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SpatialNews Press Release
K-12 Students Prepare to Follow 2000
Elections with GIS
Free, Downloadable Lesson Plan Available at
ESRI’s ArcLessons Web Site
Redlands, California-Students in K-12 classrooms can investigate the U.S. 2000
elections with the help of a new instructional package designed for use with ESRI's
ArcView GIS software. These classroom materials enable students to research and study
this national event. ESRI, the leader in geographic information system (GIS) software,
has made the Election 2000 package available at its ArcLessons Web site
(
http://www.esri.com/arclessons, keyword search = election).
Election 2000 uses estimates recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau
(
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/voting.html). The data also includes
racial and ethnic composition of the voting age population by state, voter registration and
actual voting history by state, and electoral votes by state. Information on the political
party composition of both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate is ready to map,
and there are teaching materials that explain how to use the data.
Lyn Malone, a geography teacher at Barrington Middle School in Barrington, Rhode
Island, developed the lesson plan. “The 2000 election lesson allows students to see the
geography of politics,” Malone said. “Mapping the lesson's data reveals interesting and
significant spatial patterns in many areas?the age, race, and ethnicity of voting age
populations; the distribution of electoral votes; and current congressional
representation?in essence, many of the things that will drive and decide the campaigns.
“In seeing and exploring those spatial patterns, students will become informed
observers and analysts of both campaign strategies and election results. For instance,
simply seeing the electoral makeup of the nation’s states will help them begin to better
understand the current discussions about swing states,” said Malone.
Beyond presidential politics, the lesson gives students a basis for observing and
interpreting the potential impact of elections for both the U.S. House of Representatives
and Senate. “Students can visualize and understand potential shifts and changes in the
spatial patterns of Democratic and Republican influence across our country,” Malone
said.
While keyed to the immediacy of the 2000 election, the data will be useful beyond
November. “The package gives students and teachers an opportunity to map out aspects
of the election before it happens and make some predictions,” said George Dailey, ESRI
K-12 education specialist. “However, students can just as easily create, map, and analyze
election results data the day after. Also, since voting in the United States is a right, not a
mandate, students will be able to quickly see significant geographic patterns of voter
participation that are not tied to the 2000 election. Students will find themselves facing
some engaging questions,” Dailey said.
Mapping 2000 Census Response Rates is another ArcLesson that reinforces what
students learn about voter turnout in the 2000 election package. ESRI’s ArcLessons Web
site (http://www.esri.com/arclessons) offers this and more than 50 other lesson plans.
Other educational materials are available at ESRI’s Schools and Libraries Program Web
site (http://www.esri.com/k-12).
For more than 30 years, ESRI has been the leading developer of geographic information
system (GIS) software with more than 300,000 clients worldwide. ESRI also provides
consulting, implementation, and technical support services. In addition to its headquarters
in California, ESRI has regional offices throughout the United States, international
distributors in more than 90 countries, and more than 1,050 business partners. ESRI's
goal is to provide users with comprehensive tools to help them quickly and efficiently
manage and use geographic information to make a real difference in the world around
them. ESRI can be found on the Web at www.esri.com.
ESRI, ArcView, and the ESRI globe logo are trademarks of Environmental Systems Research Institute,
Inc., registered in the United States and certain other countries; registration is pending in the European
Community. GIS by ESRI is a trademark and www.esri.com and @esri.com are service marks of
Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. Other companies and products mentioned herein are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.
Press Information:
Nancy Sappington
ESRI
Tel.: 909-793-2853, extension 1-2198
E-mail: press@esri.com
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