Easy Mapping with Google

Transcription

1 Easy Mapping with Google Applications: Mapping is a great way for students to visualize spatial information to help them develop analytical abilities or conduct research. With Google Maps, it is easy to make multi-layered maps for class assignments that can be shared or embedded in web pages. Sample applications might be: Maps to track the spread of disease over time and across different types of communities. Maps to study the migration of peoples or animals. Maps to geo-reference places of significant cultural or historical importance. Maps to study marketing trends, purchasing habits, or distribution systems. Creating and Annotating Simple Google Maps Getting started: Begin by launching Chrome, signing in to your Google account and launching Google Maps. You can launch Maps from the grid icon at the top right of your screen (you may have to choose More ), or just type maps into the search bar. Click the menu expansion icon ( hamburger icon ) to open the menu: Choose Your Places and follow these steps: From the menu, choose Your places ->Maps->Create Map. Click on Untitled Map and enter a title and description: Enter an address or GPS coordinates of the location you wish to use, then zoom in or out to get the resolution you need. Click Save. PAGE 1 OF 6 CENTER FOR TEACHING, LEARNING, & TECHNOLOGY, FALL 2016

2 Annotate your map, by inserting place marks. (Note that these can be deleted if you need to remove one by right-clicking and choosing delete.) You can use the Google icons or your own custom icon. You can add text, images, and/or links that will appear when the icon is selected. Select the camera icon in the lower right hand corner to add links to images or videos. You can change the place maker icon by clicking the paintbrush to the right of the place name as shown here and either choose other icons/colors or add your own custom icon. An easy way to add a set of locations is to use Excel to create a.csv file (csv=comma separated values) with a column for the name of the location and a column for the address. The columns should have labels and be sure to choose SAVE As and.csv when saving the file. See an example below: You can add layers that allow you to plot different types of information. Click the Add Layer tool. And then Import your.csv file. The Add shape or line tool can be used to add lines or borders to indicate areas. PAGE 2 OF 6 CENTER FOR TEACHING, LEARNING, & TECHNOLOGY, FALL 2016

3 To paste your map into a website, you can copy the embed code in the box below and paste into any HTML enabled web page content editor that accepts embed code (i.e. WordPress or Canvas): Practice (using a mock assignment) Learning objective: This assignment is to help you understand the seasonal migration of birds and the threat posed by airplane traffic. Prepare by reading this article: Begin by choosing 3 migratory bird species that can be found in Virginia in the Fall. Some references to get started: Using Google Maps, you will create a map with two layers. 1) The first layer will show where the birds start their migration (Summer habitat) and where they are in Virginia in the Fall. (Pick a few some sample locations for each species based on their type of habitat: woodland near water, coastal, grassland, etc.). The data file might look like this: Use Excel to create this file and save it as a.csv file. Next, go to Google maps and choose: MyMaps- >Create->enter a title->make the map public (or not, as you prefer) ->Done->Edit Import your.csv file. You can click on each entry to modify the marker and its color or icon as you prefer. You can add lines to mark the migration as shown below (lines are given numbers by default, but you can edit their titles to remove them). PAGE 3 OF 6 CENTER FOR TEACHING, LEARNING, & TECHNOLOGY, FALL 2016

4 2) Next, we ll add the second layer that will show airports in Virginia. You may need to adjust the zoom to get a useful image: An assignment structured in this way will help students make relationships between concepts, it will require them to engage more deeply with their reading, and will foster analytical development. 3) To embed your map to a website, first choose Share and select the button to make the map public. Then from the drop-down menu, choose Embed on my site as shown below. Then, copy and paste the embed code as shown in the illustration and paste it into your website. But I want more! After you feel comfortable with the basics, you might want to try something more ambitious. Here are some mapping basics. Mapping systems use coordinate systems called datums (not data!) that define points on the earth by longitude and latitude (horizontal datum) and altitude (vertical datum) often in decimal degrees. WGS (World Geodetic System) 84 and NAD (North American Datum) 83 are commonly used systems. (Other countries may use a different datum.) If you have coordinates in degrees and minutes and need to convert them to decimal degrees, you ll find a handy calculator here: To find the latitude and longitude of a location, go to PAGE 4 OF 6 CENTER FOR TEACHING, LEARNING, & TECHNOLOGY, FALL 2016

5 Understanding KML files KML stands for KeyHole Markup Language and is used to create files for displaying maps on Google Earth, Google Maps, and other mapping software. For a nice tutorial, see: and some templates at If you know a little HTML, KML will seem familiar. If not, it helps to know that instructions are given within codes called tags. Tags start with a command within angle brackets <> and end with a command within angle brackets preceded by a forward slash </> For example, to mark a location: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <kml xmlns=" xmlns:gx=" <Document> <Placemark> <name>creating a location example</name> <description>hello World</description> <Point> <coordinates> ,39.169</coordinates> </Point> </Placemark> </Document> </kml> You can create KML files using MS Word, and then using SAVE As. save the file as.txt format. Then, using the Finder, rename the file to.kml. (Example: birds.txt should be renamed to birds.kml). You ll need to change the extension back to.txt to edit it with Word. Another alternative is to use the TextEdit.app. You ll need to look under Preferences to chance the file type from.rtf to.txt (Plain text). KML files will allow you to format the data for your map in many ways. Try this example to plot a polygon: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <kml xmlns=" <Document> <Style id="polygon style"> <LineStyle> <!--Google HTML Color codes to find the colors you want --> <color>ff000000</color> <width>1</width> </LineStyle> <PolyStyle> <color>7faaaaaa</color> <fill>1</fill> <outline>1</outline> PAGE 5 OF 6 CENTER FOR TEACHING, LEARNING, & TECHNOLOGY, FALL 2016

6 </PolyStyle> </Style> <Placemark> <name>purple Martin Habitat Range</name> <styleurl>#polygon_style</styleurl> <Polygon> <outerboundaryis> <LinearRing> <coordinates> <!--These are the coordinates that define the polygon --> , , , , , , , , , , , ,0 </coordinates> </LinearRing> </outerboundaryis> </Polygon> </Placemark> </Document> </kml> Ideas for Projects Radford University GIS Center, Hélène Visentin, Mapping Paris : Using GIS Technology for a Blended Learning Approach in a Foreign Language and Culture Course. (Sample GIS application.) Stanford University Spatial History Project, Holocaust Geographies Collaborative, Utilize other tools to get useful data, such as: PAGE 6 OF 6 CENTER FOR TEACHING, LEARNING, & TECHNOLOGY, FALL 2016