I toured Google Earth and traveled around the globe in 90 minutes. I was able to see Paris, Madrid, travel to South America, Africa and Russia. Google Earth is a lot of fun because in many of the large cities you can zoom in and see buildings in 3D, there are also many tools available on Google Earth that allow you to learn more about the places you visit. There is a tool called layers and you can click on different ones to see roads, restaurants, parks, and even a global awareness layer that allowed you to view areas and learn about the conflicts and issues that people deal with in those regions.
Google Earth can be great in the classroom because it raises awareness in children about the different regions of the world. It can also be used for geography lessons and learning countries , capitals, and locations. Overall it is a great tool that should be used more often by teachers in school. I was able to experiment with Google Earth in a classroom last fall when I took an International Course. The professor had us use the global awareness label to learn about regions in South America, Central America, Africa, Europe and Russia throughout the semester. It really helped add a technological dimension to the class that I hadn't experienced before. By looking at it on my own time I was able to explore some other layers that I didn't use last fall and it was impressive everything that Google Earth includes, I can see why some people worry about it becoming an issue of national security because of the detail in the maps.
I can't wait to explore more of Google Earth and learn more about the countries and people around the world!!
Amanda, I love google earth! Once I was helping in a classroom and teacher was teaching the students about glaciers. Her lesson was so great and really kept the students engaged. She started by using google earth on the promethium board to "fly" the students up to the glacier, she zoomed in to "land" on the glacier. Once on the glacier she presented the students with a giant piece of ice from an actual glacier, then lesson continued with measuring the density of the ice. I think that google earth could be used in so many ways that correspond with lessons of different places or land forms around the world.
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