Bishop Dunne Catholic School
Geographic Information Systems I - 10th – 12th Grade
Curriculum Guide (revised February 2006)

Course Description:
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is mapping software linked to databases that produce maps automatically to answer questions and solve problems. Students learn geographic concepts and the use of GIS software by completing mapping simulation exercises. Created maps are placed in a personal portfolio that may be presented to college admissions counselors and prospective employers. Skills learned include: basic cartography (mapping), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), graphic layout and 3D terrain modeling. Off-campus field data collection is a component of this course. Grade level: 10-12. Semester course.

Quarter Grade:

50% Informal Map Projects (Daily Grades)

50% Formal Map Project or Lab Practical

Course Goals for the Semester:
The primary goal of this course is to teach students the basics of GIS.  Students should be able to do the following by the time they complete this course:

  • Understand what GIS is and how it is used in the world.
  • Be able to manage data for a GIS system.
  • Learn GIS skills and concepts that will allow them to solve problem in the real world.
  • Generate a Portfolio
  • Generate Posters for Competition

Unit

Skills

TEKS

NETS

Assessments

Unit 1 - Building a Basic Project                          

  • Adding themes into a GIS project
    • What is GIS
    • The history of GIS
  • Basic understanding of theme tables
  • Basic symbology and layout intro
    • Effective map appearance
  • Data Loading
  • File Management
  • Network Access
  • Understanding tables
  • Changing   symbology
  • Layout basics

1A,D
2B
3B
7C,
7F
9B
10A
11C

1.2
2.2
3.1
5.3
6.1

Municipal
Project

Lab Practical

Unit 2 - Intro to 3D GIS                            

  • Basic 3D modeling
    • Mapping the future in 3D
  • 3D Text
  • Video Production
    • Advantages of motion maps
  • Extrusion
  • Transparency
  • Setting Base heights
  • Adding and changing text
  • Animation manager
  • Keyframes
  • object motion

1C
1D
5B
7A
7D
9B
9C
10A
11A
11B
11C

5.1
4.2
2.3

3D Video
Commercial

Lab Practical

Unit 3 - Basic GPS and Search Mapping     Geotech-SAR
                                                                                

  • GPS
    • How to use a GPS
  • Digital Elevation Models
  • Search and Rescue Mock Search Exercise
    • Incident command and search mapping
  • GPS usage
  • Grid Mapping
  • GPS downloading

4.  DEM usage

1B
1D
2A
7E
9B
10A

1.1
2.2
2.3
4.2
5.1
5.2

Mock Search at CHSP

GPS Test

Lab Practical

Unit 4  - Data Querying  and Hyper-linking    
                                                                                 

  • Querying
    • Data linkages and querying
    • Selection Data
  • Report Generation
    • Using the report wizard
  • Hyper linking
    • Table setup
    • File management
  • Writing queries
  • Selecting
  • Customizing reports
  • Establishing Hyperlinks

1D
4C
5A
6A
7F
8C
9B
10A
10B
11C
12B
12C

1.1
5.1
4.1
2.1
2.2
3.1

Real-estate Project

Lab Practical

Unit 5 – Acquiring data – Data Joining

  • Getting data from the web
    • FTP vs. Http
    • File Management
  • Processing data
    • Table Joining
    • Table Linking
  • Downloading data
  • Table processing

1D
4A
4B
6A
7B
7C
7F
9B
11C

1.1
2.1
3.1
3.2
4.1
5.1
5.2
5.3
6.2

California Job project

Unit 6 - Unit 4 - Geo-referencing Images                             Katrina

  • Changing image format
    • TIFF/Jpeg
    • The why and how of format
  • Referencing points
    • Hunting and setting good reference points
  • Projection issues and accuracy issues
    • UTM vs. Lat. Long
    • Reasons to reference
  • Processing images
  • Establishing image referencing control points
  • Utilizing Projections

1D
2A
6A
7A
8A
9A
9B
12D

1.1
2.1
2.2
3.2
4.1
5.2
6.1
6.2

Karst Image Processing

Unit 7- Digitizing                                                          Katrina

  • Metadata
    • Creating metadata
    • Why Metadata is needed
  • Advanced file management
  • Basic Digitizing
  • Creating Metadata

1D
3A
6B
7B
7E
8A
8B
8D
8E
9B
9C

1.2
2.2
3.2
5.1
6.2

Karst Digitizing
Project
(TXU)

Unit 8 – Using census data to map neighborhoods

  • Establishing a project focus
    • Brainstorming
    • Compare data to problem
  • Downloading Census Data
    • Ethical us of data
    • Checking data format
  • Normalizing data
    • Advanced legend applications
  • Selecting Airphotos
    • Comparing format (MrSid, Tiff, Jpeg)
    • Object data storage vs. relational storage
  • Setting project goals
  • Downloading Data
  • Projecting Data
  • Normalizing a Legend
  • Advanced imaged data selection
  • File Management

1D
7A
7B
9B
10A
11C
12C

1.2
2.1
2.2
2.3
3.2
4.2
5.1
6.1
6.2

Neighborhood analysis Project