9-A-1 Google Earth for Educators
I would recommend GoogleEarth to visual learners. Really, I would recommend this to anyone because it is so fantastic. I think Google Earth would help students understand landforms and any aspect of geography. Many times, students don’t understand the difference between a city, country and continent. GoogleEarth would help them grasp and visualize the differences between these descriptions. To better understand landforms, students could “fly” from Maryland to Las Vegas and describe the differences in landscape.
Students also need to build background for settings of stories, and GoogleEarth would also be a great way to do that. For example, the story The Cricket in Times Square takes place in Times Square, obviously. Students don’t always have a good picture of New York City, and flying above Manhattan would help them see the setting of the story more clearly. I think GE would help provide a sense that the world is bigger than what they see everyday. Perhaps a global view?
There is a Google Earth Educator’s Forum and there is a page containing lesson plans for GE. The possibilities are endless for teachers of all levels and of all subjects.
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Google Earth is so cool! My husband and I love to jeep the old mining trails on top of the Rocky Mountains. We can follow our trails with Google Earth. In the fall you can even see when the trails start to get covered with snow. For students, it allows them to manipulate the places and routes rather than just looking at a globe or atlas. There are lots of great options with it!
Posted April 29, 2008, 7:24 pmGoogle Earth is growing and maturing at a very fast pace. I have used it to do “Flat Standley” projects with younger students and to show my son where all his relatives live in comparison to us.
One of the most powerful features of this mature Google Earth is the interweaving of social issues with the maps and landforms. The most famous that I know of so far is th Darfur information. Very powerful.
Posted April 29, 2008, 8:38 pmI have just started to explore Google Earth but it is pretty cool! Nice lesson tie in for history (and obviously geography). We have been using it to look at the landforms and waterways for battles in the 1800s.
Chris, did you know that Flat Stanley was started by a teacher in London, On?
Posted May 3, 2008, 7:51 amI absolutely fell in love with this web application. My husband is a 7th grade social studies teacher and I immediately thought of him utilizing this tool in the classroom with his students. He is not however what I would call technology savy, but he’s getting there. What I also found very helpful, were the lesson plans that they included. One other thought that came to mind for utilzing this application would be when you are planning your next vacation. So cool!
Posted May 4, 2008, 8:55 am