Students on this trip will fly in the cockpit of a regional aircraft, travel in self-driving vehicles, see how rockets get into space and how we make rural land more productive!
Driverless vehicles or autonomous vehicles? Actually, in New Zealand we prefer to call them self-driving vehicles and you are going for a test-ride. How does this vehicle know where to go? How people are kept safe?
Travelling by plane around New Zealand? Did you know that large jets have their own on-board sophisticated navigation systems? You will travel on the flight-deck of a smaller turbo-prop plane that uses a very new and smart satellite system to help it navigate safely into regional airports. You will meet the aircrew and inspect the flight plan and find out how satellites are helping smaller aircraft to navigate more accurately and safely.
Heard of precision agriculture? Rural land is vital to New Zealand's economy and our well-being. You will meet Otago University researchers and students who are trialling new systems for surveying and mapping rural areas, that are leading to new careers, new ideas and better management of our precious rural land.
Heard of Rocket Lab? Visit a satellite ground station to find out how satellite communications work and how they are used in New Zealand's emerging space programme.
All of this is possible and increasingly convenient and safe because of the continuously improving accuracy of location technology; ‘the science of where’. On this field trip you will find out about SBAS (Satellite-based Augmentation Systems), a new technology that is helping us to better know where we are.
To prepare for this field trip, LEARNZ content will support inquiry into:
- Why maps matter? Location based information and technology
- How GIS and GPS work
- Using GIS to make smart online maps for everyone
- How aircraft navigate
- Smart mobile technologies
- New Zealand and International Positioning Systems
- SBAS: Satellite-Based Augmentation Systems
- Self-driving vehicles
- New Zealand's emerging space industry
- Precision agriculture
- Future Focus - New careers
- The effects of new technology
- Bringing a new technological product to market
During this field trip you will:
- Follow Shelley's tweets on twitter
- Go for a ride in a self-driving vehicle and find out how it knows where it is going
- Inspect the flight plan and go on a flight between two South Island cities
- Visit a satellite ground station and find out how data is transmitted to and from satellites
- Find out how accurate positioning from satellites can help to determine property boundaries
- Find out how accurate positioning from satellites is helping with the management of forests
- Learn about the threat of wilding pines and how they are managed better using geographic information systems (GIS) meet students who are studying for new careers
Learning Areas/Levels:
Science: Levels 2-4
Social Sciences: Geography Levels 6-8
Social Studies: Place and Environment Levels 2-5
Technology: Levels 2-4
For further information and to register: http://rata.learnz.org.nz/summary.php?vft=location182
This is the first of LEARNZ’s transport-related field trips. You might also be interested in LEARNZ: Share the road - design thinking
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