GIS Tip Sheet

What is GIS?

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide useful and creative ways to advance our understanding of the world. GIS technologies allow us to visualize data spatially through maps and can be applied to topics such as land use, population dynamics, geological features, and wildlife distribution. Most GIS analytical software use data from GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) devices or digitalized maps, aerial photography and satellite images.

Why is it important to the environment?

With GIS, we are able to not only visualize data geospatially to more accurately impose data on maps, but also compare data over several years easily, which furthers our understanding of topics like climate change, deforestation, human density, energy emmissions and other major environmental issues. Below are some examples of how GIS can transform how we approach certain environmental topics.

Examples of GIS use:

• Land managers across the country are using GIS to evaluate watershed dynamics and human effects on natural resources. In one of Classroom Earth's posted resources, students can use GIS as land managers might to evaluate a watershed in Montana.
You can access this resource here.

• Biologists in the field use GIS to understand ecosystems dynamically to predict how global climate change might impact systems.
Click here to read more.

• Policy makers in East Africa are using GIS maps to understand elephant migration so that land can used for human purposes without intruding on migration corridors for both the safety of people and the environment.
Click here to see how the African Wildlife Foundation is collecting the data.

• Environmental health specialists use GIS to track sources of potential contamination, such as oil refineries and large agricultural sites.
Click here to learn more about how the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is using the technology.

To learn more about GIS and find ways to incorporate these technologies into your lesson plans, visit the GIS resources in the Classroom Earth resource library.

Using GIS in your classroom:

There are several ways to incorporate GIS technologies into your classroom, depending on your school’s technology resources. Highlighted in our resource library are several lesson plans that use “ArcGIS Explorer,” which is a free program that allows you to view GIS files included in the activities. This software needs to be run on a Windows operating system. Also on this site, you will find a datasets and a tutorial to familiarize yourself with this GIS software.

There are various other GIS programs available for purchase. These, however, are not required for most of the lesson plans provided in our “Resources” section. If the resources are available, ArcView ($1000 – $1500) and other similar programs allow you to create your own maps with information gathered by GPS devices ($100 - $500) and other geographical data. Explore a tutorial on ArcView put together by the USGS.

For more information on GIS, be sure to visit these websites:

The Guide to GIS
ESRI, Inc. (Leading GIS software producer)
USGS GIS Webpage