Peruvian Amazon with GISetc  July/August 2007

Peru’s natural diversity provides a stunning backdrop for a wealth of ancient civilizations, including the cities of the Inca, the most powerful empire in Pre-Columbian South America.  Today more than half the country’s population is indigenous, descended from the Inca and pre-Inca civilizations of Chavin, Paraas, Nazca, Moche and Wari.  Part of Peru’s strength rests in its long history of civilization, parts of which survive today in the indigenous languages and customs passed down through generations.

Peru possesses a wealth of natural beauty.  The Amazon River spills down the eastern slopes of the glacier-capped Andes and runs 4200 miles into the sprawling Amazonian Basin.  Millions of classified plant and animal species, and countless others which remain to be discovered, find their niche in the Amazonian rainforest.  This forest plays a crucial role in moderating world climatic patterns, reducing greenhouse gases and supplying rare medicinal plants used to make drugs such as anesthetics and antibiotics.

This trip will provide a unique, first-time GIS mapping expedition of educators into the Peruvian Amazon.   Participants on this trip will have the opportunity to experience this wondrous region not only through the lens of the camera, but also through the use of geospatial technologies and scientific instrumentation to more fully understand the vast flora and fauna that abounds at every turn.

ArcView 9.2
SUMMER WORKSHOP
In Bismarck, North Dakota
June 16-20, 2008

Learn fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and obtain a one-year site license of ArcGIS and Extensions for your campus.

Instructors: Mr. Roger Palmer, Mrs. Anita Palmer

Location: Comfort Inn, Bismarck ND.

Target Audience: Middle, Secondary and College pre-service and in-service teachers from science, technology, and environmental/social studies education.

Class Meeting Times: 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Registration: $550 Due by 5/31/08
$500 Early Registration by 4/30/08

Materials Provided:

  • Mapping Our World—GIS lessons for Educators v.9.0
    Includes curriculum ready to go when you return to your classroom.
  • ArcGIS Tutorial
  • Over 40 hours of hands on exercises and exploration to ensure your success at bringing this technology back into your classroom!
  • 2 Graduate College Credits from UND or NDSU available

History/Social Science Content Standards

  • Chronological and Spatial Thinking (mapping historical changes to local settings of interest)
  • Historical Interpretation (human and physical characteristic of place, cause and effect, land use change)
  • Interactively determine new boundary lines based on cultural and physical data
  • Show movements of people throughout the 21st century both US and worldwide

Science Content Standards

  • Physical Science (properties of light, color, energy, motion, salinity and density)
  • Life Science (ecology, land use, plant animal and nutrient cycles, coastal wetlands restoration)
  • Earth Science (land, water, atmosphere interactions, drainage basins, geologic processes, Martian science)
  • Investigation and Experimentation (active inquiry based approach to the environment we are studying.)

Mathematics Academic Content Standards

  • Measurement and Geometry (calculating distances , areas, and volumes, proportional reasoning)
  • Mathematical Reasoning (creating algebraic expressions, observing patterns, calculation estimations)
  • Graphical Representation of Statistical Concepts

For more information contact Roger or Anita Palmer at info@gisetc.com or to register online click here!


Geospatial technologies have been identified by the Bush administration as one of the three highest growth industries in the US today.  Learn how to incorporate the tools of this trade to support science, mathematics and geography!  We’ll provide dozens of easy activities using Global Positioning Systems (GPS), digital cameras, and electronic probeware mapped out in a geographic information system (GIS).

GIS is the common tool to analyze all these data in a single interface.  GPS and remote sensed imagery provide context for concepts from geometry to algebra, chemistry to physics, or agriculture to business.  These technologies open worlds of investigation for your classroom, after school clubs or science fair projects.  Whether you want to add technology into your current classes, work with a 4-H club or monitor local water quality, this workshop will enhance your confidence in using technology to teach. What better way to learn these technologies than a project-based institute using these tools.  Teachers taking the course will be certified to offer student credit when teaching these technologies at their own schools.