Category Archives: Resource

Dear Teachers 2025 – A Review of AV Teaching Resources

By iowaviewJanuary 13, 2025Announcement, Dear Teachers, Earth Observation Day, Education, Imagery, Landsat, Lesson Plan, Observation, Outreach, Remote Sensing, Resourceagriculture, AV Teaching Resources, Dear Teachers Series, Exploring Earth Science Through Remote Sensing, Exploring the Electromagnetic Spectrum, forestry, lesson plans, Remote sensing, Water, Wildlife

The backside of the 2024 Earth Observation Day Poster. It has 6 areas, Agriculture, Disaster, Forestry, Urban Use, Water, and Wildlife, explaining how remote sensing and Earth observation technologies are integral to these sectors within society.

Dear Teachers and Readers,

Did you know that in 2024 members the AmericaView Education and Outreach Team put together a series of lessons explaining how remote sensing and Earth observation technologies are integral to various sectors within society? These lessons are great! They are geared for middle and high school but can be adapted for your classroom. All six lessons follow a similar pattern: introduction, standards, warm-up (What’s going on in this picture?), a reading exercise, an online map exploration, a career exploration related to the topic, a quiz/assessment, and an online/printable game.

Over the next few months, we will be taking time on the blog to dig into these lessons. We hope you enjoy unpacking these lessons and learn more about earth observation and remote sensing. If you have any questions or suggestions for new lessons, feel free to email IowaView Coordinator, Amy Logan or leave a comment.

Happy 2025!
The IowaView Team

Now is the time to register for a hands-on, engaging, geospatial workshop for K-12 Teachers

By iowaviewJune 25, 2024Announcement, Dear Teachers, Education, Event, Iowa Geographic Map Server, Lesson Plan, OpenStreetMap, Outreach, Resource, Story MapEngaging Students in the Classroom with Maps: Exploring Geospatial Technologies, Hand-on Workshop, July 17, July 18, K-12 teachers, Outreach, Register Now, StoryMaps, summer geospatial workshop, Two-Day

Register Now!

The ISU GIS Facility will be hosting the 3rd annual geospatial summer workshop for K-12 teachers and pre-service teachers in Ames, Iowa on July 17 – 18, 2024. This workshop will show many geospatial tools and applications from the Esri ecosystem as well as Google Earth, OpenStreetMap, AmericaView, and others. Teachers will get to see a variety of map tools and exercises that they can bring into current lessons. We will explore resources available at local, state, and national levels. Each participant will make a StoryMap to use in their classroom. Teachers can sign up for graduate or continuing education credit. Please email Amy Logan with any questions.

Register Now!

Want to learn more about the 2024 Solar Eclipse?

By iowaviewApril 11, 2024Event, Observation, Resource, Story Map2024 Solar Eclipse, Event, Mapping the Eclipse, Outreach

The Esri StoryMaps Team put together a great StoryMap, “Mapping the eclipse: A journey through darkness,” to help readers engage and discover more about this epic and unusual event.

How are you celebrating the Landsat’s Golden Jubilee?

By iowaviewJuly 26, 2022#Time Lapse Tuesday, Activity, Announcement, Education, Environmental Change, Event, Imagery, Landsat, Landsat Golden Jubilee, NASA, Observation, Outreach, Remote Sensing, Resource, Story Map, USGS#IowaView, #Landsat, #Landsat50, #TimeLapseTuesday, 2022 GLOBE Land Cover Challenge, 5 decades, Camp Landsat, Create Earth Art, earth observation, Explore Camp Landsat, GLOBE Observer, Italy, Landsat Collage, Landsat Golden Jubilee, Landsat science, Naples, observe, Oh_thePlaceWeGo!, People and Places, Postcard from Camp Landsat, Postcards from Camp, Remote sensing, StoryMap

*This image is from the Camp Landsat website: https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/outreach/camp-landsat/*

To celebrate the Landsat Golden Jubilee, consider taking a virtual visit to Camp Landsat! This summer Camp Landsat is celebrating this exciting anniversary with 5 weeks of programming, celebrating the 5 decades of Landsat’s continuous mission. This week the theme is People and Places.

Enjoy and explore many activities from Camp Landsat including:

A time-lapse video featuring urban growth in Shanghai, China
Oh, the Places We Go! Story Map
Take the 2022 GLOBE Land Cover Challenge
Create a stunning Landsat Collage
Write a postcard from Camp Landsat featuring view from Naples, Italy

Graphic from GLOBE Program Website: https://observer.globe.gov/do-globe-observer/challenges/land-cover-challenge-2022

Stay Cool and Keep Observing!

Traveling Way Back – Landsat Images From Aprils Gone By

By iowaviewJune 2, 2022#Throwback Thursday, Education, Environmental Change, Imagery, Landsat, Landsat Golden Jubilee, Observation, Phenology, Remote Sensing, Resource#Landsat50, #ThrowbackThursday, Across Five Aprils, Ames, Boone, Central Iowa, Des Moines River, imagery, Iowa weather, Jewell, Landsat Golden Jubilee, Landsat science, Little Wall Lake, phenology, variable weather in April

Welcome to another Throwback Thursday. Today we are going back into the archives to compare imagery from the first five Landsat satellites (all images are featured in natural color). Click on each image for a closer view.

Try to notice the differences in resolution and image quality between the different years.
Another thing to note is the wide seasonal variation between the images. All the images were from the same three week period in April. Some images are have snow while other years are very green.
Observe that the Des Moines River is swollen in the Landsat 4 -1983 image.

You can explore the raw images using this web app: https://arcg.is/0XrG4f. Happy exploring.

This year we are celebrating 50 years of the Landsat earth observing satellite mission. Landsat data helps us observe changes in our communities and environment over time.

Thanks for stopping by and keep observing the world around you!

More progress made on the 2020 LiDAR release (Western Iowa)

By iowaviewMay 27, 2022Announcement, Imagery, Iowa Geographic Map Server, LiDAR, Observation, Resource2020 LiDAR, Audubon, Cherokee, Completing the state, Crawford, Ida, Iowa, Iowa Geographic Map Server, Osceola, Shelby

Six additional counties in western Iowa have been added to the 2020 LiDAR service: https://arcg.is/15eHuH0

Map of completed LiDAR services for Iowa counties.

More 2020 LiDAR released on the Iowa Geographic Map Server

By iowaviewMay 2, 2022Announcement, Imagery, Iowa Geographic Map Server, LiDAR, Observation, Resource2020 LiDAR, Adams, Cass, Completing the state, Fremont, Iowa, Iowa Geographic Map Server, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, Taylor

Eight more counties in southwest Iowa have been added to the 2020 LiDAR services: https://arcg.is/1PfriS

Ladies of Landsat – Many Pathways to becoming Remote Sensing Scientists

By iowaviewMarch 15, 2022Education, Imagery, Landsat, Observation, Outreach, Resource, USGS, Women's History Month#LadiesOfLandsat, #WomenInRemoteSensing, @LadiesOfLandsat, Africa Ixmucane Flores-Anderson, Amplifying their voices, Jill Deines, Nikki Tulley, Remote Sensing Scientists, USGS, Women's History Month

The Ladies of Landsat have shared some great USGS case study videos showcasing the paths women and girls can take to become remote sensing scientists. Three scientists stories are highlighted: Jill Deines, Africa Ixmucane Flores-Anderson, and Nikki Tulley. Read more and enjoy their stories below:

Africa Ixmucane Flores-Anderson: Using Landsat to Connect Pace to Village – Africa was inspired to help her local community in Guatemala by mapping water quality with Landsat and is now at monitoring deforestation.

Jill Deines: Using Landsat to Map Agriculture Yields and Irrigation Use – Dr. Jill Deines was was drawn to the bird’s eye view of agriculture plots growing up in the Midwest. Now she uses Landsat to monitor water resources and crop yield.

Nikki Tulley: Speaking a New Language of Landsat – Nikki grew up in the Navajo Nation without running water in her household. As PhD student at University of Arizona and Indigenous scientist, she uses Landsat to track drought conditions in her home community.

Championing Women and GIS on International Women’s Day

By iowaviewMarch 8, 2022Book, Resource, Story Map, Women's History Month#BreakTheBias, #BreakTheBiasedMap, Amplifying their voices, Champions of a Sustainable World, International Women's Day, Stars of Spatial Science, Webinars, Women and GIS, Women and GIS Mapping Their Stories, Women and GIS Story Maps

Today is International Women’s Day. Esri Press has a 3-book series Women and GIS, each book highlights stories and contributions of 30 women doing awesome things with geospatial technology. An exciting companion to the books is a series of 3 webinars in which women highlighted in the books are able to present about their projects. Take some time today to celebrate and explore the achievements of women in GIS.

Here’s more information about the Women and GIS webinar series:

Investigate these great Story Maps related to the books:

Celebrating Women: Start of Spatial Science

Women and GIS, Volume 3: Champions of a Sustainable World

A Guide To Putting Your Research On the Map

By iowaviewMarch 2, 2022Education, Iowa Student Map Contest, Resource, Story MapArcGIS Story Map Resource, Geographic Information Systems, GIS Resource, Iowa State University, Putting Your Research on the Map with ArcGIS Story Maps, Quick Guide, University Library Guides

Are you interested in learning more about ArcGIS Story Maps? Iowa State University’s Parks Library has a great introductory library guide to get you started.

https://instr.iastate.libguides.com/storymaps