2009 NECC conference in Washington DC. July 1, 2009 Teaching “spatially” with Google Earth to investigate land use issues Alec M. Bodzin, Lehigh University and Lori Cirucci, Broughal Middle School 2009 NECC conference in Washington DC. July 1, 2009

UBD: Enduring Understandings Human activities influence environmental changes. How to analyze the spatial organization of places, and environments on earth’s surface. How to apply earth and environmental science and geography to interpret the present and plan for the future. Spatial understanding is developed through the use of spatial thinking skills, using data as evidence to formulate explanations, reasoning and critical thinking.

UBD: Essential Questions How do we impact our ecosystem? How do current building trends affect the local ecosystem? What causes urban heat islands and to what extent do they occur in the Lehigh Valley? How do geospatial information technologies enable us to view and understand patterns in our environment? How can I use environmental and geographic data to better understand my environment? How can I analyze and interpret environmental and geographic data to plan for the future?

Curricular Design Principles Adapt existing curricular materials to align with the demand of the local classroom context. Use motivating contexts to engage learners. Design activities to incorporate two main properties: scalability and portability. Promote spatial thinking skills with easy to use geospatial technologies tools.

Curricular Implementation Issues - Pilot Test Need more local examples to investigate land features and land use Poor user-interfaces with existing materials. Not designed for instructional purposes. Lack of true-color and false-color remotely sensed image pairs Capitalize on Google Earth features to better support the learning experience Enhance inquiry-based experiences

Year 2: Iterative Design More focus on aerial photo interpretation (tone, size, texture, pattern, shadow, site, and association) Google Earth KML file development Better NASA thermal images Heat absorption and radiation demonstration lab Lehigh Valley Malls investigation RS natural change: Acheh, Indonesia (tsunami); New Orleans (Katrina); Mt. St. Helens

Culminating inquiry investigation Recommend a plan for locating a new Wal-Mart Supercenter in the greater metropolitan Lehigh Valley area to have minimal impact on the environment.

Forested Area: Natural image and False color image

Agricultural Area: Natural image and False color image

Landsat 7 (ETM+ bands 7, 4, and 2) Lake Pontchatrain and New Orleans pre-Katrina on Apr. 26, 2000 and post-Katrina on Aug. 30, 2005 Landsat 7 (ETM+ bands 7, 4, and 2)

Aceh Province, Indonesia Northwestern Sumatra on Dec Aceh Province, Indonesia Northwestern Sumatra on Dec. 13, 2004 (left) and on Dec. 29, 2004 (right) three days after the devastating tsunami. Landsat 7 (ETM+ bands 3,2,1)

Las Vegas 1972 & 1992 False color images: Landsat 1 and 5 false color images (MSS bands 4,2,1) Bright red: Golf Courses Brighter green: Construction areas Dark reddish-brown: Established neighborhoods (mature trees)