Google Earth

This week we researched google earth and found out about some of its cool features. Before this I had only done the basic "type in your address and see your house", but this went far beyond this. I had never thought about using google earth to take my students on a field trip. Dr. Graham pointed out that we will not have the ability or funds to take our students on very many field trips where we leave the classroom. But if you use google earth, you don't have to! You can see the Sphinx in Egypt, or go to the coast of the Pacific Ocean in California where sea turtles lay their eggs, or see the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The possibilities really are endless because you can locate places all over the world using google earth. One girl even found a site where she located cloud formations with google earth.

At this site below it has lots of kmz files, ones which you open with google earth, everything from history to art. I found a really cool project someone did with the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Before I found this file I had thought about doing a project with google earth on the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World site

I would use this video in my class to take my students on a time travel "vacation" around the world. At each place we visited, we could imagine what is was like at the time that structure was built (like what were the conditions when the Sphinx was constructed in Egypt?)

Once again, an amazing feature of technology I can use in my classroom!