My Tracks - data collection My Tracks - data collection

With an Android smartphone and the My Tracks app, your students can collect record their movements, i.e. they can collect data relating to time, GPS position at a given time. Based on that information the app can calculate such things as max speed, average speed, amount of time without movement. This set of data can be used in a wide range of teaching and learning activities.

Combining this with the power of Google Maps and Google Earth adds additional possibilities.

Let's say we want to work with energy and consumption. With My Tracks we can have students gather data relating their own transport, that of their parents, transport for different purposes - shopping, work, spare time activities etc.

You may start by having your students suggest hypotheses that they could explore - and discuss what data they need to collect in order to verify the hypotheses. Hypotheses are discussed and put into perspective so that they are related to more general themes - such as:

  • Energy consumption in connection with transport - oil and gasoline, costs, planning routes according to distances, height differences, traffic congestion (amount of idle time versus actual driving time), work-home commuting, teleworking etc ...
  • Energy consumption by motion: bicycle time - time, exercise, burning calories, health and societal consequences of this - or lack of it.
  • The family's energy consumption: transport patterns, private car(s), public transportation, bicycle, on foot - area of residence - work / school
  • Energy savings in transport: how can a family , business or society control or plan transportation needs, enabling you to save energy? Are areas there where we with an improved calculation and planning could save gas and thus reduce our carbon dioxide emissions?
  • Transport times on the same route at different times of the day, consequences for the consumption of energy and use of time?

Ideas relating to this
The same basic approach with the collection of GPS data by the students, using their own smartphones or appliances with similar functionality, may be used in a number of different ways: you may focus on

  • physical movement, exercise and health
  • use of fossile energy for transport (to and from work, for shopping, or for spare time activities etc),
  • as input for discussions concerning traffic planning
  • GSP and satellite-based navigation
  • Work on the earth and latitude and longitude issues
  • The complex formulas for figuring out distances in meters between two sets of latitude/longitude points etc.

Other ideas
If you are a language teacher, you may do something completely different with the same app and the same basic idea of gathering data relating to time and place.

You may, for instance, have your students prepare a series of guided walks for tourists, where they record the route using My Tracks, take pictures of buildings and other attractions, upload the data to Google Maps, finde relevant information to add to the building and attractions and finally present it in English, German, French or some other language.