Lab 0: Setting Up Jupyter, Python & GeoPandas

Time: 30–45 minutes  ·  Assessment: ungraded, but a sign-off must be submitted  ·  Deadline: before Lab 1 (Week 9)

Labs 1–4 of the GIS component are assessed and all run in Python/Jupyter. Lab 0 gets your computer ready so that in Lab 1 you spend your time doing GIS, not fixing installations. Work through the six steps below, in order. If anything goes wrong, the Troubleshooting table covers the common problems.

1Install Miniforge (or Anaconda)

The labs use conda to manage Python and its geospatial libraries. Two ways to get it — pick one:

Run the installer with the default options. On Windows, when it finishes you'll have a new Start-menu entry called Miniforge Prompt (or Anaconda Prompt) — that's the terminal you'll use in the next step. On macOS/Linux, use the normal Terminal.

2Create the ENCN205 environment

An environment is a self-contained set of packages — it keeps this course's libraries from interfering with anything else on your machine. Open your Miniforge/Anaconda Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (macOS/Linux) and paste this single command:

conda create -n encn205 -c conda-forge python=3.12 geopandas fiona folium geodatasets mapclassify matplotlib jupyterlab

Press y when asked to proceed. This downloads ~500 MB and takes a few minutes — a good moment to make a cup of tea. When it finishes, activate it:

conda activate encn205

Your prompt should now start with (encn205).

3Launch JupyterLab

With the environment active, start JupyterLab:

jupyter lab

Your web browser will open a page that looks like a file manager with an orange logo — that's JupyterLab, the tool you'll use for every lab. (To stop it later, close the browser tab and press Ctrl+C in the terminal.)

4Download and run the Lab 0 notebook

1. Download Lab0_Setup.ipynb from LEARN.
2. Save it somewhere sensible — e.g. create a folder Documents\ENCN205 and keep all your lab files there.
3. In JupyterLab, use the file browser (left panel) to navigate to that folder and double-click Lab0_Setup.ipynb.
4. Work through it from the top — it teaches you how notebooks work, checks your installation, and makes your first map.

5Confirm you're ready

The final cell of the notebook runs a readiness check. You're done when you see:

🎉  YOU ARE READY FOR LAB 1  🎉

If you got the banner, your environment is working. One short step to go.

6Complete the sign-off and submit it

Lab 0 is ungraded, but you do need to record that your setup is working — this is how we know you're ready before the assessed labs start.

1. Download Lab0_SignOff.html from LEARN and open it in your web browser.
2. Enter your full name and University ID, then answer the 5 questions about what you did in Lab 0.
3. You need 4 out of 5 to pass. You can retake it as often as you like — each attempt draws a new set of questions, and every answer comes with an explanation.
4. When you pass, click Download Sign-Off PNG. This saves a file called ENCN205_Lab0_<yourID>.png.
5. Upload that PNG to the Lab 0 Sign-Off submission on LEARN.

Troubleshooting