Bringing Geography and Geo Survey to Life

The lesson plan and worksheets spoken about in this blog are available to download here.

Before the large-scale return of pupils to classrooms around the country, a group of key worker children in a primary school in Manchester spent their final week exploring the world of urban transport. Using the Get Kids into Survey Transport Exploration Poster, the children investigated the many modes of urban transportation, the infrastructure that enables and supports their use, and the importance of geo survey professionals in helping people to get around – no matter what their chosen form of transport!

Introducing the Project

Having taken a good look around the Get Kids into Survey Transport Exploration Poster, the children were set an introductory quiz, all about the world of transportation. The questions focused on superlative aspects of the topic – the longest runway; the widest highway; the highest railway, etc., in order to spark curiosity around modes of transport that might otherwise seem somewhat common place.

The quiz was administered and completed electronically, via the same platform that the children were using to support their home learning. This allowed them to do simultaneous online research and to look further into the results they found when their initial discoveries piqued their interests.

Walking to Learn

Having completed the quiz, the children returned to the exploration poster for a closer look. They identified walking as a popular mode of transport for the people of Middletown, which sparked discussions about how their own walking activity had increased during periods of lockdown – it being one of the few outdoor activities that they could easily keep up. We discussed the advantages of walking as a mode of transport, both personally and in terms of environmental impact, and we thought about the positive difference it could make if people kept up their new-found enthusiasm for walking after lockdown ended.

To this end, we looked at initiatives that encourage walking over other means of transportation – especially those that generate pollution. In particular, the children found out about the ‘Living Streets’ organisation, who campaign for better walking infrastructure (which the children identified as an area for geo survey work) while encouraging people to walk wherever they can. One initiative, the ‘WOW Challenge’, rewards children for walking to school with badges and certificates. The children were tasked with producing persuasive materials that would encourage other pupils to keep up their good walking habits upon their return to school.

Human Sat Nav

To expand upon the idea of walking being a hugely beneficial mode of transport in many different ways, the children were asked to think about the one aspect in which it seemed impossible for walking to come out on top: speed. We explored the idea of using footpaths in order to ‘beat a car’, and pupils were asked to explore their local area to see if they could plot a journey that would be faster on foot than in a car! This really brought to light the importance of well-planned and well maintained pathways, and what is possible in terms of getting from A to B if you have the right path ahead of you! As a group, they managed to find just such a journey – a three minute walk, and a four minute drive!

Transport Top Trumps

Returning to the Transport poster, the children were challenged to compare the various means of personal transportation that they could see in action – focusing particularly on those beyond the realm of motorised vehicles. The children were asked to compare the methods of transport they found under four criteria: speed, safety, comfort and exercise. They presented their findings in the form of Top Trump-style fact cards.

The Ultimate Mode of Transportation

For their final task, the children considered the limitations of the motorised vehicles from the poster. They could see that there were vehicles in the water, on the land, and in the air, but they were all limited to their own geographical zone. But what if this didn’t have to be the case? Might it be possible to design a vehicle that could travel over land, water and air? This was the children’s final task, and their creations did not disappoint!

This project, inspired by the Get Kids into Survey Transport Exploration Poster, provided the children with a much greater appreciation for planners and geospatial experts, whose work makes it easy for them to get around, no matter which mode of transport they choose! It also helped to raise awareness of issues like pollution and congestion, and brought to light some of the ways that young people can start to tackle these problems and act in an environmentally responsible way.

Report compiled by Mathew Sullivan, FRSA Teacher, Author and Educational Consultant

Where did you study? I studied Civil Engineering in El Salvador.

What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? Locally, Land Surveyors had been linked mostly to Civil Engineering. There was a degree on land surveying in the early 1900’s but with time it was abolished. Technical schools formed some generations of surveyors with the sole purpose of assisting civil engineers.  At some point in history it was considered a repetitive task that anyone could perform. 

With the introduction of electronic instruments and GNSS receivers in the early 90s some universities updated their equipment but surveying was never added as a career. Being one of the most technological careers, with a broader scope of applications, and an increasing demand for geospatial information, a new breed of surveyors needs to come along. It’s a challenge not just to bring kids into the career, but to get Universities to add Surveying and other Geospatial careers to their programs.

How did you get into surveying? I got into surveying by accident. I was studying electronic engineering right after high school, in the early 1990s, one day I was listening to a professor ask us to imagine electrons flowing.  Suddenly, I thought I wouldn’t see myself doing this for the next 20 years. So the next semester I switched to Civil Engineering and got a job at a construction site just to be sure I was not making a wrong decision. I was working hard drafting and calculating when one day a muddy guy came along and told me, do you want to know where the data came from? 

Saying yes to that request is a decision I’ll never regret, I found myself standing behind an old and dusty Wild T-16, looking through its telescope and I found what I would like to be the rest of my life. One thing led to another and in a matter of time ended up working for a local Leica reseller, selling and  training customers creating relations with universities. Next I was hired by Carlson Software to do basically the same but on a larger scale in a huge chunk of Latin America and the never ending learning process has not stopped since day one. Now I run a small business, I’m a local reseller, and I’m devoted to discovering new ways of helping surveyors and their customers get the results they want.

How long have you been in the industry? 25 years and counting 

Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention? Rumbo GNSS SA de CV

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? Surveying is a highly technical and self rewarding occupation,  we use all the toys that appear on the movies, GPS receivers, lasers, satellite images, 3D models etc. Kids need to add to their career option of being a Land Surveyor for sure. 

Whilst traveling I found that the perception about Surveyors is totally wrong,  and many students lack excitement, passion for the industry, and have a “it is what it is” attitude that prevails and we must change that by exposing how fascinating, rewarding and fun the profession is. In a world where isolation and social distance may be around for a while, and jobs may be hard to find, land surveying gives the opportunity to get them self employed and provide their services to a variety of customers and industries. We need kids eager to go out and believe that they can change the world, so they have to know that everything they dream of doing will begin and end with a survey.

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? We are heading to a world that will be communicating faster and faster, where assets, utilities, and services will be increasingly monitored remotely, the main question about all of them will be “where are they?” So we need to encourage kids to be the ones who do those tasks and attract them into surveying. This generation is already connected, technology savvy, that if we add the location ingredient to their knowledge we can create the next breed of professionals that will produce that highly demanded geospatial information.

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? First I would translate the posters you have in English, into Spanish. Plus with your help I could post information in Spanish onto your media channels. Locally I can approach high schools to show kids what they can do with surveying hardware and mapping software and how the information produced is relatable to other careers. I have contacts in universities region wide which is helpful, I may look for government offices that create youth development programs in order to expose surveying as a career path. We could approach agencies that demand surveyors services to incentivise surveying tuition in schools, as well as aid agencies like USAID, plus vocational aid funds etc for scholarships to promote surveyors. 

In latin America there’s a high rate of school dropouts, due to poverty and delinquency, and surveying can be a way for them to become independent and productive individuals. I would look for tech companies to help teachers get updated and schools to obtain hardware and software for their tuition. I also have industry contacts that I can ask to do lectures online telling what they do, how they do it and why they love to keep on doing it!

What are your hobbies? I love my Labrador dog, training her entertains me, I used to travel for work but do it also for leisure. I’m a football fan (Go Cowboys!), like aerial photography, going outdoors, and I think I’m a decent cook!

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? Aztecs, Mayas and Incas did great cities, roads, and aqueducts at impossible places. They were great surveyors for sure, I would pick a Jaguar since all of them have it in common.

What poster or resource would you like to see next from GKiS? Latin America is diverse, so I would love to see a poster representing different ethnicities doing surveying tasks, different landscapes and lot of infrastructure that can be made so we can portray: highway and railway constructions, river dams, bridges, the continent is rich in mineral resources so you can include gold, coal stockpiles, reservoirs underground, ruins hidden underneath  the jungle, vast agricultural areas that can be surveyed by drone; my ideas are endless. 

Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? The world is a small wonderful marble, and a lot of people today just see it through the eyes of others. Surveying is a chance to go out there, explore it, learn from it, preserve it and improve the conditions of the ones who live on it.   

It’s time to introduce our brand new character 3T by our sponsor Three Trees PR! Let’s learn a bit more about them…

Company Name: Three Trees and a Map PR

Location: We’re based in Hampshire in the South of England (3T finds it a bit warm sometimes so we have to keep him supplied with ice lollies!) but work right across the world with friends as far away as Iceland in the North and Cyprus in the South, plus everywhere in between!

Why did you get involved in Get Kids Into Survey? Maps are awesome, we love them – from phone apps to treasure maps. But, maps are only as awesome as the people who put them together. It’s a great job that takes lots of skill. 

No matter how much technology changes, we will always need accurate information about people and places to tackle issues like climate change, poverty and disasters. Supporting the next generation of mapping experts is vital. We want to encourage kids who are passionate about making the world a better place to think about a career as a surveyor or mapping expert. Kids your planet needs you!

What do you do? We tell people how mapping and surveying can help solve world problems. Whether we’re writing news articles or speeches, designing animations or websites. spreading the word about the magic of mapping is at the heart of everything we do.

How long have you been in the survey industry? Oh gosh, now I’m worried I’m going to give away my friend Rhian’s age! Shhh don’t tell anyone but she’s been writing about surveying and mapping since 2000 – that’s more than two decades and lots and lots of new developments have taken place in that time. In fact, I think that’s why she likes her job so much, there’s always something new to write about from a changing landscape to cutting-edge technology like virtual reality and artificial intelligence.  

How did you get into the industry? I’m new to Three Trees and a Map. Elly helped Rhian to find me when they were talking about how surveying can help tackle climate change. That’s something very close to my heart because I don’t want to lose my home here in the beautiful Arctic. 

Rhian has always been passionate about the world around us and inquisitive about people and places. She became map mad when working at Ordnance Survey, Britain’s national mapping agency – I bet if you ask your teachers, you’ll be able to find some of their maps in your classroom!

Funny fact about you: I always wear a woolly hat – I think it makes me look cool. 

Favourite piece of kit and why? Did you know virtual reality (VR) is being used more and more in surveying, particularly to survey areas that aren’t very easy to get to on foot? I love VR. The glass are really cool and it’s great for helping bring geography to life so you can explore a place without having to go there (although visiting new places is also important if you want to be a surveyor!).

We also enjoy playing with map sandboxes. They’re a fantastic hands-on way to explore contours and elevations. The map (or topography as we call it) is projected onto the sand which you can pile up or squash down to explore the changes in the landscape.

Favourite survey technique: GPS survey equipment always make me feel like I’m in a sci fi movie. I can’t believe it connects me to satellites up in space so that people can find out where I am and make sure I’m safe.

Website: www.threetreespr.co.uk

It’s Space Day today!! ‘An unofficial educational holiday created in 1997 by Lockheed Martin, Space Day aims to promote the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields among young people’.

What better way to celebrate than to explore some of the most fascinating space blogs on the internet… including a surveying aspect anyway. Let’s begin.

Do you fancy learning about surveying the stars?

In this mini course you’ll be able to:

–Understand the concept of triangulating distances to distant objects, including stars.

-Explain why space-based satellites deliver more precise distances than ground-based methods.

-Discuss astronomers’ efforts to study the stars closest to the Sun.

Check out this Astronomy course by Lunar Learning https://courses.lumenlearning.com/astronomy/chapter/surveying-the-stars/

Surveying on Mars is our next challenge?!

“Here on this very website, we describe surveying as, “the measurement and mapping of our surrounding environment using mathematics, specialised technology and equipment”.

As humanity reaches out to the cosmos, surveying techniques once again are called upon to mark our place in the universe. What is surveying’s role in exploring Mars?”

Read more here: https://www.alifewithoutlimits.com.au/blog/surveying-on-mars/

Mapping a Galaxy

Ever wondered how astronomers map celestial objects in the sky? New and improved ground-based telescopes and spacecraft are going to aid with this a lot. Including the star of this article, the Gaia Spacecraft by the European Space Agency.

Learn more about the mission that will map the positions and distances of roughly one billion stars: 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gaia-galaxy-mapping/

Wandered about taking the next steps to become an Astronomer?

The University of Nottingham have started to offer a 4 year long PhD/MPhil called ‘Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy’.

“This PhD is based within the Nottingham Geospatial Institute (NGI).

NGI is a leading cross-disciplinary research and teaching institute, specialising in spatial and location-based science and engineering, using the technologies of satellite positioning, remote measurement systems and integrated sensor technologies”

Sounds like a fantastic opportunity for someone to embark on. Click here to find out more: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pgstudy/course/research/engineering-surveying-and-space-geodesy-phd

Introducing our latest Brand Ambassador from Germany, it is Olaf Wysocki!

If you are not a surveyor, what do you do? I am Research Assistant and PhD Candidate at the Chair of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. Also I used to work as GIS Specialist in SHH, Wroclaw, Poland.

How long have you been in the industry? roughly 3 years

Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention? Runder Tisch GIS e.V. (https://rundertischgis.de/)

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? I think that this is an excellent idea to spread the word about the industry. I enjoy spending time with kids and I know that we are building the current world but they will build the future. The future will be as good as kids raised now.

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? The interest in the geospatial industry is gradually decreasing year by year. This can be observed by number of students enrolled each year at universities in Germany. I believe that this can be changed. One needs to show the wonderful geospatial world to young people even before they start their professional career.

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? I would like to organise some events both in Germany and in Poland for kids to show the geospatial industry and science.

What are your hobbies? Manchester United, football, hiking, travelling, cinematography, and recently wood carving

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? Smiling Lion

What poster or resource would you like to see next from GKiS? I think that quizzes and comic books are great for kids

Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? I used to be a scout mentor for kids. I really enjoyed showing young people how to use a compass, map and find the right azimuth. Also, I have been a mentor for teenagers abroad. These experiences show me that you can give something to younger people and they always pay you back with a priceless smile.     

Name:  

Miles Darwood

Age:  

Ten… almost eleven! 

Specialist Areas:  

Coding, gaming, driving anything with a motor 

Likes:  

Racing drones and go-karts, being Player One, and his favourite games controller, which he has named ‘Lucy’.  

Dislikes:  

Game lag, campers, and noobs. Going anywhere slowly, especially in his mum’s car. According to Miles, his mum drives so slow she could get a parking ticket in the fast lane. 

Bio: 

Miles has been into gaming since his thumbs were developed enough to wiggle a joystick, and his love of go-karting is almost as long lived. At the age of three, he set the trike lap record in his nursery, and he’s never looked back. If he’s not in the middle of a real or virtual race, you can usually find Miles rebuilding his gaming PC or his custom go kart for the umpteenth time. He prefers to talk via text. He is currently exploring the possibility of communicating solely in  emojis.  

Likely to say things like: 

“*insert an extreme amount of emojis here*”

Pleased to introduce our Brand Ambassador Garrett Smelker from Texas, USA

Where did you study? I studied at New Mexico State from 2013 to 2017 when I obtained my Bachelor of Science degree in Surveying Engineering while also graduating with over 20 credit hours in the Civil Engineering Technology program.

What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? As I am currently licensed in 9 states the requirements vary per state with the strictest being the surveyor must have obtained a degree from an ABET accredited 4 year Surveying or Geomatics program with 4 years of experience in the field of Land Surveying. The states that I am currently licensed in are Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arizona, Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho and Utah.

How did you get into surveying? Growing up my father was a civil engineer so I always wanted to follow in his footsteps. In high school my Ag teacher brought in a transit and level for the class to see that he had used when he was younger working for the highway department. That got me interested because the math and concepts were similar to civil engineering but it gave me the opportunity to work outdoors.

How long have you been in the industry? I began surveying in 2011 working for a small local company, LandCraft LLC, in Las Cruces, NM. I worked for that company all the way through college while also doing a summer internship with Wilson & Co. in Albuquerque (2015).

Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention? I am a member of TSPS (Texas Society of Professional Surveyors)

Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? I would like to be a brand ambassador for GKiS because I am passionate about teaching and helping others grow. I see surveying as an amazing career field that has endless opportunities but is often forgotten or disregarded in schools.

Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? Surveying is important to introduce back into schools because there are students that want to be able to pursue a great career that allows one to be outdoors but just don’t know its an option. In land surveying there are so many options available all the way from being a survey technician to party chief to a licensed surveyor. There is also endless job opportunities in this industry whereas the engineering fields have hundreds of graduates each semester from colleges competing for the same jobs.

What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? As an ambassador I would like to attend local career fairs for high schools students while trying to set up outreach programs such as a boy scout merit badge activity or working with some of the local vocational teachers at high schools to do surveying lab like my Ag teacher did. By having the help of GKiS I will have a better support system and possibly materials to use in those efforts.

What are your hobbies? When I’m not working I enjoy going shooting, hunting, or even golfing. I like to spend as much time as I can outdoors.

If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? This is a hard question just because I’m not the artistic type. The company that I recently founded is focused on Real estate and land development projects utilizing drones for aerial imagery. We also use 3D scanners on various projects. If I had to describe the character it would be on that embraces technology as part of surveying.

What poster or resource would you like to see next from GKiS? Again this is not a very easy question for me just because I’m not usually the artistic type but more of a critical thinker. I have gone through most of the content on the website and am blown away by the materials.

Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? In the past I had hosted weekly lunch n’ learn classes to help people who are trying to get licensed or are pursing certification through the Certified Survey Technician program. I would like to continue to grow the CST program within our industry because I see it as a way to help individuals further their careers and improve the surveying industry.

Say hello to our newest sponsors the Wisconsin Society of Land Surveyors (WSLS). We love working with them, having recently spoken at their online event (view our keynote here):

Company Name – Wisconsin Society of Land Surveyors  (WSLS), we have approximately 900 Members. 

Location – Wisconsin, USA

Why did you get involved in Get Kids into Survey ? We want to interest Youth and Youngsters in Surveying.  A number of things we do are Trigstar with High School aged Students, help Scouts with Merit Badges, Future City, doing “A Day in the Life of a Surveyor” with Elementary Schoolers, etc.    

What do you do? (From the seven and three year olds) We look through the transit to see better, hold the range pole and elevation rod, use a hammer to pound, put flag ribbon on things we find. 

How long have you been in the Survey Industry? WSLS has been in existence for more than 70 years. 

How did you get into the Industry?  (From the seven and three year old) When Grandpa took pictures of us Surveying and showed us his “Get Kids into Survey” Posters. We like the posters. They have lots of bright colors and so much on them. We liked the Hide & Seek questions on the posters!  Lots of people like the pictures he took of us doing Surveying Work. 

Funny Fact about the you: (From the seven year old) I love to play search and find and hide & seek, especially outside in the ground, snow, and leaves! (From the three year old)  I love to be silly and stand on the transit case so I am tall enough to see through the transit  !  We get dirty doing this, but Grandpa says that’s okay. 

Favourite piece of kit and why? (From the seven and three year old)  I like the heavy hammer to pound things into the ground! I like the orange cones and to stack them up! 

Favourite Survey technique and why?   (Directly from “Duey North”)  I am a Badger and love to dig in the hard clay, sand, and mud. My feet and claws are built for that and  I’m very good at it! 

Your website: http://wsls.org/

Tell us about your character?  Our WSLS Institute Planning Committee came up with the Character and his name “Duey North”. His cap shows our WSLS logo and he’s wearing the colors of our beloved Green Bay Packers. The Badger is one of our most famous animals.  

(From the seven and three year old) He is a cute little Surveyor Guy. He looks happy and smart! It looks like he’s using a Survey transit like we look through.