A Capstone Learning Experience for Students in the Management of Natural Resources. (2002)

Harper (1993) stated that, We cannot expect students to learn the latest technologies without having active involvement (p. 10). Surely, this is a mantra that all professional agricultural educators support, yet is it one that we all embrace? In the case of the Oconee County High School (OCHS) Agricultural and Environmental Science Department, Watkinsville, Georgia, the answer is a resounding YES!!! Oconee County High School agriculture students, who are enrolled for the Forestry and Wildlife Management course, are acquiring cutting-edge skills involving the use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and supporting data management and presentation software: Trimble's Pathfinder Office (GPS software), ESRI's ArcView GIS 3.2, MS EXCEL, and MS PowerPoint. This skill acquisition is occurring while students are learning and working in the context of environmental and natural resources. These learning experiences involve the sustained collaboration of personnel from the University of Georgia (UGA), Daniel B. Warnell School of Forest Resources (WSFR), Spatial Information in Forest Resources (SIFR) GIS Lab. This collaboration creates a dynamic learning partnership that continues to grow while forming additional learning opportunities for students, teachers, and university collaborators. The purpose of this article is to describe one example of using technology in agricultural education. The Thompson Mills Memorial Garden Mapping Project Students mapped the trees planted in the Thompson Mills Memorial Garden (Georgia State Arboretum) by measuring the bearing and distance from tree to Each student mapped a portion of the Memorial Garden. For 5th tree, a global position coordinate was recorded. Before recording any information, students measured the number of paces (steps) required to walk 100 feet. This was repeated 4 times, and the average distance per pace was calculated. A student's task was to measure the distance (by pacing) and bearing (using a hand-held compass) to each tree from the previous tree for their section of the garden. At each tree, a tree species code, pre-assigned by the garden's managers, was recorded as well as distance and bearing to the next An example scenario follows: If tree # 1 had a species code of AmSyc (American Sycamore), a GPS point was taken at this tree and the bearing to tree # 2 was recorded. The student then paced to the next tree; recorded the distance information, tree code information, and bearing to the next At tree # 5 and fifth tree thereafter, a GPS point was recorded. Following field data collection, students used Pathfinder Office software to differentially correct the GPS data and then export it as an ArcView shapefile. As much as possible, the differential correction process eliminated any inherent error in the GPS data. Using ArcView GIS 3.2 software the data were compiled and the final products, paper and digital, were produced. Then, using a coordinate geometry (COGO) extension, the trees were mapped using the students' recorded GPS points as a reference. Visualize the following procedure: One has a tabular dataset that has tree number, tree species code, distance, and bearing for all trees in a forest. Starting at GPS point # 1, COGO (draw) a line the specified distance to a specified bearing. The point at the end of the line represents tree # 2. From this point, COGO another line at the specified distance and bearing. The point at the end of this line represents tree # 3. Repeat this for trees # 4 and # 5. Tree # 6 is a GPS'd tree or an every fifth tree. So, starting from the tree # 6 GPS point, draw a line at the specified distance and bearing. The point at the end of this line represents tree # 7, and so forth. The COGO points were combined to create the Thompson Mills Memorial Garden tree dataset. That is, a dataset containing various points, each representing an individual …