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Get ArcGIS inspired with the top 10 K-12 education blog posts

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Author Angela Alexander

Discover the most popular K-12 education blog posts of 2021. These posts cover student projects, GIS Ambassador support and ArcGIS activities that you can use in your class.

As we move forward in 2022, we would like to highlight the 10 most read K-12 education blog posts of the past year. These popular posts provide inspiration and resources to K-12 educators and GIS Ambassadors in Canada who want to integrate ArcGIS in their teaching and volunteer work.

Find out which posts made the top 10 list and feel free to share them with others!

  1. Mobilizing Indigenous Knowledge with ArcGIS at the SNP STEAM

    Indigenous history is paramount in understanding the roots of Canada. We celebrate this deep and significant history with a story about how educators at the Six Nations Polytechnic STEAM Academy are using ArcGIS to teach Indigenous history and geography to their students.

    A map showing different coloured polygons that represent the traditional territory of the 5 nations of the Hodinohso:ni people.

    Kaiya Davis, a grade 9 Hodinohso:ni student from Six Nations created this map showing the
    pre-contact traditional territory of the five original nations of the Hodinohso:ni people and The Haldimand Tract which was the land promised to the Hodinohso:ni people after being displaced from their lands during the American Revolution.

  1. Celebrate International Women's Day with Maps

    Celebrate International Women’s Day with ArcGIS web maps and story maps that highlight the contributions of Canadian women and the challenges of living in a world that is not equal for both genders.

    A map showing female life expectancy represented by green dots.

    Global Women's Health Indicators story map highlights Female Life Expectancy.

  1. September's GIS Ambassador: John Chittaro

    September 2021’s GIS Ambassador was John Chittaro from Holy Names Catholic High School in Windsor, Ontario. Find out how this teacher is supporting the use of GIS at his school and board.

  1. March's GIS Ambassadors: Julie Henry and Jacey Moore

    March 2021’s honourary GIS Ambassadors were Julie Henry and Jacey Moore from Alderville First Nation’s Black Oak Savanna Ecology Centre on Alderville First Nation, Ontario. Discover the work they have done to educate students about the endangered ecosystems in the region and the integration of ArcGIS in their educational programs.

  1. Celebrate Earth Day with ArcGIS activities

    ​Celebrate Earth Day this year with ArcGIS activities. Discover ArcGIS resources to get your students thinking spatially about the importance of the Earth. Using the 2021 Earth Day survey, you and your students can get involved by adding one commitment you are making to support the Earth this month and explore data that will be contributed by others across Canada.

  1. Virtual ArcGIS workshops for K-12 educators
    Whether you are an ArcGIS beginner or a current user, there is a virtual workshop for you. Learn how you can integrate ArcGIS tools into your teaching with one of our preset workshops or contact us to customize one based on your learning requirements.

  1. July's GIS Ambassador: Alexandra Rutherford
    July 2021’s GIS Ambassador of the month was Alexandra Rutherford, a GIS Analyst working in St. Albert, Alberta. Discover what she’s done to support her son’s learning using ArcGIS and  her plans for the new school year.

    A story map displaying animals and text.

    Alexandra’s son Aiden gathered his findings of animals and their habitats in a story map for his science fair project presentation.

  1.  November's GIS Ambassador: Darryl Scott

    November 2021’s GIS Ambassador of the month was Darryl Scott, a teacher at Huntsville High School in Ontario.  Find out how this educator has integrated ArcGIS into his classes and what he's doing to inspire teachers to learn GIS.

  1. Introducing GIS Ambassador Badges
    In July 2021, we started a new initiative to recognize GIS Ambassador work. It is called the GIS Ambassador Badges program. This will tell the world what GIS Ambassadors have done to support the use of geographic information systems (GIS) in K-12 education. Learn more about the GIS Ambassador Badge Initiative in this blog post.

  1. 5 Reasons to get involved in "Let's Get Spatial Canada" this fall
    Let’s Get Spatial Canada is aimed at encouraging K-12 educators and GIS Ambassadors to bring GIS to K-12 classrooms across the country.  In this blog, you will discover 5 reasons to get involved in this GIS initiative.

Thank you to our readers and followers for your continued support. Stay tuned for more interesting and relevant blog posts in 2022!

New to ArcGIS Online?

If you are new to ArcGIS Online, educators can request an account for themselves and their students at k12.esri.ca/#access.

Check out the following beginner resources to get started with ArcGIS Online:

For Educators - Let’s get started with ArcGIS Online

For Students – Enroute with ArcGIS Online

This post was translated to French and can be viewed here.

About the Author

Angela Alexander is a K-12 Education Specialist in the Esri Canada Education and Research group. She has over 15 years of experience working with educators across Canada. Angela focuses on producing geographic information system (GIS) and curriculum-specific resources, and conducting and creating custom workshops for educators. She manages the GIS Ambassador Program and is the Technical Chair for the annual Skills Ontario GIS competition. Angela also writes monthly posts for the Esri Canada Education and Research blog, highlighting K-12 educators and partners, new ArcGIS resources and GIS-related events.

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