Maps Lesson I

In this lesson we’ll be building on your work within Omeka Neatline and incorporating several new techniques for explaining the past. Specifically, we’ll explore how classical Rome, Egypt, parts of North America, and China dealt the governmental and intellectual change.

1. Lesson Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

  1. Place two records into the Neatline exhibit “Ground stories”
  2. Correctly date each record
  3. Correctly locate each record within a city or define region no larger than a 10 mile radius using a line or other hand-drawn shape.
  4. Add an evidence-based explanation of how the record relates to another historical occurrence outside the record’s immediate geography.
  5. Set the zoom and focus of the record.
  6. Sign their name to their record in the “Description box.”
  7. Recognize the importance of sequence in telling a story on a GIS map.

2. Log in to our Omeka site at http://jacknorton.org/1101-spring–2017/admin/users/login

http://jacknorton.org/1101-spring–2017/admin/users/login

3. Open the “Ground stories” exhibit editor.

Click on the text “Ground stories”

4. Review the readings for this week, with attention to two events that have defined dates.

You may wish to open all the readings to start, and then focus on the two readings you wish to use. Your two records must be from different regions.

5. Create a “New Record” and explain why your record matters to something outside the region in your record.

  1. Choose an event that has a defined date. Give your event a brief title. The sample title I’ve given is way too long. You’ll see why this is bad later.
  2. Provide and exact quotation and citation from one of the readings for this week for your event.
  3. Below your quotation, write how your event relates to another event outside your events geography. For example, if my event is in the Han empire, I might note that having a similarly powerful empire at the same time (the Roman empire) allowed trade between the two regions.

6. Under the “Map” tab, use the “Draw Line” or draw a shape tools to define the area of your event.

  1. For this assignment you must locate an event inside a city or a region of less than 10 miles. Locating an event in a country is not acceptable.
  2. To draw a shape, click on “Draw Line,” then double tap your cursor where you want your line to start. Every time you tap your cursor again, another line will be drawn.
  3. By drawing a line, Neatline fills in the “Geometry” box for your.

7. Under the “Style” tab, add tags, widgets, and colors.

  1. Tags are keywords. Your tags should be any people, places, or ideas that are in your event.
  2. Click on both SIMILE Timeline and Waypionts to turn them on for your record.
  3. Change the color of your lines or shape to any color other than black.

8. Add dates.

  1. Remember that the dates are in a ISO 8601 format, requiring “-” for BCE and 00 in the tens-of-thousands places. For example, 2015 is 2015 but 2015 BCE is –002015 .

9. Set zoom and focus.

Decide how much of the map your want covered. Zoom in and out until you are happy, and then click “Use current viewport as default.”

10. Your record will show up in the exhibit Waypoints box on the right hand side.

Your record should display as a waypoint in the order of its date. We can move waypoints if we chose.

You can see from my example that too big a title crowds the map. A short simple title is best.

Once you have produced two new records, you are done.

11. Grading Criteria

Student:

  1. Placed two records into the Neatline exhibit “Ground stories”
  2. Correctly dated each record
  3. Correctly located each record within a city or define region no larger than a 10 mile radius using a line or other hand-drawn shape.
  4. Added an evidence-based explanation of how the record relates to another historical occurence outside the record’s immediate geography.
  5. Set the zoom and focus of the record.
  6. Signed their name to their record in the “Description box” at the top of the box.