Making Maps with Lindsey the GIS Professional
Help Lindsey make some maps!
Hi! My name is Lindsey!
I'm a GIS Professional. Geographic Information Systems is about making maps and analyzing data. I love meeting new people and learning about new places!
Tell me about your school and show me where it is on the map.
Fill in the name of your school. If you know the address, you can put it in the map's search bar, or you can click on the map and move it until the pointer is on your school.
Tell me what the weather is like today.
Click Submit when you are done. Next, scroll down.
Let's see if we can make a map of a nearby park!
Click in the map and find a park close to your school, and then look in the top left of the map and click the red ruler icon called "Measurement."
In the pop-up, click the first icon for the tool called "Area," and then click in the map and trace the boundary of the park. Double-click to finish drawing. Now we have a polygon!
Your computer will look at the polygon you drew and calculate the area of the park—this is a lot faster then spending all day at the park with a measuring tape!
Now that you have the analysis, what is the area of your park?
Let's calculate how far your school is from the park.
In the pop-up, click the middle icon called "Distance." Click the park and start drawing a line. Then double click at your school. If you were a bird flying in a straight line, what is the distance from your school to the park? Is it close or far away?
Change the basemap.
You can also try the other widget next to the ruler. It's called "Basemap Gallery" and lets you choose your own basemap. Try it out!
Some basemaps show things humans have made like roads and buildings and others show things from nature, like oceans and the terrain of the earth.
Remember when you told me what your weather was like? I used that data to make a weather map!
I combined what you told me about where your school is with the info about the weather there. You can also see other schools and their weather. Can you see any patterns in where different kinds of weather are?
The weather info is called "attribute data" and the location info is called "spatial data." When you combine the two, it tells you more than just where a place is, it tells you what is going on there. That's what makes my job as a GIS professional so cool!
Click on a weather symbol and see what it says.
A lot of times maps are flat. It can be hard to see the true shapes of things and how they are connected at the edges.
Looking at Earth from out in space like this, gives us a better view. Now we can see all the people I've been meeting.
Looks like we are all neighbors, doesn't it?
Click in this map and find your school. What can you find nearby? Where would you like to visit? Zoom in and try right-clicking with your mouse to move the globe around.
You've made some great maps!
Congratulations on your new GIS skills! Making these maps was a lot of fun. You are on your way to becoming a GIS professional!
Download your very own GIS certificate here !
Next, you can read Lindsey the GIS Professional and visit Lindseylovesmaps.com , where there are fun activities and resources.
