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Annie Evans: Mapping Our National Parks Using GIS

Annie Evans has served as a Teacher Consultant and member of the Virginia Geographic Alliance steering committee since 1992, serving as a regional coordinator, state Geographic Bee coordinator, and Public Engagement Coordinator for My Wonderful World. Annie was awarded a Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship in 2008 which led her to travel to East Africa and many islands in the Indian Ocean including the Seychelles, Comoros, Tanzania, and Mozambique. Annie is the Coordinator of Social Studies K-12 for Charlottesville City Schools in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Annie_Pic1.JPGA few summers ago I had the great honor of spending my summer working at some of our nation’s greatest assets–our National Parks! The National Park Service initiated a Teacher Ranger program to help link educators with local National Parks and Historic Sites. http://www.nps.gov/wupa/forteachers/trt.htm

I spent the summer assisting rangers at Richmond National Battlefield Park and the Maggie L. Walker home with tours and developing curriculum which is used by visiting students and teachers from across the U.S. This was a tremendous opportunity for me to research some of our nation’s most amazing people and places. In 2002 the GAW theme was Public Lands. The lessons and materials created for this event are excellent resources for teachers and students to connect with places in their own states and communities. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geography-action/lands.html

ESRI has developed an online GIS tool, the Community Atlas. http://edcommunity.esri.com/commAtlas/ This is an excellent opportunity for students to explore the National Parks and Historic Sites in their communities and develop a project online to share these amazing public lands with their communities. Many National Parks have rangers who can assist educators in developing their projects.  I hope during the month of November many of you will take time to enjoy our National Parks and Historic Sites. Who knows, perhaps one of you will be inspired to become a Teacher Ranger next summer!

One thought on “Annie Evans: Mapping Our National Parks Using GIS”

  1. Many of us have traveled to National Parks, such as Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Yosemite, Acadia and others. We have not been to Richmond National Battlefield Park, but it looks interesting. What was your favorite part about working there? Did you learn anything new from working there? We will explore other parks in class. Thank You, Mrs. Conners 8th grade World Geography class, 1st period.

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