Sentinel: safeguarding Australia with geospatial sciences

• This resource is very useful for the year 8 geography curriculum, in particular the content description in the Reshaping the nation unit of study referring to students using information and communication technologies to construct maps. The Sentinel application, accessed from a link on the left-hand side of the resource, enables students to create their own maps of fire-affected areas using the tools provided in the toolbar and the side tab bar. The Help menu on the side tab bar provides tips to enable the user to understand and use all the functions of the application.
• The resource may contribute to students attaining those elements of the year 8 geography achievement standard that refer to using data, graphical representations and maps that conform to cartographic conventions. The Sentinel application enables students to use the satellite technology to zoom in on or span across locations on the map, measure the distance between locations on the map, manipulate layers displayed on the map and create their own maps.
• The resource may be useful for the Landscapes unit of study in year 8 geography, in particular for the content description referring to the causes of geomorphic hazards. The Sentinel application enables students to identify a fire, zoom in on the location to identify the surrounding landscape, and access information about the fire hazard such as weather conditions.

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