GIS Day Watch - April 2008
In This Issue
- GIS Day Logo Gets a Small Makeover
- GIS Day Activity Search Winner Announced
- New GIS Day Web Buttons
- Mapping Web Sites to Explore
- GIS Day Participants Corner
GIS Day Logo Gets a Small Makeover
As GIS Day celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, the GIS Day committee thought it would be a great time to make a small improvement to the GIS Day logo. Can you spot the difference?
The new logo focuses on the benefits and power of GIS technology by expressing the slogan I Love GIS. Download the new logo.
GIS Day Activity Search Winner Announced
Soccer as a GIS Day Theme
Congratulations to Birgit Andrich of the Western Cape Geo-Information Society of South Africa (GISSA), whose activity was selected in the GIS Day Activity Search Challenge that ran in the last two issues of GIS Day Watch. GISSA will host its annual GIS Week in May at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa—the event has grown to more than 1,800 attendees.
For its 2008 celebration, the organization selected the theme GIS 4 2010. Cape Town will be hosting the 2010 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup Soccer, and since GIS is an integral part in planning for the event, the members thought it would be a great theme to show students the wide application of GIS technology. From this concept, two creative activities were developed:
- The first is a GPS treasure hunt that will take place on the soccer field.
- The second event is being called Theodolite Soccer Challenge. Students will kick soccer balls as far as they can across the soccer field and then use a theodolite (a key tool in surveying and engineering work) to take the readings.
"We found that having a theme students can get excited about and that has relevance to major events happening in their areas makes learning GIS a very real experience for them," shares Birgit.
Thank you, Birgit and members of the GIS Day community, for submitting GIS Day activity ideas. Birgit was awarded five GIS Day shirts.
New GIS Day Web Buttons
Encourage Others to Join the Global GIS Day Celebration
You put a lot of time and effort into your GIS Day events; now encourage others to join the celebration. Choose from one of our five new Web buttons to post on your Web site to display your participation in GIS Day 2008.
Web page templates are also available for download. Send us a link to your site and we'll add it to the collection of GIS Day Web sites from around the world.
Mapping Web Sites to Explore
Here are a few mapping Web sites to explore during your next GIS Day event.
- My Wonderful World
- MapMachine
- National Atlas
- National Geographic Xpeditions
- Geospatial21
- World Wildlife Fund WildFinder
- Geography.com
- ESRI's GIS Education Community
- ESRI's ArcLessons
GIS Day Participants Corner
In each issue of GIS Day Watch, the GIS Day team will post a question asked by members of the GIS Day community. To ask a question, make a comment, or give feedback, please take a minute and contact us.
GIS Day participant writes:
"What is the theme for this year's GIS Day? We would like to start brainstorming a design reflecting the theme."
GIS Day Team responds:
There is not a specific theme for GIS Day each year—we leave that up to the organizers to decide for their individual event. Some participants like to focus on a specific industry, while others pick a popular topic in the news. Here are a few themes to consider for this year:
- Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
- 2008 Presidential Election
- Careers in GIS
- Space Exploration
- GIS in Your Industry
- GIS and Animals
Do you have any theme ideas? Send your ideas to the GIS Day team to share with the GIS Day community.