APPENDIX D: Sense of Place Activity

Adapted by Dr. Sarah A. Coppersmith, Colleges of Education & Honors

A good way to get to know one another in classes is to engage in initial discussions about experiences and where everyone is from. This assignment has been used in geography and honors classes as an introductory ice breaker. With preparation the assignment may also be used in synchronous or asynchronous online courses. For example, students may access the discussion board, Flip videos, or other video platforms to complete the assignment. Assignment credit may include points for the one-page paper and for the story map, such as 50 points each.

Assignment Goals: Understanding “place”, using spatial thinking and memory, to recall and write about places, gaining skills at using geospatial technology, and honing teamwork and presentation skills while sharing geographic distribution of places. An important goal is to get to know one another in a learning community while focusing on geography’s importance in all of our lives.

Writing about Place and Your Place on a group GIS Story Map

Your team will work together on a tutorial to learn how to make a map using GIS via an ArcGIS Online story map. The map will be a group project featuring places important to each of you.

1. Before making the map: Using the Relph website for information, you will individually prepare a short, one-page single spaced written piece about where you grew up using some criteria provided below.

2. Then you will select at least two of the criteria below related to places important to you and include them on the group or individual story map (instructor may decide). Create a free ArcGIS online account and save sign-on info for each member of your team. See the video tutorial at “How to Create a Free Public ArcGIS Online Account” on YouTube. Then view “How to create an ArcGIS Story Map” by Esri Ireland, 2023. You might also use a simple Google map with a slideshow.

3. You may find a photo online of your place, use a personal photo, or utilize a graphic image to place on the story map representing your chosen locales. Considering privacy, exact locales needn’t be specific – team members may choose to use general regions.

4. Each team member will have a chance to share at least two (2) photos/images and their meaning and interpretation on the group story map during your team’s presentation.

5. Each group will have twenty to twenty-five minutes to share their story map with the class (example: two or so minutes per image depending on the size of the group).

6. Allow time for questions.

We will learn how your team is distributed spatially on a map and will understand more about places important to you and hear each other’s perspective on how geography impacts everyone’s lives.

Criteria for your written piece: Possible topics to share:

• • Where you grew up
  • What it was like there as you remember it in the past. Can include the land, the people, the population, the weather.
  • Some things about the built environment (buildings, cities, architecture, shops, schools, museums, libraries, work-places)
  • Some things about the natural environment (streams, waterways, mountains, hills, vegetation, geography, geology)
  • How the geography of the place impacted your life
  • How things have changed
  • Some things about the people/relationships/family/friendships.
  • Some things you enjoyed doing
  • Some feelings about the place (positive and/or negative)
  • The place in different times (a timeline of changes, growth and development)
  • How it is going back there again
  • How things there are different than things in another place (compare the two)
  • Places you used to visit
  • People related to places you visited
  • How you wish it wouldn’t have changed
  • What you would like to see for the future
  • Memory of a family member in a place
  • An important event which occurred
  • Something you feel nostalgic about
  • How you think about the place now
  • Mention some things that have never changed
  • Talk about how your think your view of this place may be different than others’ perspectives

At the end, ample time for questions and discussions should be allowed in order to explore the rich ideas shared and to help to further develop the learning community.

Additional ideas/themes/possible thought joggers and writing prompts for your written piece: Examples include the meaning of places, such as the meanings people put on places, and your interpretations of geographic places. Consider one example from the list for your piece: