Group Participation Project: ArcGIS Online

Final Summary for Group 5 – Arab States

This group project focused on creating a World Heritage Site map gallery for Zone 5, the Arab States. These sites include: Tyre, Lebanon; Tipaza, Algeria; Socotra Archipelago, Yemen; Petra, Jordan; Memphis, Egypt, Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou, Morocco; Hatra Ruins, Ninawa, Iraq; Carthage, Tunis; Thebes, Egypt; and Leptis Magna, Libya.

By assigning a group project, students learned the communication, organizational, and teamwork skills that are required in every day work life. This project also taught students new skills pertaining to GIS by: learning to use geographic clues via photographs to determine site locations, using coordinates to locate sites on a map, and to create a group gallery on ArcGIS Online.

The online program that we used to show our individual maps is called ArcGIS Online. On this site we created our maps to show where our World Heritage Sites are located. This program allows you to add members to a group, and by having access to that group, you can create and share maps. You can also choose to share your maps with the public or keep them private. Adding tags to your maps allows you to pull up anything that relates to that particular tag.

Currently we have 11 World Heritage sites listed. When you visit our sites, you will see different landscapes from one site to the next along with their histories. Click on the heading of the map you want to view and see the description page. You then have a choice to view a larger version of the map by clicking on the small picture map. When you are viewing the larger portion of the map, you should be able to locate and zoom easily to the World Heritage site by choosing a bookmark tab or choosing one of the headings.

ArcGIS Online Group Link for Group 5 is here.

Screenshot #1: Group 5 Gallery

Screenshot #2: My Map

 The World Heritage Sites assignment enabled our group to utilize skills conducive to the accurate portrayal of specific landscapes, cultural and architectural patterns and coastal morphological features. The group shared our framework, worked as a team, and completed a project within specific time constraints. Several tools such as base map applications, creating editable layers and the ability to measure helped our group accomplish this. Those tools helped us create our maps. Our maps also include tags, bookmarks for zooming, URL’s, titles and site descriptions for further resources on our World Heritage sites. The greatest lesson learned from this project was the ability to share knowledge, experiences and resources through real-life examples in a real-life setting.

Resource List:

Source 1: Wikipedia - This site provides an overview of the site and its history.  It also provides photos of the area relevant to this assignment.

Source 2: United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. GEONet Names Server. 1994. Web 19 Feb 2013. < http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/index.html> Provides the coordinates in decimal degrees for the Arab locations.

Source 3: UNESCO World Heritage Site: This website has information on all of the assignment locations and provides background on the site and where it is located globally.

Carthage, Tunis:  Provides an overview of Carthage including its history as a trading empire spanning the Mediterranean, and was, according to UNESCO, "home to a brilliant civilization." The city was destroyed in 146 BCE in the Punic Wars at the hands of the Romans.

Hatra, Iraq: Provides an overview of Hatra including its history as a large fortified city under the influence of the Parthian Empire and capital of the first Arab Kingdom.

Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou, Morocco: Provides an overview of Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou including its history as a preserved fortified city on the caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakesh in Morocco.

Leptis Magna, Libya: Provides an overview of Leptis Magna, including its history as an ancient Roman City with imposing public monuments, harbor, market-place, storehouses, shops and residential districts.

Memphis and its Necropolis (Pyramids of Giza):  Provides an overview of Memphis including its history as the capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt and one of the 7 wonders of the world.

Petra, Jordan:  Provides an overview of Petra including its construction as half-built, half-carved into the rock, and surrounded by mountains riddled with passages and gorges.

Socotra Archipelago:  Provides an overview of Socotra including the universal importance because of its biodiversity with rich and distinct flora and fauna.

Thebes, Egypt:  Provides an overview of Thebes including its history as the capital of Egypt during the period of the Middle and New Kingdoms.

Tipasa, Algeria:  Provides an overview of Tipasa, including its history as an ancient Punic trading-post conquered by Rome and turned into a strategic base for the conquest of the kingdoms of Mauritania.

Tyre, Lebanon:  Provides an overview of Tyre including its history as a Phoenician city ruled the seas and founded prosperous colonies such as Cadiz and Carthage.

Nubia, Egypt: 
This outstanding archaeological area contains such magnificent monuments as the Temples of Ramses II at Abu Simbel and the Sanctuary of Isis at Philae, which were saved from the rising waters of the Nile thanks to the International Campaign launched by UNESCO, in 1960 to 1980.