loading no_name_lo... 1) click on the edit button or link in the menu 2) enter the new page name between square brackets. ex. my new page? 3) save your changes 4) the new page name will appear with a "?" link behind it 5) click on the link and your new page will open in edit mode. OR enter the name for you new page below and click on "make my page"

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Thomas C. Hammond

15 May 2008

presentation for the Lehigh Valley Computer Science Teachers Association

Google Earth, GPS, and KML via geospatial inquiry

 

Google Earth toolkit

• Get it here: earth.google.com
• Play with others' Google Earth creations
  • Google Earth gallery: earth.google.com/gallery.
  • Google Earth blog (non-affiliated): gearthblog.com.
  • ...and don't forget to play around with the built-in galleries.
    • For example: Layers
      • Primary Database
        • Gallery
          • Rumsey Historical Maps
            • Lewis and Clark 1814

 

Here's what we did with it

• ppt (warning--this is a hefty file due to number and resolution of images); heart of it = sequence of steps to be taken (.gif) in the inquiry
• Links to the infrastructure
  • Webform to assemble collected student data.
  • MySQL database, of course
  • PHP script (in .pdf format, so it doesn't get interpreted) to translate MySQL records into KML
  • .kml file of raw student work
  • .txt file of polished data for importing into AEJEE

 

What sorts of CS concepts can be taught with something like this?

• Data structures (e.g., kml)
• Importance of error-handling, whether
  • Human errors in recording or entering data--can be addressed with parameters
  • Programs' file-reading quirks (e.g., AEJEE discards any case with an empty field)
• Portability of data (paper to database to GE to AEJEE)
• Performance of data in various tools (GE vs. AEJEE)
• Power of open tools and open data: The user is adapting the tool to address problems the programmer never dreamed of.
• You don't have to build everything yourself; re-purpose others' machinery.
• Importance of documentation!
• Coding is for problem-solving, not just exercises

 

Wrap-up: Doing your own projects in Google Earth

• You are of course welcome to any code or database structures shown today.
• If you prefer to roll your own, there's now an easier way to work back and forth between online data tables and sets of Google Earth placemarks: earth.google.com/outreach/tutorial_mapper.html
• To really get into this, you'll need to develop a working knowledge of the data structure. Begin here: earth.google.com/userguide/v4/ug_kml.html