THE ISLE OF NAVITAS: TOWARDS A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF ENERGY AND DECISION MAKING USING GIS

The global and regional distributions of energy resources and demand are very non-uniform, so energy, at its core, is a geospatial issue. As a result, integrating GIS technology into curriculum aimed at educating students on the production and consumption of energy is fundamental to enabling understanding of currently pressing energy issues. Here we present a capstone activity to a 7 - 8 week instructional module in which 8th grade students are introduced to the costs, benefits, and realities of renewable and non-renewable sources of energy. Though currently aimed at middle school students, the topic of energy and the flexibility of this GIS-based activity mean that it can be easily modified into Earth system science learning for higher grade levels. The activity is based on a fictitious island nation named Navitas (latin for energy) for which students are tasked with creating a viable energy policy to meet the needs of its society. The population, land area, and energy needs of Navitas are patterned roughly after Pennsylvania and the island is populated with spatially referenced data layers showing infrastructure, natural resources, climate (wind, solar exposure, precipitation), topography and bathymetry, land use, and culturally significant areas among other information. Using a well-designed GIS platform, which can be quickly updated to integrate changes in the energy marketplace, students are able to easily visualize and organize the data and information they are presented about Navitas by adjusting layers appearance. Students manipulate the interactive map and draw upon their knowledge base to make decisions about how to power a city, a province, or the whole country. In the process of making these decisions students are confronted with real-world problems including transportation distance, limited infrastructure, and resources in environmentally sensitive or culturally significant areas. Students, thus, recommend the most efficient combination of energy sources and have to justify their choice with the benefits, costs, and environmental impact assessments. By completing the exercise students gain insight into the many factors that influence the current energy debate while at the same time gain familiarity with geospatial technology that can be used in exploring other topics as well.