The Spatial Technology in Schools Competition
From 2005 onwards Spatial Science
Institute hosts the competition
http://www.spatialsciences.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=45&Itemid=57
Background:
Victorian secondary students and teachers have the opportunity to become involved in the 2005 Spatial Sciences Institute ( SSI ) , Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Schools competition. The purpose of this competition is to introduce the concept of GIS into high school geography (Yrs 9 - 11) and to provide a GIS experience for students and teachers.
SSI is an interdisciplinary association, which aims to advance the development and dissemination of knowledge concerning urban and regional information systems including GIS throughout the Asia/Pacific Region. GIS is a technology that effectively manages large quantities of geographic data to solve real world problems. Some of its applications include environmental monitoring, property analysis, geodemographic market analysis, and management of utility facilities and emergency vehicle dispatch.
State based SSI regions (SSI Victorian Region) sponsor the preliminary rounds, from which winning entries are forwarded to a national panel of judges for the national winner.
The major sponsors of the Victorian competition are:
- School of Geography and Environmental Science ( Monash GES ), Monash University - data supplier of geospatial data sets / training facilities
- Geography Teachers Association of Victoria (GTAV )
- Land Victoria (Land Victoria, a business unit of the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) - major supplier of geospatial information
- VicRoads - Supplier of geospatial data sets
- GIS Vendors: ESRI Melbourne,Intergraph and MapInfo . These vendors can supply GIS software to participating schools at no cost.
Competition Project Guidelines:
The topic chosen by each project team should incorporate the following details:
- It must use local government area data as the base
- It must use GIS to analyse these data
- It must use GIS to present the data
Ideally project members should be from Yrs 9 - 11, however any year of secondary school students may enter the competition
The project must include both maps and text but may also
incorporate tables and any other relevant graphic outputs. The presentation
of the final product is open. Students may choose a poster, a workbook,
a multimedia presentation or some other innovative medium.
Topics may involve a variety of subjects, for example:
- Environmental issues
- Physical geography
- Urban geography
- Population studies/Demography
The final project should include:
- WHY you chose the problem
- WHAT you wanted to achieve
- HOW you approached the problem (HYPOTHESIS)
- DATA / SOFTWARE used
- A SUMMARY of the RESULTS and DISCUSSION of RESULTS (including problems encountered, future research potential etc.)
- REFERENCES cited
Training / Access to geospatial data sets / GIS software:
- TRAINING: Opportunity exists for teachers to learn more about GIS through the Monash University GIS laboratory, School of Geography & Environmental Science, as well as GIS Vendors.
- ACCESS TO SPATIAL DATA SETS: The Department of Sustainability and Environment's Spatial Information Infrastructure , are a major sponsor of the SSI GIS in Schools competition, providing access to the Vicmap data sets (Victoria's core spatial data sets).
- GIS SOFTWARE: Software is available on request from three leading GIS vendors (ESRI ,INTERGRAPH and MAPINFO ) for participating schools.
Useful WWW Links:
GIS Education Resources:
- www.gis.com
- ESRI Australia Education (http://www.esriau.com.au/solutions/pages/Schools/10502/ )
- ESRI Virtual Campus (http://campus.esri.com )
- http://www.land.vic.gov.au/
- GeoScience Australia Website ( http://www.ga.gov.au/education )
GIS Vendors:
Previous Winners:
Click on the icons below to view the winners from previous years
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How to enter the competition:
If you are interested, please contact
SSI
at:
SSI GIS in Schools Competition
c/o Cathy Chipchase
GIS in Schools Competition
Co-ordinator
Spatial Information Infrastructure
Department of Sustainability and Environment
PO Box 500 East Melbourne Victoria 3002
Tel: (03)
- 8636 2316 Fax: (03) - 8636 2813
cathy.chipchase@dse.vic.
gov. au
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