WHAT IS GOOGLE EARTH?
Google Earth is a program that allows you to explore the planet and beyond from the comfort of your own home. You can go down to street level, all the way to the edge of the galaxy!
WHERE DO YOU FIND GOOGLE EARTH?
Google Earth can be found at http://earth.google.com/
You can download the Basic Google Earth for FREE!
HOW DO I USE GOOGLE EARTH?
Simply go to http://earth.google.com/tour.html and watch the tutorials. It's that easy!
How Can Elementary School Teacher’s Use Google Earth?
There are many uses for Google Earth for elementary school teachers. From project based assessments, to lessons taught through technology, Google Earth can offer a wide variety of resources for elementary school teachers and students.
In our great state of Arizona, teachers must teach according to the state standards, the following are examples of lessons that can be taught using Google Earth, that correspond with state standards.
3rd grade
Social Studies
Strand 4
Geography
Concept 2
PO 1. Locate major physical and human features from content studied (e.g., Greece, Canada, Spain, United States) on maps and globes.
Learning Objective:
The student will locate physical features of countries using maps and globes.
Applying Google Earth
Students can use Google Earth applications to locate different countries. Google Earth brings the world to life for the students and shows more than just lines on a map. Physical features can be identified and talked about as a class. For example, Ms. Brown can ask students to search for China. Students will type China into their "fly to" search box and explore the different physical features of the country. Students learning about China will now have a more in depth concept of what and where China is. Many students see other contries as just "that place over there" with Google Earth, teachers can make the world seem more tangible to students.
4th grade
Social Studies
Strand 4
Geography
Concept 1
PO 5. Describe characteristics of human and physical features: physical – (i.e., river, lake, mountain, range, coast, sea, desert, gulf, bay, strait, plain, valley, volcanoes, isthmus, canyon, plateau, mesa, oasis, dunes)
Learning Objective:
The students will research and describe physical features of the earth.
Applying Google Earth
Forget taking out the geography book and droning out the same lesson on the difference between a lake, river and a bay. With Google Earth, the students can be taught as well as teach themselves, using this hands on “earth search” activity.
In a technologically equipped classroom, students will be given their geographic vocabulary words: river, lake, mountain, range, coast, sea, desert, gulf, bay, strait, plain, valley, volcanoes, isthmus, canyon, plateau, mesa, oasis, dunes.
Each student can use Goolge Earth to search for each and describe what they see. Teachers and students can then have a discussion about their findings.
Virtual Field Trips
Of course, traditional field trips offer the kinds of hands-on experience that no virtual field trip can or should replace. However, virtual field trips can take teachers and students far beyond their local communities, states, countries or hemisphere--- all without transportation, chaperones, permission slips or spending a nickel.
Is your class doing a Social Studies unit on Egypt? Explore the ancient pyramids by typing "pyramids" in the Google Earth Search box and then turning on the 3D buildings layer. Within moments, you are in front of the three Pyramids, viewing them and their surrounding locations. As an added bonus, you can also see the Sphinx. Your field trip to the pyramids can be supplemented by turning on the Panoramio and Wikipedia layers so students can also see photos and read about each pyramid in greater detail. Additionally, the Ruler tool lets students measure how tall each pyramid is and how far each is from the another.
Student Virtual Field Trips
Students can create their own virtual field trips too. For example, they might create "What I did on Summer Vacation" virtual field trips, with journal entries and photos and share their trips with other students in class. Or for a family heritage unit, they might create a trip that maps the journey their forefathers took. This kind of project gives students a sense of where they come from and where they might be going.
From: Google In The Classroom Blog by: Tima Ornduff
HotChalk.com
How Can High School Teachers Use Google Earth?
Just like with elementary school, Google Earth allows high school teachers the opportunity to make their lessons come alive. No longer do children have to sit an wonder about what far off lands look like or be limited to the images in a text book. Now, students can travel to these far off places, and make the lesson that much more meaningful!
Looking at some of the Arizona State Standards, we can look at some practical applications for using Google Earth.
High School Reading Standards
Strand 2
Concept 1
PO 1
Evaluate the author’s use of literary elements:
• theme (moral, lesson, meaning, message, view or comment on life),
• point of view (e.g., first vs. third, limited vs. omniscient),
• characterization (qualities, motives, actions, thoughts, dialogue, development, interactions),
• setting (time of day or year, historical period, place, situation), and
• plot (exposition, major and minor conflicts, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution).
Applying Google Earth
English is a difficult subject to keep kids interested in, but, by integrating Google Earth, this subject can come alive for students.
Take, for instance, the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. For students that have never seen the Mississippi River, envisioning Huck's journey can be quite difficult. With Google Earth, however, students can take this journey themselves!
Students will be broken off into teams, and they will be a worksheet that outlines the key places Huck travels. Students will then have to locate these areas using Google Earth. By being able to see and experience a bit of what Huck goes through, students will have a better appreciation for his journey. Also, after seeing the river for themselves, students will have an easier time reading the book, as they will now have some prior knowledge to help them.
High School Science Standards
Strand 3
Concept 1
PO 2
Describe the environmental effects of the following natural and/or human-caused hazards:
• flooding
• drought
• earthquakes
• fires
• pollution
• extreme weather
Applying Google Earth
Science is a field of study that Google Earth goes very well with.
For this performance objective, students don't have to be left with abstract thoughts or images from a book. During group discussion of these hazards, the instructor can use Google Earth to give students a full understanding of where these types of disasters can occur. For instance, if the instructor was talking about earthquakes, he/she could take the students directly to where earthquakes happen most frequently. Or, if the instructor was talking about floods, he/she could take the students to areas where floods are more prone to happen. Doing this will help illuminate the topic for the students.
From Google for Educators
http://www.google.com/educators/p_earth.html
Additional Teacher Resources
Google has a great deal of tools for teachers to explore other ways to use Google Earth.
They can be found here, at Google's webpage for educators.
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