Assignment 1-1
Benchmark health GIS websites
Many health organizations make maps and basic GIS functions available online. Examples include the World Health Organization Public Health Mapping and GIS website (http://www.who.int/topics/geographic_information_systems/en/), the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/gis/), and the National Cancer Institute (http://www3.cancer.gov/atlasplus).
Note: URLs may change. If you cannot access these sites for the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control, or National Cancer Institute, try to find similar sites for these organizations.
The objective of this assignment is to investigate the unique capabilities of GIS and its applications to health. Start by studying the aforementioned websites. Then browse the Internet to find an interesting health-related website that uses GIS (excluding the sites already listed).
Create a PowerPoint presentation
Create a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation called Assignment1-1YourName.pptx and save it to your Chapter1 folder in MyAssignments. Include the following in your presentation:
• Title page, including title, website URL, and your name
• Purpose of the website and its use of GIS
• Screen captures of the website (about half a dozen), including maps
• A brief analysis of the GIS that includes:
• GIS content provided
• GIS functionality provided
• Effectiveness in providing information
• Ease of use
• Summary of what makes the website valuable in terms of functionality and content
WHAT TO TURN IN
If your work is to be graded, turn in the following files:
• Microsoft PowerPoint presentation: \EsriPress\GISTHealth\MyAssignments\ Chapter1\Assignment1-1YourName.pptx
Assignment 1-2
Create a map using GIS websites
Many organizations have data in tables or spreadsheets stored as addresses or latitude and longitude points and want to use interactive map viewers to view locations and other GIS layers over the Internet. For example, a health care organization might have street addresses for hospitals or clinics. These can be added to ArcGIS Online, then compared with layers using content provided by Esri, its partners, or the GIS community at large. In this assignment you add an Excel spreadsheet of mammography clinics for one county from your desktop computer, add population or other health layers from ArcGIS Online, and share the results with the public.
Start with the following:
\EsriPress\GISTHealth\Data\Datafiles\Clinics.csv – comma separated files of mammography clinics in Allegheny County, PA and surrounding areas. The file includes clinic addresses and ZIP Codes.
Create an ArcGIS map
Requirements are:
• In ArcGIS.com, add the mammography clinics comma separated file (using addresses) to a new map using the option “Add Layer From File”.
• From ArcGIS Online, find and add a population layer displaying the US Median Age.
• From ArcGIS Online, find another interesting related layer (for example, other population or health) and add it to your map.
• Save your map called Assignment1-2YourName using tags mammography, clinics, population.
• Share your finished map with the public. Note the URL for the map link created when you shared the map.
Create a PowerPoint presentation
Copy and paste your map image(s) into a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation
called Assignment1-2YourName.pptx and save it to your Chapter1 folder in
MyAssignments.
Include the following:
• Title slide including your name and the URL link to your map on ArcGIS.com that was created when you shared it.
• Slide explaining the slide(s) to come
• Slide including map of mammography clinics and US Median Age with observations (for example, are mammography clinics in locations where the population is over the age of 40?)
• Slide including map of mammography clinics and other layer found on ArcGIS.com with observations.
• Summary slide describing other data that would be useful for this study.
Hint: To create a screen capture of your slides, use the PRINT SCREEN key to save a graphic image of your map(s). Then use Copy and Paste or CTRL+V to paste the image into your PowerPoint slides. Mac users can press COMMAND+SHIFT+4 to save an image.
WHAT TO TURN IN
If your work is to be graded, turn in the following files:
• Microsoft PowerPoint presentation: \EsriPress\GISTHealth\MyAssignments\ Chapter1\Assignment1-2YourName.pptx
Assignment 1-3
Create and upload layer packages
Sharing map layers that you create using your ArcGIS for Desktop application will allow others to benefit from your map expertise. In this assignment, you will create additional population and health layers using a map document you used earlier in this chapter.
Create population and health layer packages
Start ArcMap and open map document Tutorial1-4.mxd.
Create layer packages for the following map layers:
• Cities with 250,000 or Greater Population called MajorUSCities.lpk and saved to your Chapter1 folder in MyAssignments
• States called States.lpk and saved to your Chapter1 folder in MyAssignments
• Percentage Female-Headed Households with Children called PercentageFHHChildren.lpk and saved to your Chapter1 folder in MyAssignments
• Lung Cancer Mortality per 100,000 White Males, 1970 – 1994, called WhiteMaleLungCancerMortality70_94.lpk and saved to your Chapter1 folder in MyAssignments
Add these layer packages to your ArcGIS Online account in the My Content section. These layer packages will then be ready to share with others should you choose to do so.
WHAT TO TURN IN
If your work is to be graded, turn in the following files:
• Layer packages:
• EsriPress\GISTHealth\MyAssignments\Chapter1\MajorUSCities.lpk
• \EsriPress\GISTHealth\MyAssignments\Chapter1\States.lpk
• \EsriPress\GISTHealth\MyAssignments\Chapter1\PercentageFHHChildren.lpk
• \EsriPress\GISTHealth\MyAssignments\Chapter1\ WhiteMaleLungCancerMortality70_94.lpk
If instructed to do so, instead of individual files, turn in a compressed file, Assignment1-3YourName.zip, that includes all the preceding files. Do not include path information in the compressed file.
References
Clarke,