MapIllinois.org is dedicated to promoting spatial literacy across Illinois. Explore the resources below for inspiration, tools, training options, data sources and more! For more information, contact Jenni Dahl at Jenni@thinkgeospatial.education
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This exciting STEM event is held at Rochester High School in Rochester, Illinois. For more info visit https://sites.google.com/view/rocheste...
On April 10. 2024 Rochester High School hosted the 2024 Central Illinois STEM Fair. This annual event brings together students and their families, educators and others interested in STEM education. Those who stopped by Lincoln Land Community College's Geography Exhibit were invited to particpate in a brief survey. They were asked this question: "Name one thing unique or interesting about your town". Then they were asked to put their town on the map. 27 people at the Fair participated. There were many interesting responses. By exploring this map you will learn many fun facts about Central Illinois towns!
“This is just a sample of what elementary students are able to do with GIS.”
“Expand STEAM learning and spatial thinking in young minds with fun, informative books”
GIS Activities for Young Learners
“Resources for exploring GIS with young learners.“
Learn how K-5 students in Baltimore County , Maryland do at least one GIS activity per year."
School Programs, The Geographic Society of Chicago
Tools for an educational Landscape - The Giant State Traveling Map and the Geosphere
Get to Know GIS (For Secondary Students)
In this course learn the basics of GIS, work with ArcGIS Online to interact with GIS maps, explore real world problems, and tell a story. Find out how workers use GIS and what it takes to become a GIS professional.
MapMaker makes it easy to teach with maps and includes data and resources for social studies and earth science curricula.
Online Atlas of Illinois for k-12 Classrooms
The Illinois Geographic Alliance, LLC (IGA) and Illinois State University created a free online atlas tailored for AP Human Geography classrooms.
Learn about GIS certificates, degrees and careers by state.
ArcGIS Earth is a free application designed for visualizing and exploring geospatial content in 3D on desktop and mobile devices.
Comparing the Size of Counties
Application to foster knowledge about the shape and size of countries
Not your grandfather’s base maps!
Geography Coloring Book Maker
Print maps to color and learn about geography
Geoprojects
Ready-to-use, no-login, project-based learning with maps
Lindsey fosters awareness of the world (geography) through many STEAM resources and activities.
Ideas and resources to engage students and others using spatial thinking and geotechnologies.
Take Your Work to Kids Challenge
Project ideas to engage children in the world of GIS using ArcGIS Pro
The Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology, through its DoIT STEAM initiative, provides links to STEAM-related games, labs, programs, and educational opportunities within Illinois, and beyond for teachers, families, and students.
“Welcome to Education, where you’ll find updates (Blog), helpful resources (Docs) and places to ask questions (Questions) in your community of interest (Higher Education, K12 Instruction, Administration).”
National Council of Geographic Education (NCGE)
Teacher resources, Professional Development and Connecting
ISBE Learning Standards (Illinois State Board of Education)
“The Standards and Instruction Department is committed to supporting Illinois schools and educators by providing guidance, resources, and professional learning to support student achievement and equitable learning outcomes. Mapping Hour {ArcGIS Online)
Collection of 20 informal one-hour instructional videos about ArcGIS Online for parents and teachers.
Teacher Testimonials - the Video Challenge (ArcGIS Online)
“The teacher video challenge highlights the impressive ArcGIS Online projects created by teachers in the United States who teach kindergarten through 12th grade. After you've explored previous winners, consider nominating yourself.”
This pdf by Esri describes in detail the five step Geographic Inquiry Method to guide the development of geo projects.
Geoinquiry; An Educator’s Guide (National Geographic)
This systematic approach facilitates the development of meaningful geoprojects with an entire class or in small groups.
Tools and tips for integrating GIS into virtual education.
A podcast on spatial thinking and GIS applications.
Third Thursday Webinar (Archived)
Monthly webinars on GIS topics
GIS-based resources for K-12 online education.
ArcGIS Online for K-12 Schools
A hub offering lesson plans, and resources for K-12 educators
ArcGIS Online Mapping Software Bundle for Schools
Free ArcGIS Online access for K–12 schools to create and share interactive maps.
Online Maps for Primary and Secondary Schools
GIS for instruction and school administration
Create and Share Online Maps
Step-by-step guide to building and sharing maps with ArcGIS Online.
Guided Lessons cover many topics.
Esri Academy
Live seminars, Free MOOCs, Certificate Programs and more are available for individuals and organizations.
GeoInquiry Collections by Esri
"GeoInquiries™ are short, standards-based inquiry activities for teaching map-based content found in commonly used textbooks."
"The goal of these wiki-style pages is to help you, the classroom instructor, move beyond the “out-of-the-box” geoinquiries, customizing the maps and activities to your needs."
New GeoInquiries for Atlas and MapMaker
"Over a dozen re-crafted GeoInquiry™ activities specifically for use with the new ArcGIS Instant app called Atlas or the new MapMaker."
Discover maps for your class
An intro to teaching with maps
All in one place so they are easy to find.
ArcGIS Online Tutorials Learn how to create and share interactive web maps in ArcGIS Online
A gentle introduction to location technologies
National Geographic MapMaker
Course to help teachers become comfortable using digital maps in the classroom.
PBS Learning Media - Geospatial Revolution:
Educational videos on GIS impact in society.
Mapping the Pandemic - Geospatial Revolution:
GIS role in tracking COVID-19 spread.
ArcGIS Online Video Bonanza:
Tutorials and use cases for ArcGIS Online.
Find GIS Degree Programs by State
Lincoln Land Community College GIS Certificate
“The Geographic Information System (GIS) Certificate program is designed to provide a formal, project-based GIS education to develop skills from data management to problem solving using GIS technology. GIS is increasingly utilized by businesses and government agencies to assess and improve operations.”
Instructional Story Map Collection
“In this collection you will find instructional content produced by Esri's StoryMaps team.”
Set-up guides for Esri Story Maps
“A monthly magazine celebrating place-based stories and storytellers across a diverse global landscape.”
“Learn to create, customize, and share digital stories, briefings, and collections.”
Illinois Geographic Alliance: A Virtual Workshop for Educators
Esri Map Book Gallery
“The maps in this book illustrate many practical ways organizations and individuals are impacting our world and using GIS and The Geographic Approach to help create and manage a better tomorrow.” Jack Dangermond
“10 Big Ideas about Applying
The Science of Where™”
Engaging visual overview of “the mapping and data analysis technology that’s powering business decisions, supporting government operations, and quietly changing the world.”
“Your go-to place for GIS news, views, and insights.”
“Practical, technical resource for ArcGIS users”
“Industry news and ArcGIS updates”
“In today’s data-driven environment, there are growing opportunities to specialize as a GIS professional and to enrich other career paths with GIS skills such as data visualization and spatial analysis.”
Explore Careers in GIS Videos (Esri and Pathful Explores)
“Esri and Pathful Explore are partnered to empower students to explore the possibilities of GIS careers.”
Geospatial Technology Competency Model
“The Geospatial Technology Competency Model framework was developed through a collaborative effort involving the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), the GeoTech Center, and industry experts.”
Reasons to Consider a GIS Career
ArcUser Online Article
“Travel the globe with CIA’s World Factbook.”
“The Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem is the next step in the evolution of Earth observation data.”
NASA's Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SECAC)
“SEDAC develops and maintains extensive fundamental data on human settlements, infrastructure, and population that underpin many different science and application areas.”
“Making Natural Earth is a collaboration involving many volunteer NACIS members and cartographers around the globe. “
“High-Resolution Topography Data and Tools”
Integrated population and environmental data
UN Sustainable Development Goals
17 Goals to Transform Our World
"ArcGIS Hub is an easy-to-configure cloud platform that organizes people, data, and tools to accomplish Initiatives and goals."
Atlas of Historical County Boundaries,
"The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries is a powerful historical research and reference tool in electronic form." Includes shapefiles.
“The National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL) is a geospatial database that contains current effective flood hazard data.”
NASA Citizen Science for Earth Systems
“The Citizen Science for Earth Systems (CSESP) Program is focused on developing and implementing projects that harness contributions from members of the general public to advance our understanding of Earth.“
Tabs include: news and features; teaching climate, resilience tool kit and more!
“A GIS application using Esri's ArcGIS Online to make NOAA's geospatial data, maps, layers, and analytics available to the public for browsing.”
NOAA National Center for Enviornmental Information
“NCEI provides environmental data, products, and services covering the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun to drive resilience, prosperity, and equity for current and future generations.”
NOAA National Center for Environmental Information
"The Census Bureau's mission is to serve as the nation's leading provider of quality data about its people and economy."
Tips and tricks for accessing and creating maps with US Centsus data. How-to videos and transcripts are included.
US Census Bureau TIGER/ Line Shapefiles
Shapefile - 2007 to Present
Maintained by the US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service. Contains links to Census data and imagery.
Food Access Research Atlas
All lists include most worldwide events magnitude 4.5 and greater
USGS Earth Explorer )Search for and download dates related to geological events
“The mission of the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) program is to employ geospatial technology to cost-effectively improve the delivery of services and the quality of decision-making for the City of Chicago.”
Christian County Maps
Supervisor of Assessments
Dupage County Interactive Map Gallery
Illinois Natural Resources Geospatial Data Clearinghouse
“ Hosted by the Illinois State Geological Survey since July 1, 1997, the Illinois Clearinghouse has become the de facto starting point for the GIS and remote sensing user communities in Illinois.”
GIS Datasets for the State of Illinois and the United States
“A collection of interactive maps showing information in Morgan County”
Interactive maps showing information about Sangamon County
“Official Results - Late Vote by Mail and Provisional Ballots are now included” Use this data to make your own election result map.
IL Ed ArcGIS Online Organization
Illinois K-12 Map Portal
IL Geographic Alliance (IGA)
“Our purpose is the promotion and enhancement of geographic knowledge in the schools and among the general populace of Illinois.”
IL Geographical Society (IGS)
“IGS seeks to promote scientific research in geography, encourage better teaching of geography at all levels, diffuse geographic knowledge, and unify geographic interest in the state. The Society's peer-reviewed journal, Illinois Geographer, is published once a year.”
IL GIS Association (ILGISA)
“ILGISA serves GIS professionals from the public and private sector. We offer technical training and education opportunities, awards for service, an annual student scholarship and map competition.”
“More Than Maps has been a long time in the making. With a collection of antique and collectible maps, globes, geography textbooks, and ephemera, this company will feature a variety of opportunities”
The Geographic Society of Chicago (GSC)
“The Geographic Society of Chicago (GSC) is involved with anything and everything related to the study of geography. Our members and contributors come from all walks of life, all sharing one thing: an unrelenting love and devotion to geographical pursuits.”
“Collect reliable data on the go”
Design smart forms and Surveys
“Explore the past on an interactive map with a timeline. Search for detailed high-resolution scanned maps and see what happened in your chosen place in the past.”
“The David Rumsey Map Collection was started over 35 years ago and contains more than 200,000 maps.”
“Esri Diversity Index data by Region, State, County, and ZIP Code for years 2020, 2024, and 2029”
Analyze Racial Inequality During COVID-19
Racial Equity Tools and Resources
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