VirginiaView - Digital Planet Geocoin #5

The mission of the VirginiaView Geocoin is to support geospatial awareness, specifically remote sensing, and to encourage geocachers to learn more about their communities and their world. One of VirginiaView’s mission areas is to support the efforts of formal and informal educators to provide information about remote sensing. VirginiaView has developed geocaching and remote sensing learning modules that may be used in conjunction with this geocoin. Resources are currently available from the VirginiaView Website:http://www.virginiaview.net (under the 'educational resources' tab)

Read more about these learning lessons in the "About this Item" section below!

This geocoin was provided to students in the Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation "Digital Planet" course (Fall 2013).

This geocoin was developed through the VirginiaView consortium with the support of AmericaView and has leveragedthe experience and support of efforts made by the National Geospatial Technology Extension Network(NGTEN). The VirginiaView consortium is comprised of the Virginia Geospatial Extension Program, community college faculty, four year college and university faculty, state agencies, the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, and other groups. VirginiaView supports the goals of the AmericaView program by further expanding educational networks, analytical resources, and capabilities for acquiring and using remotely sensed data.

Learning Lessons
Learning lessons have been developed to accompany this and other trackable geocoins to support the needs of educators. These learning lessons are appropriate for middle or high school students, and informal educational groups, including 4-H, scouting, etc. These lessons can be accessed through the VirginiaView website(under the educational resources tab) and include the following topics:

• Gypsy Moth Geocoin Activity- Through this learning lesson, your group will imagine that your Virginia Geocoin is a mass of Gypsy Moth eggs. You'll see where it traveled and learn more abut the potential spread of Gypsy Moths using Google Earth.
• Earth Mosaic Activity: Land Use- Through this learning lesson, your group will explore differences in land use and land cover using the travels of your Virginia Geocoin and Google Earth.
• Watershed Wanderings - Through this learning lesson, your group will use the travels of your Virginia Geocoin to assess the impacts of a potential large poultry farm on water quality. You'll learn more about non point source pollution and the movement of water through watersheds.
• Searching for Patterns: Landscape Ecology - Through this learning lesson, your group will learn specific types of landscape change caused by development, and search for examples of these changes using the travels of your Virginia Geocoin.

Enjoy experiencing your local community and learning more about landscapes across the planet with your geocoin!