Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Google Earth


I found Google earth to be priceless. What a wonderful teaching tool to have access to. SOSE has never looked this good.
Google's satellite imagery-based mapping puts the whole world on a student's computer. It enables students to "fly" from space to street level to find geographic information and explore places around the world. Like a video game and a search engine rolled into one, Earth is basically a 3D model of the entire planet that lets you grab, spin and zoom down into any place on Earth. You can tour distant cities, view realistic 3D buildings, and even show students sunset around the world.
Students can also use Google Earth to explore topics like the progress of human civilization, the growth of cities, the impact of civilization on the natural environment, and the impact of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. Students can recreate entire ancient cities. The only limit to Google Earth's classroom uses is your imagination (Google for Educators, 2009).
I have just finished a SOSE assignment titled 'Where Do I Live? Students access Google Earth, type in their address and zoom in to find their house as well as land marks and places of interest to them. Students then discover what else is in there local area. Their are endless ways that Google Earth could be used in the classroom. You can capture the wonder of the universe without leaving your classroom.
Retreived on 18 August, 2009 from:

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