Spatial Thinking in Geosciences:
or
How did I get from making maps of
the bottom of the ocean to this
conference?
atmosphere
Kim Kastens
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
of Columbia University
National Geographic
November 8, 2008
hydrosphere
solid earth
Kim’s first
published map
Kastens, K.A., Macdonald, K.C., Becker, K., and Crane, K., 1979,
The Tamayo Transform Fault in the mouth of the Gulf of California,
Marine Geophysical Researches, 4, 129-151.
Kim’s last
published map
from Kastens, K. A., Bonatti, E., Caress, D., Carrara, G., Dauteuil, O., Frueh-Green, G., Ligi, M. and
Tartarotti, P., 2000. The Vema Transverse Ridge (Central Atlantic). Marine Geophysical Research, v.
20, p 533-556.
I began teaching undergraduates.
First day of class
assignment in Planet
Earth: On 3x5 card,
sketch a map of the
Earth showing
continents and oceans.
I realized that many college students do not use maps
as part of their repertoire for organizing information.
Where are We? Software & curriculum
Vi deo
Sta rt
bu tton
Map Key
bu tton :
Click for
expl anation
of map
symb ols
Symbo l fo r
wate r
fo unta in
ha s be en
ad ded to
th e ma p.
Wa ter
fountain
i n vide o
Tu rn Righ t arro w
Move Forward
Arro w
Symbo ls that
can b e dra gged
an d dro pped
on to m ap
Tu rn Le ft a rrow
Retu rn to mai n
me nu b utto n
Red dot shows wh ere you are "stan ding ."
Arro w shows wh ich way you a re " l ooking."
Bla ck bal l ma rks wh ere
an incorrect l oca tion was
clicked .
Hint Button: bring s ba ck the red dot and arrow te mpora rily.
Red dot and
arro w are o nly
visi ble wh en
you first sta rt
Are We There
Yet?, or if you
click the "Hin t"
bu tton .
Comp ass
Rose
Gold sta r
ma rks
where ch ild
clicked
th e correct
lo cation.
Red line
Comp ass:
tra ces
Sho ws
th e rou te
th e di rection
fo llowed .
to wa rds whi ch
you are l ooking.
Destination
Collaborators: Robbie McClintock, David van Esselstyn, Danielle Kaplan, Kottie Christie-Blick
4th graders’ map skills project
SK
A
T
PLACE ("
CHILD
REPRESE
(ma
Collaborator: Lynn Liben
Category 5a Error: Sticker should be on structure; placed on
correct structure but outside of “correct” ring
Type 5a
Errors
Correct
Answers
How do geologists and students visualize 3-D geological
structures from the limited spatial information available in
outcrops?
?
Collaborators:
• Lynn Liben, Penn State, Dept of Psychology
• Toru Ishikawa, now at University of Tokyo
• Shruti Agrawal, L-DEO
Artificial outcrop
experiment
(1) Build sets of artificial outcrops,
which together form a realistic
structure at a realistic scale.
(2) Lead study participants around
set of outcrops.
(4) Ask them to show us what they
think the buried structure would
look like.
Thanks to Eric Laxman, sculptor.
(3) Ask them to imagine what the
buried structure would look like if
they could see it all.
Thanks to Dick Greco, Charlie Jones, and
Lamont-Doherty Facilities staff.
What we analyze:
• Actions as they observe outcrops
• Inscriptions recorded as they
observe outcrops
• Their selection from an array of 3-D
physical models
• Videotape of their explanation of
why they chose model
Questions:
• What do you think this is?
• How do you think this was made?
• What do you think this is useful for?
Participants:
• 8th, 10th, 12th graders
(Collaborator: Sandra Swenson, Teachers College)
How well can environmental policy MPA students read climate forecast maps?
Question 1:
“Which area will receive
a greater amount of total
precipitation for this
forecast period, Southern
California or Washington
State?”
Results:
- 51% correctly said
“cannot tell”
- 49% wrongly answered
“Southern California.”
(Collaborators: T. Ishikawa, A.G. Barnston, P. Louchouarn & C. Ropelewski)
Question 2b:
“Considering all of North America in these maps, how would you characterize the
correspondence between the forecast and the observation?”
Question 2c:
“Imagine that you are the Secretary of Agriculture of the US and that this pair of
forecast/observed maps is representative of the last 5 years of forecasts. Would you
recommend these forecasts be used to make decisions about what crops to plant?”
What I hope to discuss at workshop
•How do people make meaning from spatial information?
•How do we generate hypotheses about processes and causality
from observations of shape, size, position, orientation, trajectory,
configuration?
How do people make meaning from spatial information?
Divergent Plate Boundary
Transform Plate Boundary
Continental Fragment
Seamounts
Divergent Plate Boundary