Google This!

November 12, 2007 at 3:45 am · Filed under Google and tagged: Google Earth

Wow, talk about getting kids excited!  My 6th grade students were absolutely enthralled as we panned closer and closer to the Pyramids at Giza.  It was like taking a virtual tour of Egypt.  We looked at the Aswan Dam, the Nile River and its tributaries and the Valley of the Kings.  Of course I’m talking about  Google Earth  .  Even when we couldn’t get a good view of the object we were focusing on, there were still pictures and facts related to each that we could open up and check out.  My students had so many questions about Egypt before we even got started.  The next day I had several students tell me they downloaded the site and looked over areas of Africa. 

Google Earth is a great way to get students to visualize what you are learning about.  Not only that, but it also allows you to show students exactly where the places are in relation to each other that you are learning about.  Another great way to use Google Earth is when showing students what a region is.  That is a very tough concept for some students.  When I showed my students Desert areas in Africa or tundra regions in Antarctica, the rainforest in Brazil or the mountains of the Himalayas, they got it. 

The possibilities are endless.  When reviewing for geographical landforms, I panned in and out of the various capes, bays, peninsulas, isthmuses and straights, all the while asking the students to identify the landforms.  It was a very productive and eye opening lesson for the students.  There were a lot of “oohs” and “aahhs” as the students made connections to what we have been learning in class. 

Now, whenever I start teaching a new geographical area, I usually open up with Google Earth to give the students visuals and background information before we get started. 

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