ArcGIS activities for Remembrance Day and Indigenous Veterans Day

October 28, 2021

Angela Alexander

Remembrance Day (November 11) and Indigenous Veteran’s Day (November 8) are around the corner. Discover ArcGIS activities that you can use for this time of reflection and learning.

Remembrance Day (November 11) and Indigenous Veteran’s Day (November 8) are a time of reflection and learning. Here are ArcGIS activities ideas that students can work on to gain a deeper understanding of a historic event through the life of a man or woman in the military or a military battle.

“Lest we forget” embroidered on canvas with poppies.

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

Create a Story Map
Consider creating a story map using primary source documents to tell a story of the contributions of someone who was involved in a war or to highlight a military battle. Story map ideas:

Select a man or woman from the military to highlight – an Indigenous veteran, a veteran that attended your school, a family member who fought in a war
Select a land battle to highlight – Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, Second Ypres
Highlight streets in your community that are named after veterans that lived there. Here is an example from Newmarket, Ontario.

Esri Canada Blog Post
Tips on researching data for your story map from Paul Heersink is a cartographer and Production Manager of Esri Canada’s Community Maps Program.

Use ready-made resources

Use these resources to engage students in learning about past wars that Canadians were involved in.

Canada's Participation During World War I: The Battlefields - This story map shows the land battles Canadian soldiers were involved in on the Western Front during World War I.

100 Years in Flanders Fields – This story map was created in 2015 to commemorate the life of the poet John McCrae, the writing of the poem and its legacy.

Image of John McCrae – a man wearing a military uniform.

Explore this story map to learn more about the life of John McCrae and the legacy of In Flanders Fields.

William A. Alldritt: Ten months in a life, August 1914 - May 1915 - Created by Robert Alldritt from Esri Canada. This story is about his grandfather - William A. Alldritt during the First World War.

Canada’s Commemorative Map - This interactive map commemorates Canada’s participation in armed conflicts at home and abroad by highlighting a sample of the many geographical features and places named for those that served our country.

This school year, we encourage educators to get involved in “Let’s Get Spatial Canada” - an initiative to bring GIS to as many K-12 classrooms across the country as we can. Add your activity for Remembrance Day to the dashboard.

New to ArcGIS Online?

If you are new to ArcGIS Online, educators can request an account 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.