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Topography Project

Team Members: Karen Duvall
Waterloo Junior High School, Waterloo, IL


Table of Contents:
  1. Overview
  2. Objectives
  3. Materials and/or Software Required
  4. Prerequisites
  5. Module Description
  6. National Standards Addressed
  7. Assessment Techniques
  8. Areas of Focus
  9. Appropriate Grade Level(s)
  10. Relevant Links and Related Resources

Overview:

Students in sixth grade at Waterloo Junior High School recently undertook a topographic project in which they completed the following tasks. After traditional instruction on Monroe County topographic maps, students created terrains, collected data, and utilized Eazy-Viz software, allowing movement between 2-d and 3-D visualizations

Objectives:

Project Objectives:
1) Students will read and interpret topographic maps (2-D)
2) Students will create terrains of sand, dirt, and rock.
3) Students will gather data from the terrain to use in a visualization program called Eazy-Viz
4) Students will use the visualizations (2-D and 3-D) from Eazy-Viz to compare and analyze the terrains they created.

Technology Objectives:
1) Students will use data from Excel in column, row format in Eazy-Viz.
2) Students will create 3-D and 2-D visualizations in Easy-Viz
3) Students will analyze and manipulate data from Easzy-Viz

Materials:

Materials:
Trays (for terrain creation)
Dirt
Rock
Sand
Straws (metrically measured)
Pegboard
Water

Software:
Excel
Eazy-viz (downloaded from http://revitalise.ncsa.uiuc.edu/resources/index

Prerequisites:

It will be useful to have knowledge of the following topics and tools:
Topographic Maps
Metric Measurement
Excel
Eazy-Viz

Module Description:

Prior to beginning this unit, as a teacher, some things I found helpful to do include, but are not limited to: marking coordinates (X and Y) on pegboard, and make metric measurements on straws (which do not bleed when wet). Prior to the beginning of this project, students learned to read and interpret topographic maps.

Each class will start by rotating through 4 stations, terrain (creating the terrain), measuring (practice accurate measuring through a pegboard), Excel (learn basics in Excel), and mapping (practice creating topogrphic maps). Students in each class will create a terrain in a tray from dirt, rock, and sand. After trays are completed and students have rotated through all 4 stations, the trays are coverd with pegboard. Measurements can now be taken with the straws that have metric measurements on them. Over 3,000 data points were collected from the piloting of this unit at Waterloo due to the size of the trays. The data can now be put into Excel, and manipulated to show the height of the terrain, not the distance down to the terrain.

Students can now use the data from Excel that they measured in class and download it into a visualization program called Eazy-Viz. The purpose of this program is to show the data in 2-D and 3-D visualizations. The elevations are first shown in a 2-D topographic map by color. Students are then able view the data in 3-D by “warping” the data. One of the features of this program also allows the students to move the visualization to view it from any angle. Students are then able to analyze and interpret the data from the visualization even identifying unexpected results such as errors in the data set.

National Standards Addressed:

NS.5-8.5 Science and Technology
• Understandings about science and technology

NS.5-8.4 Science and Technology
• Structure of the earth system

NS.K-12.3 Technology Productivity Tools
• Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
• Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce other creative works.

NS.K-12.5 Technology Research Tools
• Students use technology tools to process data and report results

Assessment Techniques:

1. 2-D & 3-D vizualizations (printed out)
2. Check sheet of required elements to maps
3. Quiz questions (answered using 2-D and 3-D maps created by student)

Areas of Focus:

Earth Science

Appropriate Grade Level(s):

5-8



Relevant Links and Related Resources:

Eazy Viz Download: http://revitalise.ncsa.ncsa.uiuc.edu/resources
USGS: National Geologic Map Database: http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Other_Resources/rdb_topo.html
USGS:The Learning Web: http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/fun/map.asp

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