The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) Foundation recently announced that the UF/IFAS School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences (SFFGS) has been awarded funds to expand a library of surveying and mapping hands-on activities for K-12 clubs, camps, and classrooms.

The project received $28K from NCEES in 2025 based on a proposal by SFFGS Assistant Director for Geomatics Extension Katie Britt. And this year the award has increased to $38K.

The NCEES Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying. It is committed to supporting programs that further the NCEES mission to advance licensure for engineers and surveyors to safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

The first ten kits aka “field trip in a box” were developed in 2025 by Britt and her team contain lessons about communicating with maps, measurements and field notes, compasses and directions, triangles and geometry, surveying with total stations, GPS, landforms and topography, photogrammetry, hydrographic surveying, and GIS and spatial analysis.

The kits come with all equipment and supplies included and the lesson plan with thorough instructions. The goal, according to Britt, is that educators won’t have to purchase any specialized items to complete the assignments such as GPS units, fish finders, laser distance measurers, compasses, rulers, transparency sheets and markers.

According to Britt, the expansion of Hands-on Activity Library for K–12 Surveying Education builds on the success of the lending library of pre-designed, hands-on educational activities related to surveying concepts. The project will expand the contents of each library with new materials linked to standards of learning and will provide permanent access to educational partners dedicated to continuously implementing the curriculum and expanding access to advocates for the profession. Additionally, the project will include a comprehensive promotional campaign to introduce STEM educators and informal educators to the resources and how to use them at conferences and in-service training across the state.

“The first year of the project developing the activities and lesson plans has been really successful, and we’ve been able to introduce a lot of youth to surveying concepts, spatial skills, and surveying as a career. What we realized from the first year is that we needed to focus on getting the word out about the project in year two,” she said.

“We also have a lot of great educational partners, like 4-H camps and school programs who would benefit from permanent access to the materials so they can plan to regularly offer the content — we’re looking forward to giving them their own kits so they can reach their audiences regularly.

“This expansion will allow us to create a few new themed kits,” Britt added. “And we can place the kits in more locations, including with educational partners who need to know they have access as they schedule their programming, and will also allow us to have a few higher ticket demo and activity items that we will not loan out but that we can use for large events.

SFFGS Geomatics Specialist, UF/IFAS Extension Alejandro Perez, PSM, said that seeing the kits go from concept to reality had been gratifying.

“It has been great seeing these kits go from random notes on pieces of paper to boxes filled with supplies and bound lesson plans,” Perez said. “Seeing the excitement from the kids and educators at our soft-launch events has been such a rewarding experience and am looking forward to hitting the road promoting these kits at events statewide. I believe this next phase will open the flood gates of geospatial education for us and will really make in the difference in the lives of the youth and the future of the surveying and mapping profession.”

SFFGS Geomatics Student Katie Howard works with Britt and Perez at geomatics extension events around the state. She uses the kit contents while giving lessons to youth throughout Florida.

“I love seeing the kids get excited and learn what surveying is,” said Howard who is a 4-H alumnus. I love seeing their awe that the activities we do can become a job.”

The kits are available to be signed out from locations throughout the state including UF/IFAS REC offices, 4-H camps, the Sun Coast Youth center, Alachua County 4-H office and more.

Interested educators or youth group leaders interested in obtaining a kit can request one from the SFFGS Geomatics Extension team by emailing geo-extension@ifas.ufl.edu.

Learn more about SFFGS Geomatics Extension here.

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