Five Ideas for Using Google Earth & Maps for More Than Social Studies Lessons

For some motivation on this subject have a look at Monet Was Here on Google Arts & & Culture.

One of my goals for the workshop is to help participants develop ideas for using Google Earth and Google Maps for more than just location and history lessons. To that end Ive put together a brief list of concepts and resources for using Google Earth and Google Maps in numerous subject areas.
In Google Earth and on Googles My Maps services your students can develop their own trips highlighting essential locations in a book or important places in the life of an author.
ArtBy utilizing Googles My Maps tools or the desktop variation of Google Earth, trainees can map the areas of where a piece of regional art is housed, where it was created, and the locations that influenced the artist.

Later on this week Im conducting an online professional development workshop about Google Earth and Maps. Among my objectives for the workshop is to assist individuals develop ideas for using Google Earth and Google Maps for more than simply geography and history lessons. To that end Ive created a brief list of ideas and resources for using Google Earth and Google Maps in several subject locations.
Language ArtsGoogle Lit Trips is probably the most popular example of using Google Earth in the context of language arts. Google Lit Trips are Google Earth trips based upon authors and books. In Google Earth and on Googles My Maps services your trainees can produce their own tours highlighting crucial places in a book or essential places in the life of an author.
ScienceGoogle Earth provides an excellent method for students to explore interesting geological landmarks in 3D. Utilizing the timeslider in the desktop variation of Google Earth can show students the changes in a landscape due to erosion and other natural and man-made forces.
There is no lack of lesson plans featuring Google Earth offered online. A couple that I suggest taking a look at are Rich Treves flooding and volcano lessons and Whats a Watershed developed at the Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College.
MathFor K-5 class there is probably no much better place to start than on Tom Barretts Maths Maps site. There you will discover short, Google Maps-based activities that need trainees to carry out measurements and utilize arithmetic to answer questions. The activities represent an excellent combination of mathematics and geography.
You will want to check out Real World Math if you have middle school or high school students. On Real World Math you will discover lesson plans that utilize Google Earth for teaching the ideas used in computing volume of solids, timezones, and rocketry..
Physical EducationPerhaps my favorite usage of Googles My Maps is for preparing safe walking, treking, and biking routes. You can also utilize Google Earth to help trainees comprehend how elevation modification modifies the speed at which routes are completed.
ArtBy using Googles My Maps tools or the desktop variation of Google Earth, trainees can map the locations of where a piece of regional art is housed, where it was created, and the places that inspired the artist. Each placemark on a trainees map might include a photo of the artwork, an image of the artist, and or a video about the art and artist. To offer a total image a trainee can include text and links to more info about the art and artist.

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