I have explored Google Earth for the first time.
I have seen it used by others and heard a lot about the different features but I had never had the time to explore it for myself before.
My first impression was that it was just a bit of fun for me (and the students) to look at an aerial view of their houses. But the more time I spent going through all the features, the more classroom application possibilities I could see.
This program would have been great last year in my prac class when I was teaching the students about the water cycle. We could have ‘gone to’ the local dam that supplies the area rather than just talking about it. When I was teaching a lesson on ‘bird’s eye view’ and mapping, this would have been the perfect introduction to what building like the school look from a different perspective. It would also have been useful when we were discussing the development and changes on the Sunshine Coast as I found a function that allowed you to look at a location now and then compare it with images dating back to 8 years ago.
However, my favourite thing about Google Earth (so far) is not on earth at all, I loved the function that lets you look at the Sky, Moon or Mars. It was amazing to see all the different Moon landing sites and the geographical features of the Moon. I was enthralled with this tool for several hours so I can imagine that the students would love it also.
One consideration when using this site, as with most of the tools, students would need ‘play time’ to explore the tool first (such as looking up their house) before they are required to use it for more in-depth research.
Google Earth would be an excellent tool for Accessing and Using Information. It could even be used to Synthesis information using the record function to create a presentation.
I will finish blogging now and go back to playing with Google Earth!
The journey continues – I’m on the journey to see more of Mars,
Lynn
Hi Lynn,
ReplyDeleteI have only used Google Earth in the classroom once and have never really looked into the details of this tool. I never knew that you could look at the Moon, Sky and Mars or that you can rewind the time to see what particular destinations looked like in the past.
This post has been excellent for me to read and to gain insight into the other features of this tool. I will most definately have a more thorough play of this tool!
Thanks Lynn,
Elly
Hi Lynn,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Elly, I never knew Google Earth had all of those extra features either as I have never really explored the tool. When I lived in New South Wales I would go on Google Earth and tag all my Queensland friends houses so that I could get a concept of where they lived, however that was the extent of my exploring. But your comment about using the tool when you were doing the water cycle made me realise that we could have done the same thing within our classroom and I never even thought about it. It makes me wonder what other tools are out there that could help when teaching.
Ashleigh