Students learning geography the high-tech way

Blue oceans and green continents: That’s the simple view offered by a map hanging in an I. C. Norcom High School classroom.

The students ignore it.

It is a dinosaur in an age of satellites and online technology. Instead, the students’ eyes are trained on their laptop screens, where with a few clicks they can create maps that tell far more than just the boundaries of a country or the location of a major city.

Using digital mapping software, along with data gleaned from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Police Department and even the local board of elections, the Portsmouth juniors and seniors are tackling political, environmental and economic problems.

By DEIRDRE FERNANDES
The Virginian-Pilot

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