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EAST Home: Projects: Completed: Mission Aqueduct
 
Mission Santa Ines Aqueduct Mapping
Dynamic GIS: Geography, History, and Technology
 
Jump to: Team - Summary - Tools - Procedure - Conclusion - Photo Gallery - File Downloads - Links
 
SYV EAST Mission Aqueduct Project

Team:

  • Erin Gnekow, Powerpoint, Photoshop, Flash, Research
  • Jessie Gavlak, Powerpoint, Writer
  • Tim Manchester, GPS and GIS
  • Clay Garland, GPS and GIS
  • Phil Hauck, Video
  • Ian Blumenthal, Animation
  • Peter Oliver, Web
  • Nate Breen, Photoshop, Animation
  • Erica Valdes, Photographer, Graphics
  • Daniel Schley, GPS, Model builder
  • Emily Garland, Photoshop
  • Jason Lambert, Model builder
  • Erik Glendinning, Photoshop
  • Elizabeth Spurbeck, Graphics
  • Mike Carlson, Microstation
  • Breanna Schlaggs, Powerpoint, Writer, Graphics, Research
  • Kim Merz, Teacher
  • Chip Fenenga, Teacher

Summary:

  1. The class was awarded the Geospatial Solutions Outstanding Project Award in August 2004
  2. The students have presented and defended their work Feb 4th in Solvang and Feb. 13 - 15, 2004 at San Luis Obispo in the California Missions Foundation Conference.
  3. The students presented on the water systems at Mission Santa Inés in April 2004 as part of a professional lecture series.
  4. The students have presented all work, models and animations at the 200th anniversary in Sept, 2004 at the Mission. The work was displayed at the Santa Ynez valley Historical Society. Their work will be cataloged and become part of the museum's permanent archives under curator Bill Warwick.
  5. The students work has prompted the Trust for Historic Preservation to mount a water wheel at the Grist Mill and involve us in a committee for planning for the site.
  6. California history has the potential to be rewritten if scholars agree with the findings. In 1821 - 1822 Joseph Chapman built a fulling mill that could have used the system we have mapped. If this is true then that predates the first industrial application on the West Coast of the United States by 25 years. This pushes back the clock and would require a rewriting of history according to UCSB Economic Professor Dr. Ken Harwood and UC archaeologists.
  7. The potential to save areas for future studies. After meeting With Dr. Gerry Spurbeck, Director of the Parish Mission Restoration Committee, they want to commit resources to putting up signs and restoring a small section of the aqueduct for display.
  8. All local 4th grade classes at 6 elementary schools will have a better understanding of the Mission system, the use of modern technology, and California Standards- based assessments. Field trips to the sites, video, dioramas and powerpoints will be given to those schools.
  9. The class received the California Governor's Award for Historic Preservation in 2004.
  10. The work has been published in the following journals, Geospatial Solutions - August 2004, Santa Ynez Guest Magazine - fall 2004, Technology and More Issue 1 2004

Tools:

  • Adobe Photoshop: Editing pictures
  • Adobe Premier: Video editing
  • Casablanca: Video editing
  • Macromedia: Web features
  • Geomedia, Arcview, and Pathfinder: Documentation of sample area
  • Microsoft Excel: Spreadsheet for data collection
  • Microsoft PowerPoint: Creating various slideshows
  • Microsoft Publisher: Informational brochure
  • Microsoft Word: Creating publications
  • Solid Edge: Booth design
  • Wacom: Image Processing
  • Softimage, 3D Studio Max: animation
  • Microstation J: CAD design
  • Topo, Terrain Pro, Vue, Bryce: Terrain display and modeling

Procedure:

"This is the best example of the use of historical research, geophysics and archaeology to solve a particular problem that I have EVER seen!" -Dr. Robert Hoover, Professor Emeritus Cal Poly SLO

The Environmental and Spatial Technologies (EAST) class at Santa Ynez High School used technologies, experts, original documents, and student curiosity in a project to attempt to map the ancient water system at Mission Santa Ines. For their work they received the California Governor's Award for Historic Preservation in 2004. In the process, the students may have pushed back the bounds of history and developed a complete mapping of a 200 year old mystery. It is a story of technology, education, community service and history.

Funded by a grant in 2002, EAST is a class devoted to using technology to solve real problems. Students have a wealth of technologies available to them including CAD, GIS, GPS, animation, video, and graphics. This project had 19 students (grades 9 - 12) meet with various professionals, present to many groups, overcome problems and defend their findings as a team.

Seeds for the project were planted when Mike Loehr, who documented and helped represent Mission Santa Ines when it received National Historic Landmark District status in 1998, approached the class and asked about the possibility of mapping the water system using GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) technologies. The aqueduct was installed underground to supply water to the Mission for use by the Chumash natives and missionaries. This had never been done before and was a challenge as development is increasingly reaching out into the area.

The students began by researching all that was known about this mission through archives, databases and other libraries. The student teams then used Trimble GPS units to map four known aqueduct location sites. These were found in EIR reports for housing developments done in 1980. GIS expert students teams then began to extrapolate where sites could be using ESRI GIS technologies and data sets.

After mapping possibilities based on elevation contours, the class discovered 2 previously unknown sites along the 500 foot contour and also found where the aqueduct system crosses a large road into a commercial development built in the 1940's. The students then sent pictures, phoned and e-mailed expert archaeologists, who came out and confirmed the sites. The students continued to map and inventory historic sites like the Chapman fulling mill as well as the Zanja Cota ditch, used for irrigation and water supply.

Conclusion:

The class wrote a professional paper to be published, presented at the 2003 California Missions Foundation Conference, and presented their work in a series of lectures at the Mission, Rotary Meetings and community forums. For their work, the class has been nominated by UCSB Anthropology Department Chair Dr. Mike Glassow for the prestigious California State Governor's Historic Preservation Award. Students are peeling back 200 years of history and making it come back to life. "What some people call results, we know are just beginnings," noted teacher Chip Fenenga. Students Erin Gnekow, Jessie Gavlak, Tim Manchester, Clay Garland, Phil Hauck, Ian Blumenthal, Peter Oliver, Nate Breen, Erica Valdes, Daniel Schley, Emily Garland and Jason Lambert were all involved in this project. This work can be seen at this web page in Geospatial solutions Magazine; http://www.geospatial-online.com/geospatialsolutions/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=107295&pageID=2

"You have done a great job documenting the aqueduct and have effectively integrated it into an educational format"
-Dr. Mike Glassow, UCSB

Photo Gallery:

Mission SignGIS in fieldAqueductMission GardenResearch3d MaxScreenshot

File Downloads:

Main Report and Summary [MS Word] (314MB!)
Guest Magazine Feature [PDF]
Santa Barbara News Press Article [PDF]
Founder's Award Presentation [Powerpoint]

Links:

Geospatial Solutions - 1st Place 2004 Innovative Use of GIS - August 2004 issue
EAST 2004 - Outstanding Individual Project - Mission Aqueduct
EAST 2004 - Founder's Award - Best exemplifies the ideas of EAST

California Governor's Award for Historic Preservation - 11/17/2004 for the Mission Aqueduct
ESRI - Communty Atlas Award - Site License of ESRI Arcview GIS
Santa Ynez Valley Historical Society - Museum presentation July / August 2004

Letters of Support:
Dr. Joyce Hinkson - CDE
California Secretary of Education Jack O'Connell
Governor Arnold Schwartznegger

 
Jump to: Team - Summary - Tools - Procedure - Conclusion - Photo Gallery - File Downloads - Links
 

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