Knowing their Place: Improving the Spatial Literacy of Tomorrow’s Workforce

Scottish Learning Festival

24th – 25th September 2014

Anne Robertson, EDINA, University of EdinburghLisa Allan, Barrhead High School

Murdo MacDonald, Bellahouston Academy

Presentation overview

• What is spatial information?• What do we mean by spatial literacy?• Which industries use it and for what

purposes?• Spatial literacy & Curriculum for Excellence• Getting started with Digimap for Schools• Examples from Barrhead High School &

Bellahouston Academy

Spatial information……..

• Spatial or ‘geographic’ information links location to people and events

• It is information that can visually illustrate what’s happening, where, how and why, and shows the impact on people and infrastructure at that location

• Provides insight into what happened in the past, what is happening now and what is likely to happen in the future

Spatial literacy……..The ability to use the properties of space to communicate, reason, and solve problems

Can this 4-bedroom property be marketed at a higher price because it falls within a particular school catchment?

Which town of population greater than 10,000 have we not yet opened a branch in? Should we merge two smaller branches and relocate where we know our customers spend more?

What could be the effects on local tourism if a new wind farm is located in a village?

How can a particular bus service attract the most customers but still journey from A to B on main straight roads thus reducing fuel costs?

Which health centres require most help from government when targeting healthy lifestyle campaigns?

If a river running through an urban area experiences a 100 year flood, what are the furthest properties to be affected by flood waters?

Sector use

Ensuring a well prepared workforce • Young people should be trained in the use of geographic

information and geographical information systems (GIS) to avail themselves of employment opportunities

• GIS leads to critical thinking and inquiry-based teaching• This should be happening at school not waiting until

tertiary educationand it’s in CfE ……• SOC 3-14a I can use a range of maps and geographical

information systems to gather, interpret and present conclusions

• SOC 4-14a I can use specialized maps and geographical information systems to identify patterns of human activity and physical processes

The first step – online mapping

Getting started

Simple analysis

Simple analysis

Map overlays contemporary mapping

Map overlays historic mapping

Change over time

Digimap for Schools

Examples from

Lisa Allan, Barrhead High School

Murdo MacDonald, Bellahouston Academy

Using Digimaps in (and out of) the classroom

Barrhead High School

Looking at land use change

Planning/Decision Making

• Relief• Landscapes• Land use• Measuring

Rural Land Use Mapping

Urban Land Use MappingFigure 6: Land Use Map - Dunlop

Red

Calculating Building Density

Flow Line Maps

Proportional Circles

Adding photographs

Using Digimaps in (and out of) the classroom

Bellahouston Academy

S1/2 GEOGRAPHY

I can use a range of maps and geographical information systems to gather, interpret and present conclusions and can locate a range of features within Scotland, UK, Europe and the wider world. SOC 3-14a

S1/2 GEOGRAPHY

S1/2 GEOGRAPHY

S1/2 GEOGRAPHY

S1/2 GEOGRAPHY RESEARCH

N4 Added value/N5 Assignment

N4 Added Value/N5 Assignment

WHOLE SCHOOL

Thanks

Questions?

Lisa AllanMurdo MacDonald

Anne Robertson, EDINA, University of EdinburghStand E25 today & tomorrow

a.m.robertson@ed.ac.uk