Thursday, December 29, 2022

Using GIS Story Maps in the Classroom

Esri's GIS Systems has developed a terrific spatial technology for the classroom. 

Their software includes story maps for over a dozen titles in World History, including the Age of Exploration, the First  Crusade, Ancient Greece, and its geography, the Black Death, the Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire, Egyptian Funerary Practices, and many more.

The story maps are engaging and include images, maps, graphs, and primary sources presented in an engaging manner like the excerpt below from the First Crusade story map.

I looked at a story map about the First Crusade and was impressed with the layout, images, maps, and primary sources which include an excerpt from Pope Urban's call to crusade and the Muslim view of the crusade pictured above.

In addition to the Black Death, I looked at ancient Greece. This story map is called "A Civilization shaped by Geography," and has lots of maps, amazing images,  and even video of a drone flight over the Acropolis.

Student worksheets are included with each story map and include charts and questions for students to complete as they move through the story map.


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