Grassroots Mapping Curriculum (BETA)

2011, Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science. publiclaboratory.org

This curriculum draft outlines materials, activities and technical documentation in support of DIY cartographic curricula. It is intended as a framework for reuse at a variety of institutions including the University of South Alabama, Parsons and Rhode Island School of Design. Portions of this curriculum will also serve as background information for designing community workshops.

Sections

We present this information as independent instructional modules. The idea is that any class can pick and choose units appropriate to their curriculum; some are more technically oriented, and some have broader subject material.

Introduction

• Introduction and theory of aerial image mapping
• Regulatory situation

Field work: capturing images

• Materials: Illustrated Guide
• Platform creation
• Getting started: First Flight
• Ground Control Point Targets

Processing and publication

• Image processing
• Calculating Pixel Resolution
• Publishing maps

Advanced topics

• Activities
• GIS applications
• Applied mapmaking for research projects
• Multispectral imaging
• NDVI
• Links, citations