Trail Map Creation
Grade Level: 9 – 12 Academic Areas: Science Duration of service: 1 – 2 months Character Virtues: Respect, Responsibility Technology: GIS, GPS, Remote Sensing Service Areas: Education/Tutoring, Environmental
Service Learning Project:
Participants in this trail-mapping project will first learn the basics of GPS and GIS technology and mapmaking. They will then use these technologies to create a map of an existing trail with existing points of interest. GPS tracking will be done to capture a digital file of the trail that will then be superimposed on an aerial photograph. GPS waypoints will be collected at existing points of interest along the trail and will be placed on the digital map. Students will produce one final digital map for use on a community website, one large map for the head of the system of trails, and a smaller brochure map for use along the trail. This plan may be used for many different community mapping projects designed to build a more accurate recreational infrastructure, including hiking trails, snowmobile trails, cross-country ski trails, nature trails, and snowshoe trails. Various school groups and community organizations, including 4H Groups, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, etc., could all participate. In addition, having precisely mapped trails and points of interest facilitates better trail management and use.
Goals and Objectives
Academic
Learning Goal: Participants will learn how to generate, process, and transfer geographic information using GPS and GIS technology. Standard: Math, Science, and Technology 2. Information Systems -- Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies. Learning Goal: Participants will acquire technical geospatial skills to be used in a diverse range of career paths. Standard: Career Development and Occupational Studies 3b. Career Majors -- Students who choose a career major will acquire the careerspecific technical knowledge/skills necessary to progress toward gainful employment, career advancement, and success in postsecondary programs.
Service
Community need: Lack of accurate digitally based trail maps for miles of multi-use trails. Developing accurate maps with points of interest will increase the usability of trails for purposes of tourism and recreation. Possible Community Partners: 4H, Scouts, School Groups, Private Organizations, etc. Objective: Project participants will provide the trail system with an accurate digital map (for use on a community website), a large map (for use at the trailhead), and a smaller brochure map (for use on the trail). Objective: Project participants will demonstrate the feasibility of geospatial technologies and volunteer assistance in the creation of accurate maps.
Technology
Learning Goal: Participants will understand how to use recreational-grade GPS to capture points of interest along the trail. Objective: Participants will record waypoints with GPS receiver. Learning Goal: Participants will understand how to create a basic map in a GIS software program. Objective: Participants will create a basic map with GIS software.
Character
Virtue: Respect Objective: Participants will show regard for the worth of the environment and facilitate the enjoyment of this resource. Virtue: Responsibility Objective: Participants will create trail maps to be used by present and future generations for appreciation of the natural world.
Key Activities
Key Planning Activities
1. Teachers will develop instructions for using a GPS receiver to record points, collecting track data, and uploading to create a digital file to be used with mapping software. The teacher will also instruct students on basic mapping skills. 2. The teacher will obtain permission from the local municipality to map the trail and points of interest.
Key Service Activities
1. Participants will collect locations of points of interest along the trail using GPS. 2. Participants will digitally collect the route of trail using GPS. 3. Participants will create a basic map using mapping software. 4. All participants’ maps will be judged and the best map will be used as the basis for the final map. A digital map, a large final map for the trailhead, and a smaller brochure map for use on the trail will be created.
Key Reflection Activities
1. Participants will keep track of progress and their personal hours spent on the project. In addition, participants will write a one-page reflection piece on what this experience meant to them and the future benefits it will provide to the community (see trail mapping reflection document). (written, responsibility) 2. Participants will evaluate one another’s map submissions, reflecting as they do so
on the opportunity this has given them to serve their community. They will gain respect for one another’s efforts as they vote for the best submission to be used at the trailhead and on the brochure. (oral/written, respect) 3. Participants will spend a couple of hours together on the mapped trails following the completion of the project. They will join hands and stretch along the trail as far as they can in a chain of community respect. (performance, respect)
Celebration Activity
A map unveiling ceremony will be held at the trailhead at the completion of the project, followed by a picnic for the participants. Parents and community members will be invited to the ceremony and picnic.