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Integrating Web-based GIS to Promote Earth and Environmental Science

Education

Alec M. Bodzin and David Anastasio, Lehigh Universityamb4@lehigh.edu

Paper presented at the 2007 Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) International

Conference, Clearwater Beach, Florida. January 3-7, 2007.

Abstract

This session demonstrates how Web-based Geographic information system (GIS) maps are

implemented to promote interdisciplinary science teaching and learning experiences in

preservice coursework.

Introduction

According to the NSF report, Complex Environmental Systems. Synthesis for Earth, Life,

and Society in the 21st Century (Pfirman and AC-ERE, 2003), in the coming decades, the public

will be called upon more frequently to understand complex environmental issues, evaluate

proposed environmental plans, and understand how individual decisions affect the environment

at local to global scales. The report calls for raising the environmental literacy of the general

public by providing quality environmental education and training.

Learning about the environment and its implications for society is not a simple task.

Environmental problems have multiple causes and multiple effects. Such problems include

complex issues such as global climate change, resource management, and pollution. Viewing any

one portion of an environmental problem without consideration of broader systems interaction

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increases the likelihood of misunderstandings and unrealistic solutions. An Earth system science

approach to learning advocates the use of rich and highly interrelated data sets that learners can

explore repeatedly, each time coming at the data from slightly different perspectives. This

creates what is known as “cognitive flexibility” and helps reveal the true complexity of the

problem under study (Spiro and Jehng, 1990). Addressing such complex issues requires the

collection and analysis of a variety of different types of geographical information and spatial

data. As a result, the rapidly growing technology of Geographical Information Systems (GIS)

have proven to be a valuable tool in the process of understanding the environment and of making

responsible environmental decisions (Carrarra and Fausto, 1995; Heit et al., 1991; National

Research Council, 2005).

Recent Earth and environmental sciences reform initiatives such as the National Science

Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) and the North American Association for

Environmental Education’s Guidelines for Learning (2000) emphasize the significance of

developing thinking skills, data analysis skills, understanding real-world applications, and

utilizing the power of technology in teaching and learning. GIS applications provide a platform

for effectively achieving these science education goals (Barstow, 1994; National Research

Council, 2005). GIS, like Earth system science, transcends disciplinary boundaries, integrating

processes and data from the natural and social sciences. When using the Web and GIS maps in

inquiry-based investigations, learners use evidence and practices in the same manner as

scientists. The study of Earth system science relies on environmental data. GIS provides an

ideal context for the management and presentation of such data. GIS can be used to collect,

organize, and analyze spatially referenced data. Activities that use GIS can be designed to

require independent learning and flexible reasoning, an essential component of scientific

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education. Yet, GIS classroom applications have not gained much momentum or enthusiasm for

its implementation in secondary schools and in introductory-level courses at universities

(Bednarz and Audet, 1998). Like most software applications, barriers to GIS implementation in

instructional settings likely occur due to access to required hardware and software, the cost of the

software application, access to relevant and accessible data, lack of adequate professional

development to implement GIS in instructional settings, and technical support issues at one’s

institution (Audet and Paris, 1997; National Research Council, 2005).

We have addressed these implementation barriers, in a prototype project of the Lehigh

River watershed, PA, by designing a series of Web-based GIS maps to support the process of

spatial thinking with inquiry-based approaches to learning. A watershed is an ideal way to

segment the environment for analysis. Watersheds are scalable, topographic and hydrologic

basins that lend themselves to systems analysis. Our approach uses driving questions to guide

learner exploration of data layers of specific GIS maps to address environmental decision-

making. In our instructional activities, analysis consists of comparing and contrasting data layers

against one another. Existing data layers can be recombined into previously unknown patterns,

providing learners the capacity to manipulate the way map data is represented into a new

visualization. In conjunction with fieldwork, watershed GIS maps allow students to monitor a

wide range of biogeochemical processes and track the human dimension of environmental

change with long-term studies. In this article, we present our design and development work, and

discuss how the use of Web-based GIS may be used to promote inquiry-based approaches to

local environmental investigations in which learners understand concepts in sufficient detail that

may apply their understandings to larger and more complex environmental problems in other

geographical areas.

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GIS Defined

A GIS consists of spatially explicit information, a database, and a computer interface that

ties them together to create a visualization tool for spatial analysis. A GIS is commonly regarded

as a computer system that can capture, store, query, analyze, and display geographical

information of two types, vector or raster. GIS allows users to select different layers of

information to construct a map. The map then is displayed on a computer screen and the data

and information can be examined spatially. Maps could include political boundaries, rivers and

streams, bedrock geology, soil coverage, topography, water quality, or census data to support

multidisciplinary Earth and environmental science education.

Much of the information we have about our world contains a location reference, relating

that information at some point on the globe. For example, when point source pollutant discharge

information is collected, it is important to know where the discharge is located. This is done by

using a location reference system, such as longitude and latitude, and perhaps elevation.

Comparing the discharge information with other information, such as the location of marshes

that may serve as breeding grounds for shellfish, may show that certain marshes receive higher

levels of pollutant discharges that may not be beneficial for the survival of newly born shellfish.

This inference can help us make the most appropriate decisions about how pollution discharge in

the marsh might be regulated. A GIS, therefore, can facilitate data analysis that may lead to new

insights for better decision-making.

Many computer databases that can be directly entered into a GIS are being produced by

Federal, State, tribal, and local governments, private companies, academia, and nonprofit

organizations. Different kinds of data in map form can be entered into a GIS. A GIS can also

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convert existing digital information, which may not yet be in map form, into forms it can

recognize and use. For example, digital satellite images can be analyzed to produce a map of

digital information about land use and land cover. Likewise, census or hydrologic tabular data

can be converted to a maplike form and serve as layers of thematic information in a GIS.

Environmental Issues Course

EDUC 394, Special Topics in Environmental Education: Environmental Issues, at Lehigh

University takes advantage of using Web-based inquiry activities and GIS maps to promote

learning. Environmental Issues was designed to meet Pennsylvania Department of Education

program standards for environmental education (EE) certification and preparation competencies.

The course primarily focuses on an in-depth study of environmental issues in the Lehigh River

watershed. Course instruction uses a hybrid approach that includes field trips, Web-based

learning modules and face-to-face instruction. In a face-to-face session, students are introduced

to a variety of topics including EE learning theories, education standards and frameworks, GIS

use in Earth and environmental science curricula, and data collection with Pasco probeware.

Students then complete a series of Web-based modules and meet weekly for all-day field trips to

areas of environmental concern. The Web-based modules consist of the following topics:

teaching and learning about environmental issues; GIS in environmental education;

implementing water quality curricular projects; environmental laws and regulations;

environmental education essentials; and designing activities for environmental education. The

Web-based modules take advantage of many instructional materials we have developed to

promote the teaching and learning of environmental issues. These materials are housed on the

Lehigh Earth Observatory EnviroSci Inquiry Web site (http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/envirosci).

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Since these materials are interdisciplinary and Web-based, they are both flexible and portable to

use in other disciplines in select secondary and college level courses that include geology,

geography, environmental science, environmental studies, Earth system science, or ecology.

Select materials include:

• Stockertown Sinkhole Dilemma (http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/envirosci/enviroissue/sinkholes)

In the intended use of this activity, students learn about the Stockertown sinkholes and decide

who should be responsible for compensating property damage caused by a sinkhole. Students

read a description of a stakeholder's role and access a variety of resources that they will use to

develop a position statement about who should be responsible for the investigation and

remediation of the sinkholes. They decide what should be done to solve the sinkhole problem,

what might be causing the sinkholes, and what new policies should be created to protect the

interest of homeowners affected by sinkholes. In this activity, students are responsible for

presenting a long-term action plan to prevent and/or remediate sinkhole destruction in class

during a simulated town hall meeting. The instructional use of this activity’s materials and

resources may be customized to emphasize the geologic occurrence of sinkholes and its

implications for geoenvironmental engineering.

• Abandoned Mine Drainage in Pennsylvania

(http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/envirosci/enviroissue/amd/)

Abandoned Mine Drainage in Pennsylvania is a science-technology-society role-playing debate

simulation. In this activity, learners investigate the abandoned mine drainage (AMD) issue from

differing perspectives. In their investigation, they identify AMD problems, search for a solution,

evaluate options, and decide on a course of action to treat and clean up AMD in Pennsylvania.

• Lehigh River Photojournal (http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/envirosci/watershed/pjournal/)

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This virtual photojournal of the Lehigh River watershed contains digital images and panoramas

to explore the watershed. Historical information is provided for many locations.

• Geology of the Lehigh Gorge (http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/envirosci/geology/gorge/)

This Web site includes interactive maps with picture links, surface and aerial pictures of the

Lehigh River and its tributaries, a stratagraphic column, geologic map, digital shaded relief map

and a 3D flyby through the Lehigh Gorge. The laboratory section contains several activities

designed for learners to investigate the geologic formations of the Lehigh Gorge, relationships

between rock types, topography, and river morphology.

The course field trips consist of site visits to abandon mine drainage and remediation sites

to discuss issues pertaining to remediation efforts, a cement plant to discuss legislative issues

involved in obtaining permits for recycling use in a manufacturing process, a state park to look at

issues involved with land use planning and management practices, an area experiencing sinkhole

problems to discuss who is responsible for the remediation of sinkholes, and a canoe trip through

ten miles of the Lehigh River to gather water quality data and discuss pollution and water quality

issues.

GIS for Lehigh Watershed Investigations

Given the emphasis on incorporating inquiry teaching and learning in Earth system

science education, it is important that our students gain a theoretical and practical understanding

about how to take advantage of Web-enhanced instructional materials and approaches to promote

inquiry learning. The Web can provide access to GIS maps, interactive images that are

information-rich (they include layers representing various types of information) and dynamic

(learners can explore them by observing spatial patterns and by selecting more or less detail). For

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this reason, we have developed a series of Web-based GIS maps to use to promote scientific

inquiry and environmental literacy using a watershed theme for use in the environmental issues

course. The GIS maps are disseminated over the Web using an Arc IMS server. The Web-based

interface is designed well and is intuitive to use. No special software is needed to view these

maps other that a Web browser with an Internet connection.

We use four main topic areas to help learners understand the complex networks of

interactions and dependencies within watersheds: underlying science, human resources, people

centers, and human impacts. Underlying science focuses on the interdisciplinary study of the

complex and interconnected issues of natural watershed processes, natural resources,

populations, and pollution. Human resources addresses materials consumed or reused by humans

to meet their needs, including air, water, minerals, fuels, building materials, and open space.

People centers deals with societal needs for human activities, including housing, transportation,

agriculture, industry, and recreation; while human impacts attends to how human activities affect

both biotic and abiotic conditions of the environment.

As a way of illuminating these interactions and complexities, we have developed a series

of specific GIS maps each organized to promote inquiry with driving investigative questions

about a particular aspect of the Lehigh Valley watershed. We have designed our inquiry-based

activities to incorporate two main properties: scalability and portability. Scalability refers to the

need for the problems addressed by the learner to be small enough that they can derive

conclusions in a reasonable length of time, but also of sufficient detail that in completing them

will understand concepts that apply to larger and more complex environmental problems.

Portability means the problems addressed in our activities should involve concepts and practices

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that apply to diverse locations and situations, allowing learners to extrapolate their derived

understandings to problems other than those to which they were exposed.

Select investigative questions and GIS maps are described below. The GIS maps are

available online at: http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/envirosci/watershed/gis/investigations.html

Where have people concentrated their settlements and conducted their activities during human

history in the Lehigh River watershed?

This GIS map (see Figure 1) enables learners to examine the location of cities, towns, and major

industries in relation to the Lehigh River. A map that displays these data layers shows a pattern

of settlements along the Lehigh River. With the addition of the geology layer to this map,

learners may observe that many industries are located on carbonate rock more so than any other

rock type in the watershed.

------------------------------Insert Figure 1 about here-----------------------------------------

Which part of the Lehigh River watershed is the best place to build your new home?

This GIS map (see Figure 2) provides learners with a variety of different data layers one may

wish to examine when selecting a site to build a new home. Learners can display land use types

to determine locations of urban, forested, and agricultural areas in the watershed. Map layers of

major, state, and local roads can be shown to determine transportation patterns throughout the

watershed. The map also contains data about sites that may be prone to natural hazards. A

limestone data layer may be displayed to consider locations that may be prone to sinkhole

occurrences, and a flood plains data layer may be viewed to identify areas where flooding may

occur. Industries that release regulated toxic chemicals into the environment can also be located.

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The toxic chemical release inventory data layer provides the name, address, and location of the

industry and a complete list of chemicals that the site discharges. Recreational and preserved

land areas including County and PA State Parks and State Game Lands areas may also be

displayed. Census data for each municipality in the watershed for the years 1990 and 2000 are

included and can be explored to determine population growth trends in the area.

------------------------------Insert Figure 2 about here-----------------------------------------

What are some natural processes in the Lehigh River watershed and how do human actions

modify them?

The GIS map for this driving question provides learners with opportunities to see how people

over time have altered the natural landscape of the watershed by establishing urban and

agricultural areas, and building transportation routes that include roadways, railroads, and canals.

For example, in the Little Lehigh Creek catchment, agricultural land cover decreased by 48%

and urban land cover increased by 700% between 1947 and 1999. Differential effects of land

cover change throughout the Lehigh River watershed provide a natural laboratory for GIS-based

Earth system science research and education.

In what ways are different parts of society in the Lehigh River watershed economically

interdependent today? What role do science and technology play in this interdependence? How

would this interdependence have been different 150 years ago?

This GIS map (see Figure 3) used in conjunction with the historical background provided on the

LEO EnviroSci Web site (http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/envirosci/watershed/history/) provides

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learners with the opportunity to understand the limitations of the use of a canal route to transport

anthracite coal from the coal fields in the northwest area of the watershed to the confluence of

the Lehigh River with the Delaware River. Displaying both inactive railroads and active

railroads on the map illustrates the importance of using railroad transportation to connect cities

and towns that contain major industries in the watershed area. The zoning layer (see Figure 4)

illustrates how land is designated for use today. A careful examination of this portion of the

watershed shows predominantly residential and commercial land uses located near the Lehigh

River, especially in the southern areas of this map display. Agricultural areas surround this area

to the north and west and a tract of land designated as open space is observed along the northern

tract of this map section.

------------------------------Insert Figure 3 about here-----------------------------------------

------------------------------Insert Figure 4 about here-----------------------------------------

What environmental issues should planners consider when designing and locating a site for a

new information technology company that will create jobs for 7000 new workers in the Lehigh

River watershed? Build a case for the site you think will do the least damage to the watershed.

This driving question is an authentic issue that faces the Lehigh River watershed today. This

GIS contains all map layers previously discussed. When examining these map layers, learners

must consider the anthropogenic effects of a significant population increase in a watershed area.

Issues of resource management and use of available space must be considered for environmental

decision-making.

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Sprawl in the Lehigh River Watershed activity

Land use and development in the form of urban or suburban sprawl has always been a problem

in the minds of many people. We have developed an activity available online at

http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/envirosci/enviroissue/sprawl/ that uses Web-based GIS maps to

explore sprawl issues in the Lehigh River watershed. Learners are first introduced to historical

population growth patterns in the Lehigh Valley watershed. Next, they are prompted to use a GIS

map to explore trends in population change in the watershed area. The impacts of zoning laws

created by multiple municipalities are then presented. Learners are prompted to use a GIS map

to explore the effects of transportation infrastructure on land use. Information on the effects of

sprawl on human and environmental health is then presented in the activity. Environmental

issues that include pollution, effects of creating impervious surfaces, deforestation of riparian

buffers, and the reduction of open spaces and farmlands are discussed. Learners are then guided

to use GIS maps to examine patterns of land use and population centers. Best practices in land

use including smart growth initiatives, brownfield redevelopment, and the creation of

conservation easements are discussed. As a culminating activity, learners are presented with two

differing viewpoints about creating a new highway extension in the area. They are prompted to

select a viewpoint and write a position statement with supporting facts if the highway extension

should be constructed or if the land should be preserved.

Concluding Remarks

In the activities and ideas described in this article, students learn spatial concepts and data

analysis skills essential for disciplinary science and Earth system science education using

inquiry-based instructional methods. Investigating driving questions about one’s immediate

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environment promotes a sense of personal involvement in understanding authentic issues in

one’s geographical area. When learners critically examine a local environmental issue with

inquiry-based methods, they develop conceptual understandings and practices that can be

transferred to related issues in different geographical areas. We contend that the use of the

materials and activities described in this article are portable; they can be used by other instructors

at universities and in secondary school settings in different geographic locations to understand

associated issues. For example, the concepts and understandings one learns from the

Stockertown Sinkhole Dilemma can be transferred to understand geoenvironmental engineering

and policy issues in other areas of the United States that contain limestone geology that might be

prone to sinkhole occurrences.

The use of Web-based GIS in conjunction with other content materials enables learners to

analyze and synthesize large amounts data that would be much more difficult in other formats.

Implementing instructional practices that emphasize inquiry nurtures research creativity

important for scientific training. Instructional activities that incorporate GIS maps can be

effective for learning about interdisciplinary connections among the Earth and environmental

sciences, providing a broader systems view of an area under study. Using Web-based GIS

provides learners with opportunities to explore spatial concepts and participate in real-world

environmental problem solving. Integrating GIS maps into course instruction can be used to

establish boundary conditions for field based data collection. Such data collection can generate

longitudinal environmental data, capable of elucidating human impacts on environmental

change. We have embraced this idea and are now in the process of reformatting our introductory

Earth and environmental science laboratory program to be more inquiry-based using varied data

sets, and providing learners with spatial mapping tools that will allow them to manipulate these

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data in ways that help to illuminate complex interrelationships.

We believe our instructional methods have had a positive impact on our students’

understanding on how to use Web-based GIS maps and related spatial mapping tool resources

appropriately to promote inquiry-based learning. Some of our students during their intern

teaching field placements in secondary schools facilitated a Web-based inquiry process by

presenting their students with a driving question to investigate a particular phenomenon. They

provided their students with available Web-based data to analyze using GIS mapping tools. Web-

based data sources included using the EPA EnviroMapper Window to My Environment

interactive mapping tool (http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/em/) to learn about different industries

that contribute pollution discharges within a 5 mile radius of a school, using the NOAA’s

nowCOAST Web mapping portal (http://nowcoast.ncd.noaa.gov/) and Web-based map data from

the National Data Buoy Center (http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/) to investigate why water

temperature changes so rapidly on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and using the National

Atlas of the United States (http://nationalatlas.gov/) and the Journey North interactive maps

(http://www.learner.org/jnorth/) to investigate the monarch butterfly migration cycle. These

examples illustrate anecdotal evidence that the instructional use of Web-based GIS in our

environmental education course may have assisted our preservice teachers with understanding a

design process for using appropriate GIS mapping resources to support the process of spatial

thinking with inquiry-based approaches to learning.

Acknowledgements: Collaboration between the authors was fostered by a curricular development

sub-agreement from USRA/ESSE21, (Prime Agency NASA, grant NNG04GA82G), awarded to

Anastasio, Bodzin and Windham, which also supports ongoing GIS map development.

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Figure 1. GIS map of the Lehigh River watershed showing land cover patterns, the location ofpopulation centers and industries along the Lehigh River and its major tributaries. Shaded colorsillustrate the different geology types.

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Figure 2. GIS map of the Lehigh River watershed displaying the location of recreational andpreserved lands, limestone areas, and industries discharging toxic chemicals.

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Figure 3. GIS map of the Lehigh River watershed displaying the location of canal and railroadtransportation routes from coal fields to cities.

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Figure 4. GIS map displaying land use zoning in a subsection of the Lehigh River watershed.