series of steps to see if the %age of older persons really is higher in Florida, Arizona, etc.
Another bit of added value: You can save your queries / analyses as new layers. For students, this is VERY handy.
Edit
Obviously, the Edit tab is the place to be. Double-click on a layer and you can see the spreadsheet, add new records (entries) or new fields (characteristics to existing records).
Time permitting: Example of adding new data to an existing data file: I've done a little work moving some Holocaust data into GIS. Sources are these two graphs from Yad Vashem: 1, 2. Finished version of file:Jewish populations circa Holocaust ver01a.m3vz
You can make an entirely new layer (points, lines, polygons, etc.) by clicking the "Create A New, Empty Layer" button (the sheet-of-paper looking thing)
Save
The important thing here is to do "Save Project As..." to preserve (a) the integrity of the original data, and (b) whatever changes / analyses you've made.
Closure: More thinking about assignments
After class
Reading
Ferster, 2013, Ch. 2
Doering & Veletsianos, 2007
optional: Edelson, 2004
Assignments
WTL
Work on Google Earth assignment
Session 4 - Monday, 3 June
Before class
Complete reading
During class (ppt)
Housekeeping
Conceptual work
Re-visiting our GIS discussion, this time with a mandated hands-on component: Download and try out this file: Af-Am_pop_1790-1870_ver02.m3vz. Basically, put this assertion to the test.
Main idea: A geospatial tool is only as good as its data. Especially a GIS. (Google Earth has such a wealth of info built in, from the satellite imagery to the terrain features to elevation to the layers that you can usually make SOMETHING good happen. But yes, a little external data goes a long way.)
Data-searching
It's a mess. Case-in-point: Federal Geographic Data Committee. Aim = "'one-stop'access to all registered geographic information and related online access services within the United States." Their portal (gos2.geodata.gov as of this writing) doesn't load. Best case scenario = hit-or-miss
US = most data-rich environment; Europe also pretty good. China = black hole. Other parts of the world: Data exists for some topics, depending on if a govt or NGO has taken an interest.
My master list = http://delicious.com/tchammond/dataSources+TLT394, but we can break it down for a little additional clarity.
Proving to yourself that you can do this
Download a file from the Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/geo/shapefiles/national-files
Import a file that you make yourself – for example, you can make this file pretty easily: geocache_locations.txt.
Finding maps
Advice
First, know what's in the built-in libraries for My World, AEJEE, ArcGIS, etc. In general, you can get a map from any one system into another
Things to know about going in: Map projections. Unfortunately, I don't have any slick suggestions with this. Just pay attention to the documentation, play around with it to get it to work. Or else cross your fingers and hope you get lucky.
Strategies
Census Bureau maps: http://delicious.com/tchammond/dataSources+census+maps – heavy on the built environment that's related to population (e.g., street grid), not so good for other topics.
Regional agencies: http://delicious.com/tchammond/dataSources+regional More idiosyncratic in terms of focus and datasets available. State-level usually has at least one agency looking at environmental issues. If someone gets a good lead on additional state-level data, let me know so I can add to the list!!
Historical atlases: If you need a map that does NOT reflect the current political or natural geography, it's seriously hit-or-miss. http://delicious.com/tchammond/dataSources+maps+historical
Raid other people's projects: http://delicious.com/tchammond/dataSources+projects
Finding fields
Advice
Again, pay attention to what's in the built-in data for your software.
Things to know about going in: You might get the data in a spreadsheet, not a GIS file. You then play with it to get it into your GIS, but that's a second step. First, just get your hands on it; worry about how to import and display it later.
Strategies
Census sources: http://delicious.com/tchammond/dataSources+census+fields
Again, looking at other people's projects and building on them: http://delicious.com/tchammond/dataSources+projects
Brute force and ignorance: You find the data in whatever format, you wrangle it into your GIS
Find some data and type it into your GIS in editing mode (e.g., http://delicious.com/tchammond/YadVashem) .
Find other someone's Google Earth coverage and re-construct into GIS. It's generally a tremendous pain to move from GE to GIS, but it can be done. For example: I took this file (http://www.cwoodcock.com/Civil_War_by_Campaign.kmz) and with a LOT of editing in Excel got it into ArcMap.
Closure on data-searching: Very much a topic in evolution. I learn from others (e.g., Shannon White: http://www.geog.missouri.edu/grad/white.html – see her delicious list at http://delicious.com/shwhite...it has 3500+ links!!). Talk it through, support one another, browse the master list (http://delicious.com/tchammond/dataSources+TLT394) and web-walk through delicious or other sources to find the right stuff for you. This is one of the biggest time sucks of geospatial tools, but there's no easy, magical way through it short of changing topics to something with more accessible maps or data fields.
After class
Reading
Edelson, Smith & Brown, 2008
Assignments
WTL
Complete and turn in your Google Earth proof-of-concept!
Session 5 - Wednesday, 5 June – class canceled due to travel. Meetings instead moved to Friday, June 7
Before class
Complete the reading.
Complete and turn in your proof-of-concept Google Earth documents
During class (no ppt)
Meetings
4:00-4:20 = Tierney G.
4:20-5:00 = Susan E. & Tiffany S
5:00-5:20 = (open)
5:20-5:40 = Matt S.
5:40-6:00 = Adi A.
6:00-6:20 = Joe K.
6:20-6:40 = Yesenia A.
6:40-7:00 = Dan P.
7:00-7:20 = Karina T.
After class