GeographyMaps, GIS and data skills22 min★★ difficulty

Geographical information systems (GIS)

GIS lets geographers stack layers of digital data onto a map, from population density to flood risk, and spot patterns instantly.

Part of your national curriculum

Geographical skills and fieldwork: Use geographical information systems (GIS) to view, analyse and interpret places and data

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Use geographical information systems (GIS) to view, analyse and interpret places and data

Key learning points

• What GIS does
• Everyday examples
• Analysing patterns
• Fieldwork use

This lesson at a glance

22 minutes
15 parts to scroll through
3 quick checks
Marked quiz at the end
Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

geographicalinformationsystemsinterpretplaces

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 15 · Discover7%

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Part 1 of 15

Watch first

Geographical information systems (GIS)

An English teaching video on this topic from Spatial Zone. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Use geographical information systems (GIS) to view, analyse and interpret places and data

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 15

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · What GIS does

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 15

Learn

What GIS does

Geographical information systems store data linked to locations, then display it as layers on a digital map. A user can turn layers on and off — showing rainfall, then roads, then population, over the same base map.

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 15

Learn

Everyday examples

Apps like Google Maps use GIS to combine satellite images, road networks and traffic data, while services like Google Earth let users explore layered satellite imagery of anywhere on the planet.

Quick check

Part 5 of 15

Quick check

What is a key feature of GIS that a simple printed map lacks?

Quick check

Part 6 of 15

Quick check

Which of these is a common everyday example of GIS?

Reset break

Part 7 of 15

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 15

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Analysing patterns

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 15

Learn

Analysing patterns

Planners use GIS to overlay flood-risk zones with housing data to decide where new developments are safe, or to map disease outbreaks against population density to target healthcare resources.

Explore the idea

Part 10 of 15

Learn

Fieldwork use

During fieldwork, geographers can record GPS locations of data, such as pedestrian counts in a town centre, then map them using GIS software to reveal spatial patterns that a table of numbers alone would hide.

Quick check

Part 11 of 15

Quick check

Why might planners overlay flood-risk data with housing data in GIS?

Challenge round

Part 12 of 15

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

Challenge round

Part 13 of 15

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

____ information systems store data linked to locations, then display it as layers on a digital map.

Mastery quiz

Part 14 of 15

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Geographical information systems (GIS)

3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

1. What is a key feature of GIS that a simple printed map lacks?
2. Which of these is a common everyday example of GIS?
3. Why might planners overlay flood-risk data with housing data in GIS?

Lesson round-up

Part 15 of 15

Lesson round-up

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Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Case study

Flooding on the River Calder

The town of Harbrook sits where a steep valley opens onto a flat floodplain. In December 2015, 120 mm of rain fell in 36 hours onto ground that was already saturated. The river rose 2.4 m in five hours, and 380 homes and 54 businesses flooded. Two roads and the railway closed for eleven days.

Geographers pointed to physical causes — steep slopes, impermeable rock, heavy rainfall — and human causes: moorland drained upstream, new housing built on the floodplain, and drains designed for smaller storms.

Since then the town has planted 40 hectares of woodland upstream, built leaky dams in small streams, and raised flood walls to 1.8 m. In the storm of 2020 the peak river level was 0.3 m lower and 40 homes flooded, not 380.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

List two physical and two human causes of the 2015 flood.
Explain how planting woodland upstream lowers the river's peak level.
Using the figures, judge how successful the scheme has been. Quote data in your answer.

Case study notes
Writing
Write the place, the facts and the figures from this lesson so you can revise them later.
Half a page
Explain answer
Writing
Answer in full sentences, giving causes and effects. Use one figure or place name as evidence.
8–10 sentences
Map or sketch
Diagram
Draw the map, cross-section or field sketch with a key, title and labels, then photograph it.
1 map with a key
Data work
Working out
Plot your figures as a graph on paper and write one sentence about the pattern.
1 graph + 1 sentence

Write your answer, notes or working here

Saved as you type.

Photos of paper work, diagrams or working outHow many minutes did the written work take?

Part 1 of 15 · Watch & discover

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Use geographical information systems (GIS) to view, analyse and interpret places and data