How great is Google Earth? If you’ve never used this amazing tool, then I highly encourage you to download the app and start today!
Go to the Lourvre, the Colosseum, the Parthenon, the Pyramids at Giza, the Empire State Building, or Ground Zero. (I used Google Earth on September 11 to visit the memorials…what a great way to discuss what happened on that day!)
I briefly discussed Google Earth in my Essential iPad Apps post, and I hope to highlight this awesome app more below!
Before I begin, let’s look at some basics about Google Earth.
- Google Earth is available on multiple devices
- iPhone
- iPad
- iPod Touch
- PC and Mac
- This tool is FREE!
- If you use the iPad version…
- Add “layers” to Google Earth to show various features
- businesses
- roads
- 3D buildings
- wikipedia descriptors
- panoramio photos
Just yesterday, I used Google Earth while discussing American Imperialism. Actually showing my students the Iolani Palace of the last Hawaiin queen connected them more with the content! We were able to use the “street view” function to get a true street level view of what this palace looks like. What a neat teaching tool!Students love to go “inside” the White House. Simply use the search feature and type “White House.” Google Earth zooms in and voila! There’s the White House! Using your fingers (on an iPad of course) zoom in closer to the building. Then, choose the “street view” character. When you have selected “street view,” blue lines will appear indicating the spots that this tool can be used. If you place the “street view” character on top of the White House, you can enter many rooms within the White House…you can even zoom in enough to read the titles of books on display in the library!
Below are some great resources for using Google Earth in your classroom! We are all enduring budget cuts that prevent us from taking our kids on field trips…use Google Earth to go on a virtual field trip!
Check back for more information about virtual field trips and “distance learning” using Google Hangouts!
Thanks for reading 🙂
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