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Digimap for Schools is celebrating its first birthday with a new free mystery map challenge allowing pupils to identify hidden locations using key geographic information.

The new monthly mystery map challenge, www.digimapforschools.blogs.edina.ac.uk/mystery_maps aims to encourage teachers and pupils to discuss geographical features and identify the mystery location.  Teachers and pupils can post their answers to the location of the mystery map on the Digimap for Schools blog and get the answers on Twitter. 

Digimap for Schools is an online application, developed by EDINA, giving schools easy access to a wide range of Ordnance Survey mapping using a simple login and password. The service is available to all pupils regardless of age. It allows schools to access a variety of mapping scales including Ordnance Survey’s most detailed OS MasterMap and the famous OS Explorer mapping at 1:25 000 scale which is ideal for outdoor activity.

Since Digimap for Schools launched in 2010, new tools that allow pupils to measure distance and area using point and click have been added as well as the ability to add customised labels, points and shapes.  Almost 3 000 schools have registered for Digimap for Schools which is open to all schools in Great Britain via an annual subscription. 

Anne Robertson, Digimap for Schools Service Manager at EDINA, comments:

‘We have received fantastic feedback on the service with many teachers emphasising ease of use.  We will continue seeking feedback from teachers to ensure the service is a valuable teaching resource’.

Elaine Owen, Education Manager at Ordnance Survey, added:

‘It is so useful for staff and pupils to be able to access maps of any area in Great Britain. The system is so easy that teacher supervision is less necessary and creating the output as a PDF is very straightforward.’

Ordnance Survey recently produced a short film showing Digimap for Schools, which is available online (www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7BowYvCUB0). The film shows pupils from St Mark's Primary School in Southampton using the application.

Confirmation of the mystery map location will be revealed on Twitter (twitter.com/Digimap4Schools).

For more information from Ordnance Survey, please contact: 

Rob Andrews – Head of Corporate Communications on 023 8005 5563 or robert.andrews@ordnancesurvey.co.uk