Watch our new video resources about the historic maps

If you’ve enjoyed looking at the beautiful new 1950s maps within Digimap for Schools, you really should watch our interview with Chris Fleet, Senior Map Curator at National Library of Scotland, talking about both sets of historical mapping NLS have donated to Digimap for Schools.  Chris is full of interesting facts about the mapping products, how they were scanned and points we must remember when looking at scanned paper maps.

These short videos are a superb resource for you to watch with your pupils.  Both interviews are available on the Digimap for Schools YouTube Channel.

Interview Part 1 – An introduction to the 1890s and 1950s maps

Click here to view the embedded video.

 

Interview Part 2 – About digitising historic maps and making them available online

Click here to view the embedded video.

We hope you enjoy watching the videos and learning more about these wonderful historic maps.

1950s mapping and text box annotation now available

Today the Digimap for Schools team release two new wonderful features – 1950s OS historic mapping and a text box tool.

The 1950s mapping fill in the mid point time period between the 1890s and current OS mapping.  The 1950s mapping are perfect for comparing changes over time and exploring the landscape, urban areas, road network and other features of post-war Britain.

We’ve made a small tweak to the interface to enable the selection of any two time periods, using the buttons and the slider (shown below) you can choose whether to view 1890s, 1950s or mapping from today, and any combination of two maps.

New map selection and slider

When a decade button is blue, click it to toggle it off and switch on the other map.  You can watch a demo video on the Digimap for Schools YouTube Channel

The 1950s mapping is lovely to look at and a wonderful addition to the mapping available in Digimap for Schools.  The maps have been provided by the National Library of Scotland.

The other great feature we’ve added, is the ability to add a text box to your map.  Until now, users have only been able to add short text labels which is a bit restrictive when you want to write a longer piece of information to annotate the map.

The Text Box tool can be found in the Annotations Toolbar in a sub-menu of the Label tool.

Text box tool

Click to activate the tool and click on your map to add the Text Box.  Then simply click in the box to start typing.  Resize the box to display as much text as you like!

1950s Milton Keynes map with a text box

1950s Milton Keynes map with a text box

 

End of term map quiz – now and then

It’s getting to that time of year where we all start winding down towards the Christmas holidays.  My memories of this time at school are of normal lessons being replaced by fun (but educational!) activities.  If you’re looking for something map related to give to your pupils, how about trying our fun map quiz?

Ken Lacey, OS Education Manager, has provided three fantastic ‘now and then’ quizes (one for each country)  Ken is extremely knowledgable about landscape changes across GB, and has provided some great examples. Here’s what Ken had to say about the quizzes:

Change happens all the time and certainly in the period between our 1890s historic layer and the modern day map. When you look at North West London ‘Metro land’ on the modern map and then look at the 1890s map the difference is obvious. Similarly at locations such as Milton Keynes they have changed out of all recognition.  

When you look at a lot of towns in Great Britain changes may be less in extent but still significant. It might be the possible loss of a railway line or very probably your town or village has greatly increased in size because of new large housing estates on the edge of the settlement.

But what of the more subtle changes that occur in the landscape? We have put together 3 locations in England, Scotland and Wales which are more rural in character.

The Scottish one is based on the area around the village of Saline which is North West of Dunfermline in Fife. It is rural district but in 1890 it was very much a part of the Fifeshire coalfield. Not today, so what change can you find?

Our Welsh example is along the River Severn. Rivers change their courses for many reasons so have a look and see how it has changed and then see what else you can find.

Our English example is to found at Stamford Bridge. This battle, if the result had gone the other way would have been just as momentous as the battle that we can all name and give the year when it was fought. What changes can you find in this part of East Yorkshire?

We have only recorded 10 changes on each map. Why not have a go finding the changes that we noticed and can you find more?

The maps, questions and answers are available below.  The answers are on the last page/slide, so remember not to give them to your pupils.

We hope you enjoy the quiz (and get top marks!)

English map quiz: PDF, Powerpoint

Scottish map quiz: PDF, Powerpoint

Welsh map quiz: PDF, Powerpoint

New resource – investigating coastal changes with historic maps

To help Digimap for Schools users make the most of the service, we have a number of free resources available that have been written by curriculum experts. A brand new resource is now available which is aimed at using the modern and historic mapping to investigate coastal change.

‘Investigating changes to coastal spits’ written by Janet Hutson uses the annotation tools to mark the extent of coastal spits on the 1890s historic mapping. Then pupils use the modern map to annotate the current extend of the spit. These extents can then be compared on the 1890s and current mapping to provide evidence for conclusions drawn about any changes.

You can find Janet’s fantastic resource under the Key Stage 3 resources, on the Free Resources page.

Investigating coastal spit change using 1890s, modern maps and the annotation tools

Investigating coastal spit change using 1890s, modern maps and the annotation tools

Geography GCSE subject content April 2014

Today’s blog post comes from Ken Lacey, Education Manager at Ordnance Survey.  Here, Ken highlights parts of the new Geography curriculum that Digimap for Schools mapping and tools support.

Published in April 2014 the subject aims and learning outcomes of the Geography GCSE subject content document should enable students to build on their key stage 3 knowledge and skills to:

“Develop and extend their competence in a range of skills including those used in field work, in using maps and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)……..�

Within the section titled Scope of Study, reference is specifically made to maps in Para 10 where we read:

“The use of a range of maps, atlases, Ordnance Survey maps, satellite imagery and other graphic and digital materials including the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), to obtain, illustrate, analyse and evaluate geographical information. To include making maps and sketches to present and interpret geographical information�

Within the section titled Assessment of fieldwork, attention is drawn in Para 23 to “The following areas of knowledge, skills and understanding should be assessed through the fieldwork assessment� and includes the following “processing and presenting fieldwork data in various ways including maps graphs and diagrams�

Digimap for Schools provides a range of GB wide Ordnance Survey map scales including a historical One inch map layer dated 1895 – 1899 and provides a range of tools to illustrate, analyse and evaluate geographical information. The tools allow the user to illustrate their map with drawings and text, add photographs and analyse areas with the point or line buffer tool.

Available to all is Digimap for Schools free resources which provide a range of activities at all key stages to enhance the classroom experience using maps to broaden their geographic experience and skills. These include the resources titled ‘Quick ideas for using Digimap for Schools’ which presents 12 quick classroom or homework ideas which make use Digimap for Schools and ‘Digimap for Schools to support GCSE’ which highlights the use of Digimap for School at GCSE.

Impress your history colleagues!

On Saturday I presented at a knowledge exchange event for teachers of Scottish history at the national musuem of scotland.  My presentation focused around how Digimap for Schools can be used to bring historical events to life.  In addition to showing how our new historical maps are superb for highlighting the change in our landscape at then end of the 1890s (as in this illustration of Friockheim junction nr Forfar)
Friockheim now
Friockheim 1890s
I also highlighted how contemporary maps show a wealth of historical knowledge.  To do this I set a quiz.  Having spent many wonderful family holidays in East Lothian with my young children I thought of a particular iconic place then gave the audience 8 interesting historical facts.  I want to share these facts with you so that you can impress your colleagues with some history trivia!  This place:
  • Was settled by an early Christian hermit in the 6th century
  • In the early 15th century King James I imprisoned his political enemies here
  • By the 16th century was the location of one of Scotland’s most important castles
  • Mary Queen of Scots had a garrison of 100 men stationed here in early 16th century (incl French troops)
  • In 1546 the Lauder family rebuilt the small chapel above the castle
  • After the Battle of Killiecrankie, it was the only Jacobite stronghold, until in 1690, 2 years after the battle, they were starved into submission
  • Features in Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1893 sequel to Kidnapped
  • In 2010 during his visit here David Attenborough  described this place as one of the wildlife wonders of the world
Contemporary mapping of this place shows some of these historic features.
Bass Rock annotated
With use of the annotation tools, the island’s history can come to life…….
Bass Rock annotated
We hope you enjoy this example of how your history colleagues could use the service.  If you don’t already have one of our staffroom posters, download one here: http://digimapforschools.edina.ac.uk/Resources/flyers/staffroom_poster.pdf

Official Launch of historical maps in Digimap for Schools

Today sees the official launch of historical maps  in Digimap for Schools.  The formal launch of this fantastic new addition to Digimap for Schools, made possible by the generosity of the National Library of Scotland, will be celebrated at the annual Geography Association conference taking place on the 14th and 15th April at the University of Surrey.  It was at this same event, at the same venue in 2011 that Digimap for Schools received the Geographical Association Publisher’s Gold Award for making a significant contribution to geographical education and professional development.

The service has grown in popularity since 2011 with over 20% of secondary schools in England and over 30% in Scotland now using the service. Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB, Director General and Chief Executive, Ordnance Survey will mark the launch during her conference lecture this afternoon.  Chris Fleet, Senior Map Curator at NLS says ‘Old maps present our history in one of its most enthralling forms.  We are delighted to be collaborating with Ordnance Survey and EDINA in delivering our historic maps to schools through the Digimap for Schools application.’  Peter Burnhill, Director of EDINA says ‘Students, pupils and their teachers now have unrivalled access to the very best maps to gain rich understanding of how Britain’s landscape has changed in over a century.  The result is endlessly fascinating, the skill and generosity of staff at the National Library of Scotland have enabled a real sense of place when combined with the Ordnance Survey maps of today’s Britain’.

Full press release can be read here http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/about/news/2014/digimap-for-schools-launches-historic-maps-of-great-britain.html

Historic maps in Digimap for Schools reveal landscape changes

Eagle eyed Digimap for Schools users will surely have noticed a few changes to the homepage and interface this morning, this is because we have just added historic maps from the 1890s to the service.

This exciting new addition allows  you to view a map of your school, street or anywhere in Great Britain in the 1890s.

These beautiful Ordnance Survey maps published between 1895 and 1899 as the Revised New Series in England and Wales and the 2nd Edition in Scotland, provide an additional rich learning resource and context for exploring how the landscape has changed in the last 120 years.

To view a historic map of your school, street or anywhere in Great Britain, use the new historic map slider (beside the pan arrows) to fade the current OS map and reveal the historic map underneath.

slider_blog

Drag the historic slider to reveal the 1890s maps.

The historic maps have been scanned from original paper maps and made available courtesy of the National Library of Scotland.

Learning resources with ideas for using these wonderful maps across all stages and  curriculum areas are in development and will be available soon.