Archive for March 2018
Geospatial Teaching & Learning 2018
Geospatial Teaching & Learning website home page featuring a Landsat image of one of my favorites areas-the Sundarban. Processed by the author using raw NASA tiles in an ARCGIS environment. Click on the image to access the website and PDFs of presentation folders.
In February, the American School of Bombay held its regional technology conference and workshop ASB Unplugged. The three days of presentations, interactive sessions and discussions gave me a chance to observe and check in on a school well known for into innovative use of technology in the classroom. I participated in the event and was also presented my workshop entitled: Geospatial Teaching & Learning: Opportunities, Applications and Ideas for International Educators. The workshop offered an opportunity to review recent developments in the fields of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) & Remote Sensing (RS) with a special emphasis on potential applications for international school teachers. Geospatial fields continue to experience rapid changes as technology develops, data become cheaper and more assessable and software is easier to use. That is good news for educators interesting in incorporating geospatial applications in their classrooms.
There were several themes that were updated or new in this workshop:
- Story Telling With Maps: One of the most useful aspects of the workshop focuses on how interactive stories based on maps and imagery are a great way to highlight the cases studies that are central to the teaching of DP Geography. These can be viewed but can also be created by students and teachers as a means of developing knowledge about case studies that are not well publicized. ESRI’s Storymaps and Google’s Tour Builder are two excellent web based options.
- OpenStreetMap offers opportunities for students and teachers to get involved in mapping their own neighborhoods in a wiki-based global mapping project. Users can then access this spatial data and a vast treasure trove of vector data that has been contributed by users all over the world, as a part of a local-based research project.
- New Data Sources: I highlighted some of the emerging sources for spatial data. On the workshops companion site I have a long list of data options and surely there are numerous other sites that I have missed. These are global in outlook but there is a focus on South Asian geography issues. I shared the exciting emergency of Planet, a US-based company that has a constellation of 150+ micro satellites that are imaging the earth and providing daily data on almost all areas of the earth. I first read about the Planet Dove program in the March 2018 issue of National Geographic. The data that I downloaded during the 14-day trial period is impressive with four bands and 3m spatial resolution. I am using the data for projects that we have to map Colombo’s wetlands. You can acquire premium commercial Digital Globe imagery at 30-70cm cm spatial resolution but it is expensive and I have not yet been able to get educational discounts through our local provider. I am working on getting an evaluation sample but for the moment this will be out of reach for most school geography programs. You can browse recent Digital Globe imagery here and of course they provide much of the imagery that you see when you zoom in on Google Earth. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sentinel 2 satellites (through the Copernicus program) provides an excellent public service of earthy imagery that compliments what USGS and NASA have been providing. I find the best way to access Sentinel data is through the USGS’s EarthExplorer
- Field Data Gathering With Mobile Apps: The development of mobile data gathering platforms has been a significant boon for geography and science teachers looking to collect survey data and then to enhance it with locational information. The December post highlighted how we are using Survey 123 here at OSC.
- Mapping With Drones: Most international schools have drones as part of their maker spaces or technology departments. OSC has two that are beginning to be used, mainly for providing cool aerial perspectives of the campus and special events. I am working on using our drone to map the campus and other key study areas (wetlands, forest areas etc.). At the recently concluded GIS Users Conference I was impressed with a real-time demonstration by a Ministry of Defense R&D team to map a small area. I am working with the OSC tech team to get Drone Deploy (to pre-establish the flight path and order of images taken) and Drone2Map to create the orthomosaic or 3D model of the area.
PAST GIS BLOG POSTS
- GIS Developments at OSC in 2017 December 2017
- GIS Developments at OSC in 2015 January 2015.
- GIS Developments at OSC in 2014 November 2014
- Using Remote Sensing Imagery for Teaching & Learning in the IB August 2013
- GIS Developments at OSC in 2012 Development 2012
- GIS Developments at OSC in 2011 January 2012
- The Home & the World: GIS Developments at OSC in 2010 November 2010
- Using GIS in the OSC Geography Curriculum March 2010
Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands WWW Experience 2018
OSC’s annual Sri Lanka Central Highlands trip, was once again an experience of significance with many important group and individual learning highlights. This choice WWW learning experience is part of the broader secondary school Week Without Walls program that I have had the privilege of coordinating since its inception. OSC’s WWW program was first run in January 2010 as an outgrowth of the MYP outdoor education program (2003-2010) and has now matured into a key experiential learning highlight for all of the secondary school. Through a variety of grade-level and choice experiences there are several goals that define the program:
- Fulfill the OSC mission statement of developing the whole person within a safe environment.
- Expose students to our host country Sri Lanka’s culture and environment.
- Enable opportunities for service learning and outdoor education.
- Use Interdisciplinary Units (IDUs) to support and strengthen existing secondary curriculum (including the DP CAS program) for the benefit of student learning.
Cloud forest at Horton Plains National Park
The five-day excursion into Sri Lanka’s high elevation interior exemplified some of the best outcomes of field-based learning beyond the normal confines of a classroom. The learning focus was on using photo documentation to better understand the ecology and landscape of Sri Lanka’s mountainous interior. This year we had a smaller sized group-10 students and three of us adults to guide them. I was supported by Kamila Sahideen and Desline Attanayake who both played key roles in organization and participating in all of our activities. We also had two veteran drivers from Yamuna Travels who got us to our different destinations safely. The students were enthusiastic and cooperative as we took on new challenges every day. Accommodation for the first three nights was on the cozy-rustic side of things, but on the last night the group was treated to very comfortable rooms in Nuwara Eliya’s St. Andrew’s Jetwing hotel.
The five-day excursion into Sri Lanka’s high elevation interior exemplified some of the best outcomes of field-based learning. The learning focus was on using photo documentation to better understand the ecology and landscape of Sri Lanka’s mountainous interior. All of the students had some sort of DSLR or point and shoot camera where they could learn basic controls and composition as we had different encounters. This year we had a smaller sized group-10 students and three of us adults to guide them. I was supported by Kamila Sahideen and Desline Attanayake who both played key roles in organization and participating in all of our activities. We also had two veteran drivers from Yamuna Travels who got us to our different destinations safely. The students were enthusiastic and cooperative as we took on new challenges every day. Accommodation for the first three nights was on the cozy-rustic side of things, but on the last night the group was treated to very comfortable rooms in Nuwara Eliya’s St. Andrew’s Jetwing hotel.
Weather in the Central Highlands is always hard to predict but this year we were blessed with classic, crisp winter conditions. There had been frost earlier in the month but by the time that we got to the high reaches of Mahaeliya bungalow in Horton Plains it was at least 10-15 degrees C° above freezing. The highlight of the time in Horton Plains was climbing the 2nd and 3rd highest mountains in Sri Lanka. Kirigalpotta (2,388 m) was the focus of a seven-hour round trip hike on Wednesday and Totupola Kanda (2,360m) was a short walk that we did on Thursday morning. For good measure we visited Sri Lanka’s highest peak Pidurutalagala (albeit by van, as walking is not allowed) on the final morning of the experience.
Grasshopper (Orthoptera sp.?) love fest near Lanka Ella Falls on Day 2 of the Highlands experience.
Rhino Horned Lizard (Ceratophora_stoddartii) at Horton Plains National Park on Day 3, views from the same image file.
Encounters with biodiversity were integral to the Highlands experience. On the first day as we hiked along the Belihuloya stream we had sighting of several eagles (Black, Crested Hawk and Serpent). In Horton Plains we appreciated cloud forest flora and endemic lizards (Rhino horned and). On our final afternoon we visited Victoria Park to observe Pied Thrushes and other rare birds. That evening before dinner Ishanda Senevirathna took us on the amazing frog tour behind St. Andrew’s. The students were extra enthusiastic and we were able to see all of the six highlighted endemic species. This has become a real highlight of the highlands WWW experience, something that has been written up in Ishanda’s newly published book The Peeping Frogs of Nuwara Eliya.
2018 Highlands group on Totupola Kanda (2,360m) with view to Ambawella, Pidurutalagala and the north behind them.
The Horton Plains area as seen with a Planet Dove 3m multi-spectral satellite. Imagery acquired soon after our visit and then processed by the author to emphasize vegetation and land use patterns.
PAST WWW TRIPS
- WWW 2013 Sinharaja
- WWW 2014 Dry Zone
- WWW 2015 Sri Lanka Highlands
- WWW 2016 Sri Lanka Highlands
- WWW 2017 Sri Lanka Highlands
EXEMPLARY STUDENT CAS REFLECTIONS (HIGHLANDS)
FURTHER READING & REFERENCES
Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF). Western Ghats and Sri Lanka Biodiversity Hotspot. May 2007. Web.
De Silva, Anslem and Kanisha Ukuwela. A Naturalist’s Guide to the Reptiles of Sri Lanka. Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2017. Print.
De Silva, Anslem. The Diversity of Horton Plains National Park. Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2007. Print.
Pethiyagoda, Rohan. Horton Plains: Sri Lanka’s Cloud Forest National Park. Colombo: WHT, 2013. Print.
Rodrigo, Malaka. “Lanka’s central highlands win heritage battle”. The Sunday Times. 8 August 2010. Web.
Senevirathna, Ishanda. The Peeping Frogs of Nuwara Eliya. Colombo: Jetwings, 2018. Print.
Somaweera, Ruchira & Nilusha. Lizards of Sri Lanka: A Colour Guide With Field Keys. Frankfurt: Edition Chimaira 2009. Print.
Werner, Wolfgang. Sri Lanka’s Magnificent Cloud Forests. Colombo: Wildlife Heritage Trust, 2001. Print.
