Educator Tips: Three Sample Maps

Maps are the quintessential tool for geographers and are an ideal, indispensable means for
communicating geographic data, especially Geo-Inquiry data your students have collected to
advance their Geo-Inquiry question.

There is a wonderful range of tools and technologies available for students to use to create
maps, from low-tech “pencil and paper” maps to high-tech ArcGIS Online Story Maps.

The purpose of these three sample maps is to encourage you to consider what type of
map-related technology works best for you, your students, and the technology you and your
school have access to. These maps also remind us that maps created in the VISUALIZE phase
should meet several criteria to ensure they are relevant and useful in the Geo-Inquiry process:

● Is the map cartographically correct?

○ Does it have all required map elements, such a title, legend/key, and compass?
○ Are locations accurate?
○ Do elements on the map appear to be to scale?
● Is the map understandable and visually appealing?
○ Are landmarks such as roads, buildings, or physical features included to ensure
context?
○ Are symbols and color-coding legible and clear?
○ Is the map cluttered and difficult to read?
● Does the map provide data that will be useful ​in answering the Geo-Inquiry Question and
inspiring action?
○ Does the map represent data directly relevant to the Geo-Inquiry Question?
○ Does the map cross-reference data so viewers can see patterns and draw
conclusions?

Maps are all about communication; aligning maps with the purpose/goal and intended audience
is critical for any and all maps.
Map 1 - Low Technology Integration
Crosswalk Safety on the UNI Campus
Authors: Cassandra Hanson (UNI pre-med student); Alexandra Mens (UNI Science Education
student)
Question: ​How can we make the University of Northern Iowa campus safer for pedestrians?
This is a hand-drawn map and includes data collected by hand in a campus survey. The
cartographers surveyed each crosswalk on campus and recorded safety factors like the speed
of traffic, sight distance, and whether it has a crosswalk signal or not. Symbols include an
overall assessment of safety at each crosswalk.

Though low-tech, this “traditional” map is visually rich, compelling, and cartographically correct.
It aligns with a Geo-Inquiry question like: ​How can we make the University of Northern Iowa
campus safer for pedestrians?​ The ACT phase would then be to work with UNI Public Safety
and UNI Facilities to develop signage and press releases that educate both pedestrians and
drivers about dangerous crosswalks.

Map 2 - High Technology Integration

Water Fountains in Elk Grove, CA
Authors: Jim Bentley and Foulks Ranch Elementary School sixth-grade students
Question: ​How can we reduce plastic waste and make water more accessible in parks and
​
schools?

Data generated by Jim Bentley atop Esri basemap within Esri Story Map

To create this map, teacher Jim Bentley and his students collected data using the Survey123
app on their cell phones. This app, created by Esri, uses GPS data from the phone’s location to
tag locations. Students surveyed areas in their community, noting locations of publically
available water and the type of source. The data was then mapped with ArcGIS Online to create
a Story Map.
This ArcGIS Online Story Map is high-tech, data-rich, visually compelling, and cartographically
correct (the legend and north arrow are interactive in the digital version). Most importantly, it is
ideally aligned with Bentley’s Geo-Inquiry question: ​How can we reduce plastic waste and make
water more accessible in parks and schools​? Students needed to locate and record the water
fountains in order to address this question, so the Story Map clearly advances his students’
Geo-Inquiry question.

Map 3 - High Technology Integration

Parking Access in Downtown Fairfield, Iowa
Author: Greg Klocke (UNI Geography student)
Question: ​How can the community help increase first responder response times to emergencies
in the downtown area?

Data generated by Greg Klocke atop Esri basemap.

This is an effective, data-rich map that is cartographically correct. Both the data collection and
mapping involved technology: Survey123 and ArcGIS Online. If the Geo-Inquiry question were,
How can the community help increase first responder response times to emergencies?​ then this
visualization would not align well, as it focuses on different types of parking when fire trucks and
ambulances use fire lanes and no parking zones in emergency situations and don’t rely on
traditional parking spaces. But consider a different question, like, ​How can the community
ensure adequate parking for residents and visitors with disabilities?​ In this case, the map would
partially align with the question. To address the disabilities question, this map could be
cross-referenced with information about demand for parking. The points on the map could be
streamlined or re-symbolized in a way that identifies parking spaces that should be converted to
handicapped parking to better support those whose mobility is impaired.

Of these three examples, the ArcGIS Online Story Map of water fountains and the hand-drawn
map of crosswalk safety effectively support and advance the Geo-Inquiry question, while the
parking lot map is great as a map, but mismatched with the first responder response time
question and of limited use when taking informed action in the final ACT phase.

Credits:

Writer

Alex Oberle, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Northern Iowa
National Geographic Society Fellow, 2017-2018

Editor

Dan Byerly
National Geographic Society

Copy Editor

Jeannie Evers