Earth Imagery at Work MOOC

Exercise
Introducing the Capstone: Tell a
Story with Imagery
Section 3 Exercise 2
04/2019
 Earth Imagery at Work MOOC

Introducing the Capstone: Tell a Story with Imagery

Instructions
Use this guide and ArcGIS Online to reproduce the results of the exercise on your own.
Note: ArcGIS Online is a dynamic mapping platform. The version of ArcGIS Online that
you will be using for this course may be slightly different from the screenshots you see in
the course materials.

Time to complete
Approximately 45-60 minutes.

Technical note
To take advantage of the web-based technologies available in ArcGIS Online, you need to
use a fairly new version of a standard web browser, such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari,
or Internet Explorer. Older web browsers may not display your maps correctly.
Note: For information on supported browsers for ArcGIS Online, visit http://doc.arcgis.com
/en/arcgis-online/reference/browsers.htm.

Introduction
Welcome back! In a previous lesson, you watched a video in which Helen used maps to walk
us through thousands of years of history, from Stonehenge to Shanghai to Washington, D.C.,
to Miami, Florida. For each location, she used imagery to tell a story about how the land
developed, sometimes in concert with human growth, and sometimes in response to massive
change. She then used map layers from the Urban Observatory and the Living Atlas to add
further depth to these stories.
This week's exercise introduces the Capstone project. This project gives you the opportunity
to tell your own story with imagery. Your final project will be an achievement that you can add
to your portfolio.
You will have until the end of the course to develop your project proposal, get feedback,
make revisions, and share the final product.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 1

 Earth Imagery at Work MOOC

Capstone project overview

In the Capstone project, you will use imagery to tell a story of your choosing. This exercise
provides an overview of the project, as well as a recommended schedule for completing each
required task.
Note: Although this exercise describes the entire project, you will be completing the tasks
over the next three weeks. You do not have to complete all of the tasks this week!
We've organized the project into seven planning and development tasks, which are listed
below, along with the week during which each task should be completed.

1. Build and share your proposal (week 3)

2. Review other students' proposals (week 3)
3. Find imagery (week 4)
4. Do research (week 5)
5. Create a first draft (week 6)
6. Review other students' first drafts (week 6)
7. Create and share your final project (week 6)

Continue reading to learn more about each task.

Task 1: Build and share your proposal (week 3)

This week, your task is to create a project proposal and post it in the Forum for feedback. To
build your proposal, complete the following three steps.

Step 1: Choose a location and a story idea

Think of a story that you would like to tell. It can be about anything that interests you, as long
as it can be depicted with imagery. If you already have an idea for your story, continue to step
2. If you are still unsure, consider the following ideas.
Idea 1: Think of a place that interests you. It could be somewhere that you have visited in the
past or would like to visit in the future. Or it could be a place with historical significance, for
example, where a famous battle was won or a treaty was signed. It could even be a place
where an interesting animal lives or an exciting festival occurs.
To help you decide what kind of story to tell about your place, perform the following steps:

a In ArcGIS Online, open Map Viewer, and then change the basemap to Imagery.

b Search for the place that you have chosen.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 2

 Earth Imagery at Work MOOC

c Explore the imagery at and around this place.

Did you notice an interesting pattern in the imagery? If so, your story could describe this
pattern and explain how and why it developed. It's OK if you do not know this information
right now, because you will be researching it in week 5. A classic example is Stonehenge.
Stonehenge's pattern is easily seen in imagery, but you would need to research how it got
there.
Here is another example: Missoula Slant Streets (https://bit.ly/2uk7IL6)
If you did not see a pattern (either natural or made-made) in the ArcGIS Online imagery that
you explored, try looking at historical imagery of the same location from a few months or
years ago. Did anything change? If so, your story could describe this change and explain what
caused it. Again, you may not know this information yet, but you will research it during week
5.
Idea 2: Think of an event that interests you. It could be an unexpected event such as a natural
disaster, for example, a forest fire, flood, or hurricane. Or it could be a planned event such as
a new road in a previously undeveloped area, or the closing of a railway or military base.
Your project could use imagery from before and after an event to demonstrate the changes in
the affected area. For example, you could use before-and-after imagery to show how a city
park contained both open field and forested areas before a flood, but only open field after
the flood because all of the trees died. Or your story could show imagery of an area that was
forested 10 years ago but was cleared of trees 8 years ago so that a new road could be built;
now it contains houses and a shopping mall.
Idea 3: Think of a collection of items that interests you and can be identified with imagery.
Your story may need to contain several images to identify the full collection. For example, if
you are a baseball fan, you could include imagery of all of the baseball stadiums in the United
States or in a particular city or state. The collection can contain man-made or natural features,
as long as they can be identified on the imagery.
Idea 4: If none of these ideas interests you, try reading your local or global news. Is there a
news article that could benefit from imagery? If so, locate imagery for the location discussed
in the article and use it to tell the story even better than the original! You do not need to
rewrite the article. You can simply add imagery that visually explains the article.
Idea 5: For those of you who are more experienced with ArcGIS, find a place of interest and
perform an imagery analysis. Your project could describe how you performed the analysis,
your results, and what the results tell you about the place.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 3

 Earth Imagery at Work MOOC

Note: No matter what story you choose tell, imagery must be an integral part. However,
remember that imagery is not the only source of data. Other types of data that you could use
to tell your story include transportation routes (roads, railways, buslines), recreation trails (bike
paths, hiking trails), storm paths, and demographic data.

Step 2: Choose a format

After you have chosen the idea for your story, the next step is to choose the format for your
story.
Here are a few options to consider.
Option 1: If you are relatively new to ArcGIS or imagery, you could create a map in ArcGIS
Online, take a screenshot of the map, and then add this screenshot to a Word document or
PowerPoint slide along with notes and a title. You would then post a screenshot of this Word
or PowerPoint document to the Forum to share with the class.
Hint: This option is good for stories in which you are describing a pattern.
Option 2: If you want to try a slightly more advanced technique, create a map in ArcGIS
Online, and then then build a web app using one of the available templates. You would then
share the web app with the class.
Click here (https://bit.ly/2ul7gMq) to learn how to create a web app.
Click here (https://bit.ly/2WctYlM ) to learn more about creating web apps with imagery (and
to see some cool examples).
Hint: The Story Map template is a good option if you want to tell a story about a pattern, a
collection of items, or an event. The Compare template is a good option if you want to tell a
story about how a place has changed over time or due to an event. The Basic template is a
good option for all other story types.
Here are some examples of story maps:

• Before and after the fire (https://bit.ly/2G8Xa87)

• Then and now (https://bit.ly/1KAmhIw)
• A collection of items (https://bit.ly/2ImLbFI)

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 4

 Earth Imagery at Work MOOC

a Option 3: If your project includes imagery analysis that you completed in ArcGIS Pro, you
could share your analysis in one of 2 ways:

• Take a screenshot of the analysis results and add it to a Word document or PowerPoint
slide with notes and a title. You would then post a screenshot of this Word or
PowerPoint file to the Forum to share with the class.
• Publish your ArcGIS Pro map to PDF (or some other format) and host it on your own
website. In the forum, you would post a short description of your project and the link
to your PDF for other students to review.

Step 3: Share your proposal with the class

a In the Forum, create a new post named "#ProjectProposal" to share your project idea and
get feedback. Your post should include the following details:

• The name of the place you have chosen

• A brief description of your story
• A screenshot of any imagery that you have found for your chosen area
• The format for your story
• A list of additional data that might be useful

Task 2: Review other students' proposals (week 3)

In the Forum, read through other students' Capstone project proposals. Choose two
proposals that interest you and that do not already have feedback. Here are some questions
to consider when preparing and providing your feedback for these two proposals:

• Does the proposed story make sense?

• Is the proposed story too broad or too focused?
• Do you have any questions about the data that the student plans to use?
• Do you have any suggestions for enhancing the story?

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 5

 Earth Imagery at Work MOOC

Task 3: Find imagery (week 4)

During week 4 (next week), search for imagery you can use to complete your project. Will you
use NAIP, Landsat, or another source of imagery? Can you find the imagery in the Esri Living
Atlas, or will you look at external websites such as those for city, county, or state
governments? Is the data you need available from an open data source?
If you cannot find the imagery that you need, ask for suggestions in the Forum.

Task 4: Do research (week 5)

During week 5, perform any additional research necessary for your story. Depending on the
type of story you have chosen and your familiarity with the area, you may need to do research
outside of ArcGIS and Esri to find an explanation for the patterns in your imagery.

Task 5: Create a first draft (week 6)

During the final week of class (week 6), create the first draft of your Capstone project and
share it with the class. More details and guidance on completing these steps will be discussed
in Section 6 of the course.

Task 6: Review other students' first drafts (week 6)

Choose two projects that interest you and that do not already have feedback. Review each of
the projects, taking time to carefully read the notes and examine the imagery. Reply to the
poster with your thoughts.

Task 7: Create and share your final project (week 6)

Review the feedback that you received from the other students, and consider how you can
improve your story. Revise your story as needed, share it with the class, and then add it to
your portfolio.

Conclusion
Although this exercise does not include hands-on instruction in ArcGIS, it is still important.
Take some time to think about your story idea and have fun exploring the imagery for your
place of interest. Be sure to seek feedback from your instructor and classmates—they are a
fantastic resource for ideas—and don't forget to provide feedback to other students.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 6