From the Alaska Geographic AllianceAlaska in Maps: A Thematic Atlas CD-ROMThe Alaska Geographic Alliance (AGA) has launched its newest educational/professional resource, Alaska in Maps: A Thematic Atlas CD-ROM. This new interactive tool is a vehicle for introducing the geography of Alaska to students and the general public. The CD includes the full text, graphs and maps from the printed atlas, but the disc takes one giant step further: the interactive map section allows you to make your own thematic maps. The original printed map images (.tif) can be used in PowerPoint and graphics software. The Alaska database can also be used with ArcView and ArcVoyager GIS software from Esri. Designed to aid in presentations and enhance standards-based classroom lessons, Alaska in Maps can be used to illustrate the location of the State's natural resources, national and state parklands, population distribution, Native languages, transportation and communications systems, and much more. Alaska in Maps was made in Alaska by a team led by AGA co-coordinator Roger Pearson, Sr. Fellow, Institute of the North, Alaska Pacific University. The CD-ROM is an electronic version of AGA's 1998 printed atlas of the same name. "Our printed Alaska in Maps atlas has been very popular in schools and in the public," says Pearson. "With this new CD, we encourage students to design their own maps and to gain a better understanding about how things are geographically interrelated. For example, the CD can illustrate the relationship between communities and different kinds of natural hazards, such as volcanoes and earthquakes." The Alaska Geographic Alliance is a nonprofit State-wide network dedicated to preparing Alaska's K-12 students to function effectively in a global society through the development of geographic literacy. To that end, AGA has created the elementary school textbook Alaska: A Land in Motion and a secondary level Alaska in Maps: A Thematic Atlas book and CD-ROM. AGA also sponsors yearly professional development institutes for Alaskan teachers. The group is funded in part by the National Geographic Society Education Foundation and is housed at Institute of the North, Alaska Pacific University. For more information about Alaska in Maps and AGA or to purchase Alaska in Maps, visit www.ak-geo-alliance.org or call 907-562-0164. |
