Geography lessons have the potential to work with geographical information systems (GIS) to promote the competencies mentioned using specific examples. In a teaching project by Dr. Thomas Forster, computer science and geography teacher at KS Wettingen, survey schoolchildren on the public transport quality class of various bus and train stations in their community and on their way to school (see Forster, 2019). You can find out the type of transport at the respective stop and the course interval using the electronic timetable and the distance to the stop. Using this information, they can determine the public transport quality class and display this spatial data on a map in ArcGIS.
During this exercise, the students learn how to collect, manage, present and evaluate data in ArcGIS. You will experience “the mapping of the real world in digital models” (EDK, 2017, p. 1) and work with your real world: your community and your way to school. You can justify whether or not your community needs better transport links. However, you can also assess whether or not it makes sense to build on additional structures around the stops analyzed without expanding public transport.
On the basis of this exercise and the knowledge acquired in geography lessons for spatial planning, you can understand the considerations of transport planners as well as expertly discuss topic-related political initiatives. The example described shows that the subject of geography can already make a practice-oriented contribution to computer science education with the use of GIS and show the opportunities of digitization.
Geography is a school subject that is extremely topical and relevant to society. It can enable young people to orientate themselves in an increasingly complex world and to act responsibly with well-founded knowledge.
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