This study sought to determine the effect of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) on the academic achievement and motivation of seventh-grade students. The study used a quasi-experimental design and a set of social studies lessons. The study was conducted over the 2006-2007 academic year on the students of a primary school at Ankara, Turkey's capital city. The study included two groups--a treatment group with 21 students and a control group with 23 students. For the treatment group, a unit on the population of Turkey was given with GIS-based lesson materials. For the control group, the same subject matter was presented using traditional learning methods and traditional maps. At the end of the study, analysis of the data indicated that the academic achievement and motivation of students who used GIS were statistically higher than the achievement and motivation of the control group. The study concludes by offering suggestions based on the results of the research. (Contains 6 tables and 3 figures.)