GIS DAY
During the week of November 12 through 16, 2018 Geography Awareness Week, the City of Victoria Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Division held it’s sixteenth annual GIS Day.
Teaching Students About GIS
This year we visited two elementary schools. On November 15th at Rowland Elementary, and on November 16th at Mission Valley Elementary, we presented to the fifth grade classes (125 students). The students had an opportunity to learn about geography and GIS through power point presentations, a demonstration of the City GIS website and Google Earth, and a demonstration of how a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit is used utilizing GIS.
GIS Day Activities
After the presentation we took the students outside where they participated in a Geocaching activity (scavenger hunt) where they located items using only the coordinates given to them and a GPS unit.
Once the Geocaching activity was completed we demonstrated to them how a GPS ties into GIS by displaying a map with all the points from the Geocaching activity plotted on a map.
All participating students were presented with a GIS Day certificate of participation. They received a GIS Day bag containing:
- A coloring book
- GIS Day map pencils
- GIS flyer
- Pencils
- Stickers
Global Event
The goal of GIS Day is to help educate children as well as adults on the applications of geography and computer-aided mapping. GIS Day is a global event for thousands of users of GIS technology to educate the public and demonstrate GIS technology at schools and organizations around the world.
For More Information
To learn more about GIS Day and all of the exciting events planned, please feel free to visit the GIS Day website.