Abstract
The contemporary educational paradigm is characterized by active integration of innovative technologies into the learning process. Geographic information systems represent a promising toolkit for implementing school students' scientific projects, providing opportunities for working with spatial data, their visualization and comprehensive analysis of natural and socio-economic phenomena. The article presents a systematized analysis of theoretical foundations for GIS application in education and examines main thematic areas of school research projects. Special attention is paid to comparative analysis of available GIS software for educational purposes. Functional capabilities of seven software products are analyzed: QGIS, ArcGIS Online, Google Earth Pro, SAGA GIS. Advantages and limitations in the context of school education are identified for each program. Methodological approaches to organizing project activities have been developed, including six main stages: from topic selection to results presentation. The proposed methodological recommendations cover issues of interdisciplinary integration, practical orientation of projects, use of open data and software. Research results demonstrate significant potential of GIS technologies for developing research competencies, spatial thinking and digital literacy of students. The practical significance lies in the possibility of using presented materials for implementing geoinformation technologies in the educational process of secondary schools.