As you get more comfortable and efficient with teaching content, you might find more time for enrichment activities. As the company Esri puts it, “Esri’s GIS mapping software is the most powerful mapping and spatial data analytics technology available.” In essence, it is the industry standard when it comes to mapping. Within the last couple of years, Esri has really expanded it’s education outreach and one of it’s initiatives is a set of Geoinquiry mapping activities for the classroom. While human geography class is the obvious application, you will also find geoinquiries for American Literature, Earth Science, Environmental Science, Government, Math, U.S. History, and Upper Elementary education. The list of available geoinquiries continues to grow. I am making a point to include as many of these 15-20 minute lessons into my class during the year, or assign them for homework.

Geoinquiries work on iPads and on PCs, and are not flash based. Each Geoinquery comes with a guided worksheet. My only criticism thus far is that the PDF worksheets with instructions are not big enough for students to write, and the answers are next to the questions. The teacher needs to create their own worksheet for student use.

Below is a list of Esri Geoinquiries that can be used in the Human Geography classroom. Some of the geoinquiries cross over from other subject areas. Have fun!

Unit 1: Nature and It’s Perspectives

• Distance and scale – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• Slowing malaria – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Environmental Science
• Remote Sensing – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Earth Science

Unit 2: Population & Migration

• World Population – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• USA demographics – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• Migration, on the move – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• Population dynamics – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Environmental Science
• Your Huddled Masses – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Government

Unit 3: Cultural Patterns & Processes

• You claim it, you name it! (Toponyms) – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• Language and religion – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• Sacred place, sacred space – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• Language and religion – The diffusion of Islam – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• The Great Exchange – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for US History

Unit 4: Political Organization of Space

• Borders, boundaries and barriers – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• What is a Gerrymander – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Government
• Who Has Your Vote – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Government
• Africa’s bounty and borders – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for World History

Unit 5: Agriculture, Foodways, & Rural Land Use

• Farming and the rural landscape – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• Agricultural patterns – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography

Unit 6: Industrialization & Economic Development

• Understanding globalization – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• The human development index – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• Comparing country development – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• What’s the range? – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• Tropical Deforestation – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Environmental Science
• Primary productivity – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Environmental Science
• Altered biomes – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Environmental Science
• Resource consumption and wealth – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Environmental Science
• Foreign Aid – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Government
• Where Does Foreign Aid Go – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Government
• Steel and the birth of a city (natural resources) – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for US History
• Steel City: Coal Power – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for US History
• The first European Industrial Revolution – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for World History

Unit 7: Cities & Urban Land Use

• Urban areas and edge cities – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Human Geography
• Megacities – Esri GeoInquiries™ collection for Environmental Science