Google Earth remains one of the coolest google applications I have ever used. There are so many resources linked to the newest version listed in the A section under the link for educators. Google Earth 6 provides teachers the ability to let their students explore: mars, distant galaxies through sky, the moon, climate change, historical imagery, the ocean, as well as the usual trees, parks, neighborhoods, and forests aspects. One new feature as well remains especially applicable to social studies teachers--U.S. Presidents section of Google Earth provides teachers and students the ability to learn about U.S. presidents and tour their birthplaces. On the more creative side, students can also design their own galaxy with the liquid galaxy feature of Google Earth 6.
In looking at the high school selection of section B I was able to read about some ideas to incorporate Google Earth into my high school classroom. The idea that was by far my favorite just because of my subject specialty was the "Study the poetry of place." In this idea, students were able to incorporate three aspects of their curriculum-poetry, history, and geography-in their learning. Google Earth provided a new way to analyze our ideas of place. The teacher created a class project in which the students could create a podcast of each poem they studied and embed it not the place mark so they could be listened to. How amazing! So for example a student could read a Langston Hughes poem and embed it into Harlem, New York. I so want to design a lesson in my poetry unit for the future that uses this feature. Another use of Google Earth in my classroom with be as we discussed tracking the characters in a novel such a The Grapes of Wrath where the characters move from place to place.
In looking through section C, I went to the link about Google Earth for educators. I was excited to see some of the resources they had provided. For example, they had a lesson plan library designed specifically to incorporate the use of Google Earth. Some of the lessons were very fascinating there was a lesson over the Renaissance for grade 7 in which the student had to select a specific contributor to the Renaissance movement and locate on Google Earth their home cities and present them to the class. What a great way to explore the cultural aspect of the Renaissance! Also, the Google Earth for educators link had a 'projects for my subject' section that explored my specific subject of Language Arts. For example, one teacher when teaching the novel The Golden Compass asked the students to discover locations from within the film. Another project was to have students explore literature through Google Earth exploring the specific places mentioned--like in The Sun Also Rises, the students could explore the city of Paris and then experience the bull riding streets of Madrid!
It is so magnificent how we can actually share with our students and they can collaborate with classmates to explore the world in which we live currently and also the world in which we previously lived through the historical mapping features as well as explore new worlds of the future by designing your own galaxy! Google Earth provides so many tools to teachers and allows for us to really connect the subject matter we are teaching to actual reality that is relevant to students. Overall, I cannot wait to use this in my classroom!
Excellent!
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