GOOGLE MAPPING FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING SPRING 2015 Easy Mapping with Google
Applications: Mapping is a great way for students to visualize spatial information to help them develop analytical abilities or conduct research. Until now, you needed expensive software and, in many cases, a tame programmer, to make good use of mapping tools. Now with Google Maps, it is easy to make multi-layered maps for class assignments. As with other Google tools, the maps are shareable. Sample applications might be: • Maps to track the spread of disease over time and across different types of communities. • Maps to study the migration of peoples or animals. • Maps to geo-reference places of significant cultural or historical importance. • Maps to study marketing trends, purchasing habits, or distribution systems.
Creating and Annotating Simple Google Maps Begin by launching Chrome, signing in to your Google account, and launch Google Maps. You can launch Maps from the grid icon (you may have to choose “More”) or just type maps into the search bar. Then follow these steps: 1) Maps->MyMaps->Create->enter a title->make the map public (or not, as you prefer) - >Done->Edit 2)Enter an address or GPS coordinates of the location you wish to use, then zoom in or out to get the resolution you need. Then Save. 3)Annotate your map, by inserting place marks. (Note that these can be deleted if you need to remove one by right-clicking and choosing delete.) You can use the Google icons or your own custom icon. You can add text, images, and/or links that will appear when the icon is selected. Select the camera icon in the lower right hand corner to add links to images or videos. An easy way to add a set of locations is to use Excel to create a .csv file (comma separated) with a column for the name of the location and a column for the address. The columns should have labels and be sure to choose SAVE
As… and .csv when saving the file. See an example below:
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4)You can add “layers” that allow you to plot different types of information. Click the “Add Layer” tool.
5) You can change the place maker icon by clicking the paintbrush to the right of the place name as shown here and either choose other
icons/colors or add your own custom icon.
For a Google Maps tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLHEziyGb34
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Practice (using a mock assignment) Learning objective: This assignment is to help you understand the seasonal migration of birds and the threat posed by airplane traffic. Prepare by reading this article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/01/jfk-birds-shot-protected-airport-port-authority_n_5246071.html
Begin by choosing 3 migratory bird species that can be found in Virginia in the Fall. Some references to get started: http://birds.audubon.org/ http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/migratio/patterns.htm http://www.deq.state.va.us/Portals/0/DEQ/CoastalZoneManagement/coastalconnection.pdf
Using Google Maps, you will create a map with two layers. 1) The first layer will show where the birds start their migration (Summer habitat) and where they are in Virginia in the Fall. (Pick a few some sample locations for each species based on their type of habitat: woodland near water, coastal, grassland, etc.). The data file might look like this:
Use Excel to create this file and save it as a .csv file.
Next, go to Google maps and choose: MyMaps->Create->enter a title->make the map public (or not, as you prefer) ->Done->Edit Import your .csv file. You can click on each entry to modify the marker and its color or icon as you prefer. You can add lines to mark the migration as shown below (lines are given numbers by default, but you can edit their titles to remove them):
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2) Next, we’ll add the second layer which will show airports in Virginia.
You may need to adjust the zoom to get a useful image:
An assignment structured in this way will help students make relationships between concepts, it will require them to engage more deeply with their reading, and will foster analytical development.
But I want more! After you feel comfortable with the basics, you might want to try something more ambitious. Here are some mapping basics. Mapping systems use coordinate systems called datums (not data!) that define points on the earth by longitude and latitude (horizontal datum) and altitude (vertical datum) often in decimal degrees. WGS (World Geodetic System) 84 and NAD (North American Datum) 83 are commonly used systems. (Other countries may use a different datum.) If you have coordinates in degrees and minutes and need to convert them to decimal degrees, you’ll find a handy calculator here: http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/DDDMMSS-decimal.html To find the latitude and longitude of a location, go to http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html
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Understanding KML files KML stands for KeyHole Markup Language and is used to create files for displaying maps on Google Earth, Google Maps, and other mapping software. For a nice tutorial, see: https://developers.google.com/kml/documentation/kml_tut and some templates at https://developers.google.com/kml/. If you know a little HTML, KML will seem familiar. If not, it helps to know that instructions are given within codes called “tags.” Tags start with a command within angle brackets <> and end with a command within angle brackets preceded by a forward slash
For example, to mark a location on a map:
You can create KML files using MS Word, and then using SAVE As…. save the file as .txt format. Then, using the Finder, rename the file to .kml. (Example: birds.txt should be renamed to birds.kml). You’ll need to change the extension back to .txt to edit it with Word. Another alternative is to use the TextEdit.app. You’ll need to look under Preferences to chance the file type from .rtf to .txt (Plain text).
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KML files will allow you to format the data for your map in many ways. Try this example to plot a polygon:
See these GIS Projects for Ideas Radford University GIS Center, http://www.radford.edu/content/csat/home/gis-center/projects.html. Hélène Visentin, “Mapping Paris”: Using GIS Technology for a Blended Learning Approach in a Foreign Language and Culture Course. http://repository.brynmawr.edu/blended_learning/2014/2014/7/. (Sample GIS application.) Stanford University Spatial History Project, “Holocaust Geographies Collaborative,” http://web.stanford.edu/ group/spatialhistory/cgi-bin/site/project.php?id=1015.
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