TECH TREK

Make your own mashup maps

by Robert A. Lucking, Edwin P. Christmann, and Mervyn J. Whiting

Mashup is a new technology term used to describe a web application that combines data or technology from several different sources. You can apply this concept in your classroom by having students create their own mashup maps. Google Maps provides you with the simple tools, map databases, and online help you’ll need to quickly master this web-based application. All you’ll need is a collection of student data that you’d like to translate into a high-tech, interactive, multimedia map. In this article, we will describe how we used the data collected about trees in our area to create a mashup map.

Making a mashup

To start creating your own map, visit http://maps. google.com. Before getting started, you’ll need to log in to an existing Google account or create a new one using the Sign In link at the top of the page. Creating an account is free, and won’t generate spam. Once you are logged in, click on the My Maps tab, followed by the Create New Map button. You can now create a title and description for your map by filling in the boxes at the left of the screen. Next, use the navigation tools at the left to zoom in on the area of the United States with which you’d like to work. Your map can display just your school property or the entire county. Once you have set your map boundaries, you or your students are ready to start customizing it in terms of a chosen science topic. Google Maps makes it very easy to involve your students in the creation of custom maps that you choose to design; you only need to click on the Collaborate button to invite your students by name to be creators or editors. To begin, your student or you can insert placemarks, create shaded areas, or add lines using the icons in the upper-right-hand corner of the page. On our sample map in Figure 1, we added a placemark (shaped like a pushpin) at the location of the first tree we wanted to add to the map. The software then allowed us to type in information about the tree, insert a photo of it, or show an image of the shape of the leaves. As we continued to add information, a listing of the trees was automatically added on the left-hand side of the screen. When you place your cursor over a placemark, a bubble appears that displays the text, photos, and other information you have linked to that placemark.

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To include a photo, the image must be available at a site that you can link to through a URL. For our tree map, we found a database of images at Virginia Tech University (www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/forsite/key/intro. htm) we could link to. Another site, www.oplin.org/tree, had a useful collection of leaf and flower images. You can also link to your own online galleries, or alternatively, you can just copy and paste one of your images. In addition to images, we included hyperlinks to sites that provided help with tree identification and additional information about specific species (see Figure 2). For example, we linked to the Wisconsin K–12 Forestry Education Program (www.uwsp.edu/cnr/leaf/treeid.shtml) as a resource for tree identification. You can use the line tool to show a walking path from one identified tree to another. You can use the distance-measurement tool of Google Maps to help show the distance between the two trees, and this tool will allow you to show that distance either in miles/feet

TECH TREK FIGURE 1

FIGURE 2

or in kilometers/meters. By placing your cursor on the line, an informational balloon can be brought up that provides the distance, walking directions, or points of interest along the walk (Figure 3). Similarly, the shaded-shapes tool allows you to indicate exactly where orchards might exist or stands of a specific species of tree might be growing. Using this shading technique, you can point out specific land forms or draw the viewer’s eye to environments where certain plant species thrive (Figure 4). If you are familiar with the basics of HTML, you can also add video and audio clips to your maps. For more information, consult the online Google Maps User Guide at http://local.google.com/suppor t/bin/ answer.py?hl=en&answer=68480. Once your map is complete, you can change your view by selecting the satellite or terrain option at the top of the map. In the satellite view, you see the area as would be viewed from space, but the contours are flattened out showing few land features. In the terrain view, emphasis is given to landforms so the viewer can see the dynamics of land formations. If you or your students live in a hilly or mountainous area, you might want to make greater use of the terrain view to allow users to see the lay of the land and an overlay of roads and streets (Figure 5). You can save your map by choosing the Save option from the menu, and share your map by clicking on the Send option.

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Mapmaker resources

If cr eating a personalized map sounds intriguing and you want to get additional ideas about the kinds of features you can add to your maps and the general designs of your creations, you can click on one of Google Maps’ featured-content options: Br owse Popular Maps. By doing this, you will see many examples from the community you have identified as your map’s target area. Additionally, you can then click on User Created Content to see lots of examples. One feature that we added to our maps after viewing the samples was GPS coordinates that identified the precise location of each of our trees. Garmin, a GPS instrument manufacturer, has a site (www8.garmin.com/aboutGPS) to help you create GPS maps. As yet another example of map-oriented mashups, flickr (www.flickr.com), a photo-sharing site, has a collection of over 25 million geotagged photos that are linked to specific locations on a world map. Simply select the region you are interested in and a galler y of user photos related to that area becomes available for viewing.

Choosing a topic

While our focus on trees may not suit your teaching content interests, we encourage you to choose topics that lend themselves to this approach. You could map pH levels along a stream that runs through your town, create a geology walking tour of your area, or even create a birdwatcher’s guide that pinpoints locations where specific species have been obser ved. Mapmaking is an opportunity to involve the community, as well. Local experts

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FIGURE 3

FIGURE 4

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FIGURE 5

and hobbyists can be recruited to identify points of interest, share their knowledge, and contribute materials that can be included on the maps. You can also display the finished products in the school or at the local library and include directions on how the online versions can be accessed. Mashup maps are a great way to engage students, bring the outdoors inside the classroom, and make connections between the real world and the curriculum. Just have them grab a mouse and start mashing.

Robert A. Lucking is a professor and chairman of the curriculum and instruction department at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Edwin P. Christmann ([email protected]) is a professor, chairman of the secondary education department, and graduate coordinator of the mathematics and science teaching program at Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. Mervyn J. Wighting is an associate professor of education at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

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