By Alyssa T.

On March 16 Girl Scouts from the San Gorgonio Counil attended “Story Maps: Tell Your Story with GIS,” a STEM activity, at the Redlands Service Center.

 We learned about Esri, a supplier for GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Software that lets people create their own interactive online maps. Using Dell tablets we signed on to the website, and looked through different digital maps.

Esri has a page called ArcGIS, which allows people to look at all different types of interactive maps. There are maps that include information sharing, historical mapping, regular mapping, and just random/fun maps.

After looking through different maps that included looking through space, tornado locations, and maps of the United States, we went through a tutorial on how to create our own interactive maps. This included pinpointing, adding different layers and pictures. We learned how to be creative and use new technology to map digitally.

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“I liked that we got to learn how to do something new,” said Tatiana, a Cadette from Troop 328.

She said that she also liked technology and intends to use the mapping skills learned today to make a scrapbook at home.

Audrey, from Troop 700, said that she would use these new skills for presentations, since there is an option that allows the user to put it in a slideshow arrangement. I learned some really cool things while I was there, and I’ll use it to learn more about geography and share my knowledge about locations with others.

Whether the girls use it for presentations, learning or just plain fun, they certainly learned new life skills with Esri and will enjoy continuing to use it. The technology is open to anyone who makes an account, so everybody is able to work on it anywhere.