science

GIS Day

GIS Day is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand GIS Day rather than just read about it. In short: GIS Day is an annual event celebrating geographic information systems (GIS) based technologies on the third Wednesday of November. The event first took place in 1999.

Key takeaways

GIS Day belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect GIS Day to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of GIS Day from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

GIS Day is an annual event celebrating geographic information systems (GIS) based technologies on the third Wednesday of November. The event first took place in 1999. It was initiated by spatial analytics software provider Esri. Esri president and co-founder Jack Dangermond credits Ralph Nader with being the person who inspired the creation of GIS Day. He considered the event a good initiative for people to learn about geography and the many uses of GIS. He wanted GIS Day to be a grassroots effort and open to everyone to participate. Today, the event provides an international forum for users of GIS technology from across the GIS industry to demonstrate real-world applications that are making a difference in society. Originally the Canada Geographic Information System developed in the 1960s by Roger Tomlinson, it is now used worldwide. Original sponsors of GIS Day included the following organizations:

National Geographic Society American Association of Geographers (AAG), formerly Association of American Geographers University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) United States Geological Survey (USGS) Library of Congress Sun Microsystems Hewlett-Packard Esri King Saud University

Additional resources GeoMentors Program

References

External links Esri GIS Day Website Geography Awareness Week

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with GIS Day

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what GIS Day claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to GIS Day before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about GIS Day ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of GIS Day

In research: GIS Day appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses GIS Day in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: GIS Day is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Geographic information systems, November observances, Wednesday observances, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for GIS Day outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study GIS Day in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what GIS Day means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain GIS Day out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is GIS Day in simple terms?

GIS Day is an annual event celebrating geographic information systems (GIS) based technologies on the third Wednesday of November. The event first took place in 1999.

Why does GIS Day matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study GIS Day?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on GIS Day.