Google Earth can be used within virtually all of the content areas that educators teach.For this reason, any library media specialist would benefit from knowing how to use and implement Google Earth.Having this great world of knowledge at your fingertips will take collaborating with all of your staff to a new level.All you need to do is sit back, explore, and make the world your new playground.To help make this possible, I have included on this page some great lesson ideas that you can try out with your collaborating teachers.
Don’t think that Google Earth is just for core subjects either.It can also be used within your library to take students on journeys to places located within great works of literature, demonstrate where authors once lived, help with research projects, among various other lessons. Just use your imagination!
Social Studies
Students can explore and learn about time zones in different regions of the world.Using latitude and longitude coordinates the students can locate some of the major cities in the world via Google Earth.They can then use information about time zones to identify time difference among regions of the world.
Research battles from the U.S. Civil War, creating placemarks, overlays and even ploting troop positions with Google Earth as an integrated part of the lesson.
Students create placemarks of the state capitals after doing research
Science
Learn about the use of wind energy and investigate where wind farms are located within the United States.Discuses what makes these wind farm sites the perfect locations by studying the landscape and geography via Google Earth’s great satellite images.Have students determine, using Google Earth, where another great place for a wind farm would be and have them justify their answers.
Investigate the migratory patters of songbirds (or any animal). Have student's plot and chart the migration paths using Good Earth.
Students create placemarks with details about endangered species, one (or more) per continent after doing research.
Math
Using Google Earth’s 3D building view, calculate the volume and surface areas of popular buildings and landmarks such as the pyramids in Egypt and the CN Tower located in Canada.
Students find ski runs and use measurement and elevation data to determine properties of right triangles.
Measure distance between places.
Express large numbers in Scientific Notation, after measuring the distance between two point, calculating personal rates of walking, crawling, and jumping.
Students connect the monetary units to the related country in a series of exchange rate problems. Each challenge is presented as a word problem which includes a unit rate.
After reading and studying great American poets and poems, have students map out where these poets were from.Along the way, have the students place bookmarks where each one lived, attaching a photo and brief piece of information about each one, on their bookmarks.
Explore the landmarks from a novel by going on a Lit Trip.
Have the students create virtual autobiographies. The students will placemark any places of significance then edit the placemarks to add stories, photos, videos, or URLs. For a twist, have them record their informion in Spanish!! This could also be used to present resesarch on a famous person in history.
Art
Explore where famous art museums and works of art are located using Google Earth.View pictures and experience some of these works of art in a simulated 3D Google Earth world.
Implement It!!
Google Earth can be used within virtually all of the content areas that educators teach.For this reason, any library media specialist would benefit from knowing how to use and implement Google Earth.Having this great world of knowledge at your fingertips will take collaborating with all of your staff to a new level.All you need to do is sit back, explore, and make the world your new playground.To help make this possible, I have included on this page some great lesson ideas that you can try out with your collaborating teachers.
Don’t think that Google Earth is just for core subjects either.It can also be used within your library to take students on journeys to places located within great works of literature, demonstrate where authors once lived, help with research projects, among various other lessons. Just use your imagination!
Have the students create virtual autobiographies. The students will placemark any places of significance then edit the placemarks to add stories, photos, videos, or URLs. For a twist, have them record their informion in Spanish!! This could also be used to present resesarch on a famous person in history.