Hoërskool Oosterlig wins the City’s first online Geography competition
It gives me great pleasure, on behalf of the Department of Development Planning, to congratulate Hoërskool Oosterlig for winning the City of Johannesburg’s first online Geography competition.
Between 1 October and 3 November, 67 Grade 10-12 learners from 10 high schools participated in the first ever MAPLETICS Geography Challenge, developed by the Corporate Geo-Informatics (CGIS) Directorate.
The competition, in collaboration with geospatial industry software provider Esri South Africa, forms part of the CGIS’s efforts to expose school children to Geo-Informatics Systems (GIS) and encourage them to sharpen their skills in the field.
I would like to commend all schools for their participation in the MAPLETICS Geography Challenge. Competitions such as these contribute to teaching young people how geography can be used in the real world through Geo-Informatics and maps.
The benefits of Geo-Informatics for local government include improved decision making, citizen engagement and service delivery, which are priorities for this administration.
The first of its kind online competition, which was developed with the aim of making learning Geography fun, covers the Grade 10 – 12 Geography curriculum.
The CGIS team and developers at Esri South Africa sat together to formulate 130 questions over four levels, based on their school text books, Johannesburg tourism and landmarks, visual maps, as well as basic general knowledge.
Learners and teachers could download the MAPLETICS app for free on desktops, laptops, tablets, as well as on their mobile phones.
Participants were required to answer five random questions per level. Tokens were awarded for five correct answers, while bonus points were accumulated when questions are answered in the quickest time.
The learners of Hoërskool Oosterlig, also known as team BeterAsBeterAsCasey, won the competition with 1220 points.
As their prize, the school will receive a GIS experience at their school early in the 2018 academic year. Details of this will be confirmed in due course.
COUNCILLOR FUNZELA NGOBENI
MMC: Development Planning
For media queries, please contact:
Poppy Louw
Stakeholder Manager
Office of the MMC: Development Planning
Tel: 011 407 6695 | Cell: 081 235 4999 | E-mail: poppyl@joburg.org.za
