Mr. Higgins’ Blog

Whether or not the “e” missing in the word Flicker bothers you, Flickr is a great Web 2.0 tool that is more than just a photo collector.  It is a way of communicating and sharing experiences around the world.  Jeff Utecht’s presentation at the K12 Online Conference titled “Getting to Know Flickr” detailed an introducation of the features of Flickr as well as a few of his opinions.  Many times when you listen/watch one of these presentations that are theoretical in nature, you find yourself doing something at the same time.  When I started watching the Flickr presentation, the presentor got right to the point and started showing screenshots of Flickr.  I was impressed with the new feature that features GeoTagging.  I immediately had an idea for a project that adds onto a problem I was asked to create for one of my college courses.  The is as follows…

Clark W. Griswold is a man who is dedicated to his family. His family consists of Ellen (wife), Rusty (son), and Audrey (daughter). Clark has planned a trip to Wally World in Los Angeles, CA from the Griswold home town of Gary, IN. Little does the rest of the family know that Clark is planning to visit as many states as possible. He has planned to create a trip that is 4500 miles in driving length (give or take 200 miles). Map out a route that Clark should take to maximize the number of states visited.

Directions and things to keep in mind:

1. Use the given map of the United States and the coordinate plane in the background to first find Wally World and the Griswold Home. Assume that Los Angeles, CA is point (-47 , -9) and Gary, IN is point (21 , 9).

2. Besides the above 2 points, AT LEAST 10 other points (we will call them Stops) on the journey need to be mapped on the coordinate plane. Label each stop in the order in which it occurs. i.e. The first stop is “1”, the second is “2”, etc…

3. For each of the points you choose, you must research a local attraction that is within reason and supply a description of the attraction. This description should be at least four sentences in length. You also need to supply the coordinate for the stop, distance since last stop (in miles), and the resource used to find information on the attraction.
4. List all of the states (in order) that your trip goes through. Also, make sure to mention the total number of states somewhere. If your trip goes through a state twice, only write it the first time.
5. Scale for the map is 1 unit : 24 miles.

6. Keep in mind that you must stay within the United States and cannot drive through water. Therefore, if these are obstacles in your way, you must go around them.

7. Each team will be expected to present this material in front of the class.
8. To be Collected: Map, Descriptions of Stops, List of States, and List of Resources for the Descriptions.

I started laughing when I realized that Flickr could impact this project.  I could ask for photos to be added from using the GeoTagging feature and finding pictures from near by places on their maps.  TheThinkingStick allowed me to recall this project from college through his easy watching and easy listening presentation on Flickr.  Thanks for the presentation and blog style (Some readers will get my drift).