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Overview:
There are approximately 6 billion people on our planet, and that number is growing! Population growth not only affects humans, it threatens plants and animals that rely on the same resources as humans (food, land, and water). In this lesson, students will learn about a geographic tool known as GIS, and about how it is assisting the conservation efforts of ecologically minded individuals such as Dr. Michael Fay and the environmentalists at the Wildlife Conservation Society. Students will use resources such as the National Geographic magazine feature Africa MegaFlyover to find out more about how GIS is used.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Geography, GIS (Geographic Information Systems), conservation
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Standard 1: "How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective"
Standard 14: "How human actions modify the physical environment"
Standard 18: "How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future"
Time:
Three hours
Materials Required:
Objectives:
Students will
- define terminology related to this study: Geography, GIS, conservation;
- learn about GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and how it applies to current conservation efforts in Africa;
- read about Wildlife Conservation Society's GIS-generated "Human Footprint" project map;
- discuss how human influence threatens the landscape of Africa; and
- generate ideas about what can be done to plan and prepare for the future.
Geographic Skills:
Acquiring Geographic Information
Organizing Geographic Information
Answering Geographic Questions
S u g g e s t e d P r o c e d u r e
Opening:
Ask students to name some of the various ways that humans influence our environment. Responses are likely to include man-made features (e.g., roads, buildings, structures, etc.) along with activities tied to resource extraction (e.g., mining, hunting, oil drilling) and/or diversion (building dams). Then, ask students to explain how these activities can be problematic for the environment.
It is important to stress that Earth’s resources are finite and that conservation is a means toward better management of these resources. A reference to Earth’s growing human population and its interrelatedness to global resource production and consumption should be made at this time. This last point can be emphasized by directing students to look at the tags of their clothes to find out where they were produced. Students should be made aware of the fact that just because their clothes may have been produced in a specific country, this does not necessarily mean that the materials used in the production originated there. Resource development, conservation, production, and consumption occur in an interrelated way across the globe.
Instruct students to visit the websites listed below to define key terms related to this study:
Geography
Definition of a Geographic Information System (GIS)
"Layering" Within a Geographic Information System (GIS)
Conservation
As a class, discuss the meanings of these terms and how they are interrelated.
Development:
Activity 1:
Divide the class into groups of two (non-paired students may choose to work independently). Direct students to access the Wildlife Conservation Society's MegaFlyover site and visit the Section Topics on the left navigation bar to answer the questions below. Students should prepare written responses to the questions:
"About"
- Where does the MegaFlyover expedition take place?
- How long is the expedition expected to last?
- How will Dr. Fay identify sites to visit during the course of his expedition?
- What is his flight route designed to accomplish?
"Science"
- What are some important features of the "Human Footprint" world map?
- Who created the "Human Footprint" world map, and how was it created?
- What conclusions can you draw about the influence of human beings on the planet, based on the map?
Activity 2:
Direct students’ attention to the link in the upper-right section of the page titled See the complete HF map. Students should turn off all map data layers except "Political Boundaries" and use that map to transcribe country names onto a blank political map of Africa. (Remind students that Africa is not a country; it is a continent that includes 54 countries.) When their maps are completed, reiterate the layering concepts involved in GIS mapping and allow students time to toggle among the map’s various layers to answer the following questions:
- How many layers are there on the map?
- What layer of the map do you think would be most useful to Dr. Fay during the MegaFlyover? Least useful?
- Activate only the "Access" layer. What do you notice about roadway access on the continent?
- Now activate only the "Lights at Night" layer. Is Africa a well-lit continent? What does this tell you about life in Africa?
Closing:
Lead a class discussion about the various ways technology has influenced human ability to modify the environment (e.g., mechanization of labor, greater mobility of labor resources). Then, ask students to discuss how technology can help to influence planning and preparation for the conservation of the African environment, now and in the future.
Suggested Student Assessment:
Assign students to write a paper about steps that can be taken in their immediate environments (school, home, neighborhood) that would assist in local conservation. They should incorporate what they have learned about GIS by explaining how geographic technology can help them in their efforts. They should then describe how they would "layer" the environment that they choose to write about (e.g., a ground/floor plan layer, a green space layer, and a waste bins layer). Again, emphasis should be given to the interrelatedness of global production and consumption, and to the notion that even acts of conservation on a local level can assist in global conservation, no matter how small their efforts might seem.
Extending the Lesson:
Students can listen to Dr. Michael Fay’s Megatransect live audio reports, explore National Geographic's Feature: Congo Trek, and create a personal journal in which they cover the personal hardships that they faced on an imaginary expedition taken through the Congo and central Africa themselves! Journal entries should include both factual information gleaned from research and students’ personal reflections on that information. Refer students to the National Geographic magazine feature Africa MegaFlyover for more information. Related Links:
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