Land

use in the Local Area QGIS Activity

Contour Education

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LAND USE IN THE LOCAL AREA

Teacher Notes
This activity is aimed at those teachers who are new to the QGIS software package and who have little or no data to begin using the software. In implementing this activity you can begin to introduce the basic elements of the QGIS package to yourself, your staff and your students. The activity is best used in conjunction with a local area study which is usually conducted in the lower secondary years or in a unit that examines land use.

The Task
Your students have been sent the following email from a close friend who has been living in the UK for the last two years. The task is to respond to this email with their own email and to also attach a completed map of your local area to their email. From: sam.delilah@tfk.co.uk To: you@schoolmail.com.au Hi, It has been so long since we chatted I thought I would get in touch as I have some great news: I am moving back to Brisbane! Im not sure on where I want to live but since I know the Ferny Grove area pretty well I thought I might start looking there. I know it has been ages since I was in town and that so much would have changed, I thought I would get you to do a little bit of reconnaissance for me and let me know how Ferny Grove looks these days! I really enjoy cafes and going out for a meal and shopping. I also want to live in an area that has good access to parks and recreational areas for my kids. It would be great to live in a suburb with good public facilities and services, as well as transport links. I know I am asking a lot but could you check out the area for me and let me know how it looks these days? It will help me greatly in deciding where to live when I move home. Thanks for doing that, I owe you one! Your friend, Sam In the space provided on your answer sheet, write down the criteria your friend Sam is using to decide if they want to live in Ferny Grove.

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Student Instructions Your Task

You have been sent the following email from a close friend who has been living in the UK for the last two years. Your task is to respond to this email with an email of your own and to also email your friend a completed map of your local area. From: sam.delilah@tfk.co.uk To: you@schoolmail.com.au Hi, It has been so long since we chatted I thought I would get in touch as I have some great news: I am moving back to Brisbane! Im not sure on where I want to live but since I know the Ferny Grove area pretty well I thought I might start looking there. I know it has been ages since I was in town and that so much would have changed, I thought I would get you to do a little bit of reconnaissance for me and let me know how Ferny Grove looks these days! I really enjoy cafes and going out for a meal and shopping. I also want to live in an area that has good access to parks and recreational areas for my kids. It would be great to live in a suburb with good public facilities and services, as well as transport links. I know I am asking a lot but could you check out the area for me and let me know how it looks these days? It will help me greatly in deciding where to live when I move home. Thanks for doing that, I owe you one! Your friend, Sam In the space provided on your answer sheet, write down the criteria your friend Sam is using to decide if they want to live in Ferny Grove. Your teacher will help you record your data in the field before you come into the classroom and use QGIS to create and analyse your field data.

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Step One Take Screen Capture

Go to the Google Maps website (www.google.com.au/maps) and find your suburb using the search bar and the pan and zoom tools. You can also maximise the screen using the full screen option and the F11 key to remove menus. Once you have set your screen up to the extent you wish to use for your map, click on the Print Screen (or PrntScrn or similar) key at the top of your keyboard to capture your screen. Open Microsoft Paint (Start All Programs Accessories Paint) and Paste your screen capture in using the EditPaste option. You can then crop your image so that you are left with just the aerial image of the area around your suburb. Save your image as a JPEG into a location that you can access later (usually your H:/ drive). You should structure your folders carefully. Have a folder called Landuse and inside that create a folder called Data for you to save all of your data. These folders should be created in your home directory (for most schools this is your H:/ drive).

Step Two Add Image and Examine Tools

Open QGIS using the menu option indicated by your teacher. To add your image, click the Add Raster Layer button, right. Navigate to the folder in which you saved your image in the last step, click on your image and hit Open. Your image will appear in the Map View section of QGIS and information about your image will appear in the Table of Contents to the left of screen. You will also notice that there are a number of toolbars along the top of the screen. 2 | P a g e CONTOUR EDUCATION 2012

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Now use the table in your answer sheet to practice using the main tools in QGIS. Practice navigating around your map and record in the table what each tool actually does. Keep this table as a reference guide to the main tools in QGIS.

Step Three Draw First Layer

The first layer you will create will be a layer representing Residential Land in your local area. You will eventually add other layers of land use to help you and Sam analyse how your suburb is used. Click the New Shapefile Layer button to begin creating a new layer in your map.

Choose a layer type Attribute = data in the table, add a new column/field here.

Tell the computer what sort of data will be in the field All column headings are listed here

You need to enter (from top to bottom) the type of data (point, line or polygon), any new attributes (field or column headings) and the type of data in that field. We dont need any more information (at this stage) other than the name of the field so hit Ok and then find a location to save. You will see the layer listed in your Table of Contents but there will be no data on the map, we will add that now. Hit the Toggle Editing button, right, to begin editing the layer 3 | P a g e CONTOUR EDUCATION 2012

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(remember, the layer that is highlighted in the Table of Contents will be the one you edit). You will see some tools appear in the Editor toolbar that will allow you to edit your new layer. Select the Capture Polygon tool, right, and begin drawing your shape by clicking your mouse around the residential areas on your basemap. When you are done, hit Save Edits. You have now created a layer in your map! If you want to change the colour of your layer, double-click on the symbol in the Table of Contents (the white area to the left of screen) and select a better colour.

Step Four Draw Subsequent Layers and Change Symbols

Follow the steps above to create layers for the following features. The type of shapefile is indicated in the table below. There may be other types of data that you would like to map so you should look at Sams criteria to help you to decide. Feature Residential Commercial Recreational Educational Industrial Sporting Clubs Government Services Once all of your layers are drawn, you can edit the way they look. To edit the symbol on a shapefile, double-click on the shapefile in the Table of Contents and find the Symbology tab. You can also access this menu by right-clicking on the layer in the Table of Contents, selecting Properties, then Symbology and then changing your symbol. Once you have completed creating and symbolising all of your layers, you should have a map showing land use and major features in your local area. You will now answer the questions on your student handout to begin analysing your map. Type of Shapefile Polygon Polygon Polygon Polygon Polygon Point Point Feature Bus Stops Train Stations Major Roads Cafes/Restaurants Post Offices Rivers/Creeks Natural Areas Type of Shapefile Point Point Line Point Point Line Point, Line or Shape

Step Five- Save Data

When you are ready to save your map, go to the File menu and select Save Project As. Navigate to your Landuse folder and save your Project (.qgs file) as Landuse.qgs. To open the file in future, click on FileOpen and find your Landuse.qgs file. Hit Open and you can continue working on or analysing your map. You should get into the habit of saving your work regularly, remember it costs nothing to save and if you would prefer not to lose past work, then just change the file name of your Project (e.g. Landuse 1.qgs, Landuse 2.qgs etc.).

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Step Six Create Map

Creating a map in QGIS is simple. Click on the New Print Composer button, right, to open the print composer. This is where you are able to create a map for printing. To begin, choose the Add new map button and click and drag a box around the space you would like your map data to be drawn in. Here you will see your map as it will look when you print. You can add elements to the map, such as a title, borders, north point, map text, legend (key) etc. by using the tools along the top of the print composer. Note that you can not add an accurate scale at this point however, your teacher may ask you to create one using a known distance on the map.

Take some time now to add different features to your map so that you can send Sam a well crafted map to help make their decision. Add a title, a north arrow, text indicating the author of the map (you!), the date the map was created and also acknowledge any data that you use that isnt yours. Once you have completed your map dont forget to save your project again. If you wish, you can print a hard-copy map here or simply save and use later.

Step Seven Export Map

Now you will export your map as an image as you are going to email a response to Sam. You can also turn your map into an image file to use in other applications (such as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint), use the file menu to find the Export as Image (or as PDF) tool to do this.

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Step Eight Respond to Email

You now need to craft a response to Sams email. Remember that you are making a decision; whether or not Ferny Grove is a good place to live. So, follow the outline below when you make your decision and you will help out Sam a lot. Use your Student Handout to complete your email to Sam.

Introduction
Outline the importance of your decision and state your position clearly here.

Body
Provide three separate pieces of evidence, in three separate paragraphs, to support your position. You should directly refer to all pieces of evidence, in particular, your map as this is your main body of evidence. You may also wish to point out any alternate positions in a short paragraph here as well.

Conclusion
Sum up your decision and the process you used to make it. Make sure Sam clearly knows whether or not Ferny Grove meets all the criteria set out in the initial email.

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Student Answer Sheet

Your Task
Write down the criteria Sam is using to make the decision on whether to move into Ferny Grove or not.

Step Two
Complete the table below and keep this as a reference to the main tools in QGIS. Those tools indicated with an asterix (*) can be used when you have created your first layer after step three. Icon Name Action (in your own words)

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Step Four
Describe the pattern of land use on your map. Be descriptive and use direction such as North, South East and West. _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ What sort of area do you live in? (e.g. suburban, industrial, commercial etc) Why do you think this is?(provide evidence) ________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ What sort of evidence would you see on a map of a lower socio-economic status area? ___________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ What about a higher socio-economic status area? _________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ 8 | P a g e CONTOUR EDUCATION 2012

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_________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ How would an industrial area compare to a Central Business District? What similarities would you see? ______________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ What differences would exist? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Step Eight
Respond to Sams email in the space below. Use the structure provided in step eight to help you plan your response. Introduction: _______________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ Body: _____________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ 9 | P a g e CONTOUR EDUCATION 2012

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_________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ Conclusion: ________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

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Extension Activity
If you finish the task early, you could create a similar map for a local area very different to your own and then compare the two areas using land use and other information to highlight the differences in the areas. You could also use the Australian Bureau of Statistics website (http://abs.gov.au/census) to confirm your claims using recent census data.

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