astic program, it does take time to learn. Arc Explorer, on the other hand, is so clean and simple, with practically no learning curve. The students seems to pick up on ArcExplorer very quickly.A great way to begin teaching ArcExplorer is with the baseball activity. Who can resist the Boston Red Sox or the Colorado Rockies?
We discuss a few vocabulary words, then dive into the maps and tools. We learn to open files, resize, zoom in, zoom out, pan, and measure sections the map.
Our first activity involves simple measurement. We measure around the bases. We determine the shortest and farthest distances a batter would have to hit the ball in each stadium to make a home run.
Then we use reasoning skills to determine what time of day the satellite image was take based on shadows. Next choose where we would like to sit in each stadium to be out of the sun. We estimate the number of parking spaces in various parking lots. Lastly, we turn layers on and off to see the effects on the map.
We finish up with a few fun facts about each field. Did you know for example that Fenway Park was built in the Fens area of Boston? That it opened around the time of the Titanic disaster? Did you know that a ball hit in Coors Field travels an average of 9' farther than at sea level? The air is thinner at Coors Field (located in the Mile High City of Denver), reducing the resistance on the ball, alowing it to travel farther.
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