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Greenspace can have a significant positive effect on improved concentration duration, behaviour in the classroom, and educational and social development for school-aged children. This paper uses Geographical Information Systems to explore academic achievement and greenspace in New Zealand. Using multivariate linear regression, the association between greenspace exposure and the percentage of children achieving above academic attainment expectations was examined, controlling for gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic status was the most significant predictor of academic achievement. Weak associations between greenspace, academic achievement, gender, and ethnicity were observed. Unexpectedly, academic achievement negatively correlated with greenspace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetation in Antarctica consists mainly of algae, moss and lichen and is interesting to research because of the isolation and extreme growing conditions. An understanding of this vegetation is important for both the management of tourism in Antarctica, and because it provides a potential barometer of global climate and environmental change. This paper demonstrates two applications of GIS to mapping vegetation in Victoria Land, Antarctica. The first application computes the changes that have occurred to the vegetation within a 120 m by 28 m plot between 1962 and 2004. The second application maps and analyses the growth of a lichen specimen ( Buellia frigida) during the same period. These applications demonstrate that GIS is a multiscale technology that can be used to detect detailed change in vegetation growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the revised New Zealand Curriculum provides an excellent opportunity to investigate GIS-based learning pedagogies within the social sciences classroom. The new curriculum privileges inquiry-based activities with a more participatory approach to learning, providing students with greater autonomy in their studies. This paper emphasises the value of GIS technology for extending student learning when situated within a problem-based learning (PBL) framework. Using GIS, students undertake geographic inquiry through meaningful learning grounded in constructivist learning theory. PBL is well suited as an instructional strategy for integrating GIS as students actively learn when presented with authentic, real-world problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public health planners should be providing evidence to the public that maternity units are fairly distributed. This research demonstrates how a Geographical Information System (GIS) can be used to provide information on travel time to the closest maternity unit from the 38 000 population census enumeration districts in New Zealand. The distribution of accessibility is mapped and regions and population groups that appear under-serviced are highlighted. We conclude by stating that GIS accessibility models provide important evidence for health policy and that the information generated from these models should be routinely produced for a wide range of health services and communicated to the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]