Consent message

We use cookies to support your experience on our resource materials. By continuing to use our resources, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy.

Allow tracking

Map it in Minutes

6-Minute Mapping Activities for Students using ArcGIS Online

Esri Canada Education and Research

In this tutorial you will learn the basics of ArcGIS Online by completing six activities, each designed to take approximately six minutes to complete. You will need an   ArcGIS Online   account. If you do not have one, your teacher, or an adult, can request your account at   k12.esri.ca 

Target Audience: Students

Time Required: 30-40 minutes

Tutorial Contents

Activity 1: See Your World 👀

  1. Sign into ArcGIS Online at  arcgis.com  OR through your school account.
  2. Click on the Map tab to open the Map Viewer.
  3. Change the map focus by left clicking and dragging to "pan" around.
  4. Zoom in and out to change the map scale using any of these options:
    1. Use the + and - buttons
    2. Use your mouse scroll wheel
    3. Double click the left mouse button
    4. "shift + left click and drag"
  5. Zoom out to see the whole world and zoom in to find your house. Notice the change in content detail.
  6. Search for an address or place using the 🔎.
  7. Explore different basemaps available and how they change with different zoom levels.

Activity 2: Measure & Mark Your World 📏

  1. Zoom to see Canada. Click Map Tools 🔧 > Measure and select Distance.
  2. Left click to start a line, move your cursor to create the line for measurement. Double click or hit Enter to stop the line.
  3. Measure the distance between the west and east coats of Canada 🍁.

Why do you think the line appears curved on your map?

  1. Change to the Location tool.
  2. Find the coordinates for: your home, your school, and a local attraction (i.e. the local zoo, a park, or museum).
  3. Close the Measure window.
  4. Click the Add buttons, choose Create Sketch layer.
  5. Drop a pushpin 📌 on your school, give it a title.
  6. Zoom to a local attraction, drop a second pin and give it a title.
  7. Click the Change Symbol and select another symbol choice.
  1. Zoom back to your school.
  2. Use the Area tool to outline your school grounds. *It may help to change the basemap to more easily see the area of your school.
  3. Add a line showing your route to school. Layer > Add > Create sketch layer. Select the line tool from the right side tool bar.
  4. Click to add points along your line, double click or hit enter to stop drawing the line.
  5. You can edit the colour, style and width of the line in the toolbar on the right.
  6. Click Save as (left toolbar) and title your map when you have finished.

Activity 3: Explore Your World 🔎

  1. Open a New map (under the save button) to start a fresh map.
  2. Choose Add > My Content > ArcGIS Online and search: "demographic Canada" and select a layer to + Add to your map.
  3. Click on on the < button to close the layers tab.
  4. Click on the Legend button to view map details
  5. Zoom in and pan to explore all provinces and territories.
  6. Zoom into your province and then your home.

How does map change as you zoom?

Hint: The level of geography changes as you explore the map. There are four levels on this map – province/territory, census division, census subdivision and dissemination area.

Activity 4: Expand Your World 💫

Open a saved map with a direct link:

  1. Open  Canada's Confederation  map by clicking the link.
  2. Click play on the time lapse to see the progress of Canada's confederation from 1867-Present.

Use ArcGIS Online to search for a map:

  1. Sign into ArcGIS Online at  arcgis.com  OR through your school account.
  2. Use the search box in the top right corner 🔎 and type "Canada Indigenous" WITH quotations. Toggle off to search OUTSIDE of your organization.
  3. Select the map created by EsriCanadaEducation titled Canada: Indigenous.
  4. Click Open in Map Viewer on the right side of the item.
  5. Explore the map by turning layers on and off (👁).
  6. Click on features to view attribute information.
  7. Try searching for other maps of interest to you!

Activity 5: App Your World 💻

Explore these focused apps by click the links below:

Activity 6: Create Your World 🌎

  1. Sign into ArcGIS Online at  arcgis.com  OR through your school account. Click Map to open up the Map Viewer.
  2. Open a new tab in your browser and visit the  United States Geological Survey (USGS)  website.
  3. Under 30 days, click All Earthquakes. Copy the URL that opens up with the data.
  4. Go back to your map in ArcGIS Online.
  5. Under Layers > Add layer from URL
  6. Paste the URL in the space provided, leave it as a GeoJSON file and click Next.
  7. Select Create a hosted feature layer and add to map.
  8. Click Next and add a Title (Earthquakes past 30 days_Today's Date_Your Initials) and relevant tags.

Next Steps:

  1. Change the basemap to Oceans or one of your choice.
  2. Change how the earthquake data is displayed by selecting style. Change the attribute by selecting + Field, click mag (magnitude) and click done. Points are now shown relative to the magnitude.
  3. Explore earthquake locations and magnitudes. What spatial patterns do you notice?
  4. Add additional layers onto you map to investigate volcanoes and tectonic plates. Click Add>My Content>ArcGIS Online. Search Earth's Tectonic Plates by Esri Canada Education and Research and click add. Search World Volcanoes by Earth Science Atlas and click add.
  5. Close the layer window and click the Legend to view map details. What relationships exist between plates, faults, earthquakes and volcanoes?

Add more information to your map:

  1. Click Layers > Add > Create sketch layer
  2. Select the line icon on the top right, change the symbol to an arrow and draw arrows on your map to show the direction of plate movement.
  3. Edit the arrow colour and style by using the editing box on the right side of the map.
  4. Add a pop-up with the arrow to label/indicate if it is a convergent, divergent or transform fault boundary.

Other Resources

Try other ArcGIS Online Resources:

Support

Questions? Contact    k12@esri.ca   .

   k12.esri.ca