Introduction
The aim of the workshop is to develop your knowledge and confidence in
“Utilising and integrating on line GIS into the curriculum to investigate inequality”
This workshop will consist of the following schedule to allow you to get an
understanding of what GIS is and then how using online GIS it can be easily
incorporated within your curriculum without the need of being a GIS specialist, ICT
specialist or having a specialised GIS Software package.
The workshop will start with using some simple GIS sites and some visualisation sites
before moving onto more advanced GIS sites
GIS skills covered in these lessons
Using online GIS sites
Creating map: producing a map with data added that serves a purpose
Using zoom in/zoom out tools
Using pan tool: being able to move the map around in the map viewer
Creating maps of appropriate scale and layout to fit in the screen and when printed
out that has key features like scale, overview maps and legend.
Adding and removing layers:
Viewing multiple layers
Viewing real time data: data that is constantly being updated like the earthquake
data.
Searching by point, line and polygon: this is whether you search for a feature by
point such as by postcode.
Searching by attributes: this is when you ask the software to find results from the
data that show particular characteristics for example hurricanes of scale 3 in 2008.
Using info tool: this is a tool that allows to locate a feature and additional
information about it will appear.
Creating layers of information particularly points & lines including symbol selection
(symbology)
Measuring tools
Creating buffer: a buffer is an area around a feature be it a point- city, polygon –
state for example how hurricanes have occurred within a 100km of the state of
Louisiana.
Analysing patterns and trends
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With using GIS in your geography classes there are a number of key issues to take
on board:

What is the end goal of using GIS?
o Controlled assessment?
o Development of skills?
o Understanding of a topic?

What are the outcome in 6 months, 12months, 2years? For You? For your
students?
6 Months
12 Months
2 Years
Teacher
Student

State the map isn’t the final part but a starting point

Vulnerability of new ideas and changing technology

How can GIS and tools be used to make decisions?
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GIS Activity planning sheet
Topic
Ideas
How will you use the GIS is the learning experience?
Visualising the process:
What do you want to do
achieve
Actual process:
How you are going to get
there?
What data do I need and
from where?
Further info and tools,
problems & solution
Outcomes:
What do you want at the
finish? A map? A solution
to an issue? A case study?
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GEOCLIP INSTRUCTIONS
http://www.localhealth.org.uk/
This is an online GIS site that has been created by Geoclip a French GIS company for
the Association of Public Health Observatories (APHO) for the NHS to allow users in
health services, local government and the public to access and view health based data.
Geoclip has a huge range of topics that they have produced sites for, see their website
in the gallery section www.geoclip.fr for example there is a USA census one that
could be used to look at unemployment and poverty in locations such as Detroit.
To use the site you can search by selecting specific indicators or you can search via
the map viewer. To access the map click on the Direct access tab at the botttom of
the page. A new window will open with a viewer with a map of England.
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The following instructions show the different tools on the generic geoclip viewer.
Depending
upon the
zoom level
you can go
down to
output area
scale
you can
overlay the
Local
authorities
Choropleth group:
Click here to see
types of info
available
Choropleth mapping sub
section info based on
above choice
Symbol mapping: this
allows you to select further
information to be mapped
in groups of information
like with the choropleth
Circular selection:
If click on a point then
move the cursor out
from the point to a
given distance it will
collect all the
information in that
given area. This is an
example of a buffer
type tool. This
information will appear
in a box and can be
copied/sent to an
excel spreadsheet.
Rectangle selection:
As above but draw a
box.
Symbol mapping: sub
choice as with Choropleth
mapping
If you role your
cursor over
areas a little box
will appear
showing the
actual data for
that area.
Zoom tool: Click on the plus/minus then
roll cursor onto map to get changes.
NB can take a few seconds to reload map.
There is also a zoom key on top of the
map.
Circular selection:
If click on a point then move the cursor out from the point to a
given distance it will collect all the information in that given
area. This is an example of a buffer type tool. This information
will appear in a box and can be copied/sent to an excel
spreadsheet.
A red line will
appear around the
area selected at
the boundary of the
areas within area.
Parameters and colour
choice for choropleth
mapping
Parameter choice
and colour selection
for symbol
Rectangle selection: As above
but draw a box.
A box will open with a
sreadsheet containing
all the areas within the
selected area
This tool allows you to
export the selected
data in to an excel
spreadsheet.
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This tool allows you to
export the selected
data in to an excel
spreadsheet.
If you scroll your
mouse over a
named area it will
appear with a red
ring around the
area
This tool will save your
selected area
Temporary selection
manager allows you
to memorize your
selection
This tool will highlight your
selected area
This tool allows you
to deselect all
selected areas
This tool will zoom in
to your chosen area
We are now going to investigate health inequalities across England. To do this we
will be using the GIS tools of searching by attribute and searching by location.
The data we can view can be showed over a range of spatial resolution. Currently the
automatic level is set at Local authority upper tier. For the first task we will first select
one set of data to view to see how it changes with spatial resolution. First we must
select what indicator we want to view. We do this by going to the top right-hand
corner of the viewer and click on the Analysing with colour shading tab. Here we
select a theme, for this example select T4 Life Expectancy and causes of death, then
select an indicator, here select life expectancy at births for males. When you have
done this the map will load this information at the LAUT spatial resolution.
If you now change the spatial resolution of the data available by clicking on the tabs
at the top of the viewer to first Local Authority Lower Tier(LALT) then MSOA you
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will see how the data’s resolution refines and how you can see specific differences
across a named area such as Manchester.
We can now add a second layer of information by adding a proportional symbol layer
over the current layer this is achieved by clicking the Symbolic Analysis tool below
the shading tool. Here it will give a range of indicators that are available. Not all
indicators will be available in this format. For this investigation we will select T1 –
our community and then income deprivation – number. Now the map will reload
with a proportional symbol.
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We are now going to investigate which areas around Manchester meet certain
requirements. They have to be within 20 km of Manchester and have an average
life expectancy under 70 and a deprivation number above 4000. How many areas
will meet that criteria?
Searching by attributes instructions
Click on an area you want to investigate by clicking the Selection tool
, either
by selecting a radius form a given point or by drawing a polygon around your chosen
area. This area will become highlighted with a red border on the map and a table will
open showing all the areas within the selected area. Here in this example over 300
MSOA appear.
To then search for particular attribute this can be done by clicking on the search tool
on the top tool bar. A new window will open. In this box click advanced mode. A
new drop down menu will appear in this box
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Click Life expectancy from birth from the request variable layer and the box will
change with a red bar range bar with two boxes below it giving the range of values for
this indicator. You can either type in the number you want or move the range on the
red bar to your desired values. In this example I have selected 66.5 to 70 then click
search in selection then the search button.
In the table the places that have under 70 years life expectancy now appear in the box
and are highlighted on the map with a red border. I f I then want to search further
within the selection for example Find places with under 70 years life expectancy and
a deprivation number over 4000 to represent the most deprived area. Repeat the
process and then in the drop down menu repeat the process but this time only 3 places
met the attribute search. Are these places the most deprived areas in Manchester based
on our two selected indicators.
By selecting different indicators and combinations of indicators you should be able to
investigate some of the inequalities across England. This website geoclip also has a
range of viewers for a number of countries such as the USA where you could
investigate inequalities based upon ethnicity or rural vs urban areas for example.
These examples can be found in the gallery section of the geoclip website
www.geoclip.fr
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Inequality using Instant Atlas
Inequality is a topic that is increasingly being taught at key stage 3 and in other key stages
particularly in GCSE and post 16 courses where comparing places in relation to standard and
quality of life and inequality is important. This example looks at an interactive atlas that
allows you to look at how one area (polygon) compares to other places as a whole.
http://www.instantatlas.com/
Instant Atlas is a viewer that is used by many agencies. It is a simple GIS package that allows
you to only view information so could be classed as a visualisation tool although you can
select areas and indicators to compare. This website also allows you to change how the
information is viewed. This example uses a viewer that includes a map and data tables and
graphs that are visible all at the same time on the same viewer that makes it ideal to be used
by pupils. This website also allows you to compare two indicators at the same time that is
good when looking for relationships between indicators. There are a range of different
viewers available, some which are very good at comparing two areas at once. Data can be
viewed by a spine chart, scattergraph, bubble plot, performance result or radar chart
method. Within these single and double map versions are available.
Looking at the client list on the home website will give you an idea of the sort of
organisations that use this type of visualisation, many are health related or deprivation
related.
The example to be used with this workshop is
http://www.apho.org.uk/default.aspx?QN=HP_INTERACTIVE
It has been produced by the Association of Public Health Observatories(APHO) who produce
information, data and intelligence on people's health and health care for practitioners,
policy makers and the wider community.
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The example we will look at will compare how Manchester compares with other areas.
This website provides a detailed guide
http://www.apho.org.uk/resource/view.aspx?RID=71962
Single map and single indicator
http://www.apho.org.uk/addons/_91424/atlas.html?HPT=R&config=
Interactive
map that
shows all
the areas
covered
Zoom
in/out
tool
Chart
showing the
full range of
data
(interactive)
Legend showing the
categories (interactive)
Pie chart showing all
the data in categories
(interactive)
In the example below we have used the interactive map to zoom into the North West area
and then clicked on the Manchester area. When clicked it becomes highlighted in orange.
On the data table Manchester’s data is shown as a circle and shown compared to the rest of
the country’s data. If it is coloured red it is signifncantly worse than England’s average and if
green better. The line shows England’s average.
Further analysis can be carried to see how an area’s health data compares by clicking on a
segment of the pie chart or a section of the cumulative chart. When clicked areas that are in
the segment appear on the map in green. This could be used to see which areas are better
or worse than a selected area in this example Manchester.
You can change the legend settings to change how the information is displayed. This is done
by clicking the legend task at the top of the page. A new window opens that allows you to
change the colour, the level of transparency so that you can see the underlying base map.
The number of classes can also be changed as can the classification method such as quartiles
or natural breaks. This tool would be more suitable for older classes as an understanding of
statistics will be needed to use all the functions of this tool.
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This site also allows for two indicators to be investigated at the same time. This is useful to
see if there are relationships between different health issues. The viewer is similar to the
single viewer but has two sets of data windows one above the other. Next to them is a large
scattergraph that plots the selected data sets against each other for all areas. You have the
ability as in the single viewer to select a named area and see it against the rest of the
country. This is done by the same method as described earlier.
http://www.apho.org.uk/addons/_91423/atlas.html
In the example below you can see how GCSE achievement compares to child poverty. Here
you can see a distinct relationship where the lower the GCSE achievement the greater the
rate of teenage pregnancy. As with the single viewer you can view selected segments of the
legend data by clicking on the legend and seeing the data highlighted in green. Manchester
in this example is one of the worst areas and from this data it could be suggested that lack o
education could be factor in the high rate in the area.
In this example from Coventry you can see how the Radar graph works. This example looks
at the Child welfare index. Here I’ve highlighted one area in the Willenhall area of Coventry,
in red,and then compared to an area in the Coundon area of Coventry in black. This sort of
chart could be used in controlled assessment type work and is especially useful with studies
comparing two places within an area. Not all Instant Atlas users have this chart option.
http://ias.facts-aboutcoventry.com/IAS/dataviews/report?reportId=234&viewId=256&geoReportId=8175&geoId=
7&geoSubsetId=199
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GAPMINDER: www.gapminder.org
What is Gapminder?
Gapminder: an exceptional site that has the ability to explore a wide range of data
including the topic of inequality using the Gapminder World software
Gapminder is a non-profit venture – a modern “museum” on the Internet –
promoting sustainable global development and achievement of the United Nations
Millennium Development Goals.
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Why does Gapminder as a tool matter to Geography especially when
investigating inequality?
Uneven development concerns the uneven distribution of geographical phenomena in
space and over time. It is about difference and diversity in both physical and human
environments and the uneven allocation of resource and of opportunity. Uneven
development is about disparity and inequality and creates richer and poorer, winners
and losers, ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. Geographers are interested in the reasons for
uneven development, how it can be ‘measured’, how it is changing and in
understanding the moral dilemmas behind it. (Cooper 2010)
Uneven development is not just about wealth and poverty but also about
social and environmental difference. It occurs at different scales, from local to
global and it is a process of change – lives can get ‘better’ or ‘worse’. A study
of uneven development depends on an understanding of place, scale,
interdependence and connections. (Cooper 2010)
Why does Gapminder matter to
Geography(and other subjects)?
Familiar concepts of ‘less’ and ‘more’ developed countries
(LEDCs and MEDCs), of ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ countries
and a global ‘North-South Divide’.
BUT THE WORLD HAS CHANGED AND IS CHANGING!
Convergence between these ‘developed’ and ‘developing worlds’,
these concepts and terms no longer fit.
•Need to challenge our
assumptions
•Need to change mindset
•Need to use a different
vocabulary
There is no such thing
as a western world
or a developing world’
Prof Hans Rosling, September 2010
Why does Gapminder matter to
Geography?
Young people need modern understanding
of their diverse and changing world that is
drawn from the reliable data that actually
exists; they need this to understand the real
change that is happening in their places and
lives, and in the lives of others.
Gapminder gives us:
•Access to data
•Current data
•Control and choice
•Helps make sense of the data
•Its transferable : It that can be used in many countries
and contexts
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How does Gapminder work?
This guide is downloadable from Gapminder world part of the website along with a video tutorial
http://www.gapminder.org/GapminderMedia/wp-uploads/tutorial/Gapminder_World_Guide.pdf
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How can we use Gapminder in our schools to investigate inequality?
Gapminder lesson ideas
Gapminder World is shortened to GMW
1. Trend research: looking at the particular indicator over time e.g. Life expectancy
and Aids, MDGs.
2. Country specific work:
 EU studies
 Use of the GMW area specific sites
 Inequalities between and within countries, China, USA, India, South Africa
 Trading blocs
 Core and periphery investigations
 Emerging superpowers
3. Creation of maps (an easy to use GIS)
4. Major event area e.g Haiti earthquake: response to these events when they happen
5. Future predictions and forecasting based upon current trends: enable people to
predict the future?
6. Using the data displayed in GMW in other software packages such as MS Excel or
specific GIS software.
7. Use of Gapcasts as starters and plenaries. There are over 40 video clips that can be
used.
8. The Geographical Association has produced a webpage specifically on Gapminder
and Worldmapper
http://www.geography.org.uk/resources/gapminderandworldmapper
9. A US teacher has produced a site for using Gapminder
https://sites.google.com/a/nycischool.org/gapminder/about-gapminder-at-theischool
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Gapminder Labs
Gapminder has produced a number of versions of Gapminder World on
a range of topics including:





Agriculture
USA
China
China, India, USA, EU
2010 Football World Cup
Example from China Gapminder Lab
How would you use these Labs? Which topics would you use these
Labs?
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Gapminder Activity planning sheet
Topic
Ideas
How will you use Gapminder in the learning experience? What tools
etc?
Visualising the
process:
What do you want to
do/achieve?
Actual process:
How are you going to
get there?
Outcomes:
Further info and tools,
problems & solutions
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Final thoughts
 Geography has a powerful role to play in allowing students to
build a current and knowledge-based world view, and to develop
their understanding of meaningful data that are distinct from
political discourse and personal opinion.
 Facts and knowledge matter
 Accuracy matters
 The world is changing…..
 …and with this knowledge we can change the world
 Helps us teach understanding of the world as it REALLY is NOW
 Problems are fixable… Collier?
If there are any further questions, comments or suggestions please do
not hesitate to contact me at
bob.lang@btinternet.com
r.lang@kefw.bham.sch.uk
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Deal with it task: You will be given a situation that can happen in the classroom.
Come up with a solution to deal with the problem
1. You have a new student in your
class who has not used the
software that you are planning to
use in your lesson.
2. You were planning to use an
online GIS site but the internet is
down
3. You were planning to use PC in
your lesson but there has been a
power cut on the classroom you
are using/booked
4. You are planning to use a
software package but you find
that the school’s license has
expired
5. Your ICT room that has been
booked has been acquired by
another member of staff
6. You are doing the data analysis
stage and a number of pupils
have forgotten their data
7. You are using large data sets and
when saving your work you find
that there isn’t enough space on
your school area
8. You have a new member of staff
joining your dept in September
who has not used GIS before
9. The internet site that you were
planning to use has changed how
it looks
10. The internet site you were
planning to use no longer exists
Solution
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