Google Earth
Reasons to use Google Earth
Pupils discover for themselves
Pupils love going around the world and zooming in on Google Earth. Send them on an adventure to find out what mosques have in common. Instead of showing pupils 2D images followed by asking retrieval questions.
Embed global awareness
By repeatedly using Google Earth pupils are able to develop a sense of place and enourages pupils to learn and understand the geography of the world. Improving their ability to link information they have been told to an actual location rather than just an abstract name. This also helps them create links to prior learning.
Real World Context
Make learning relevant and set challenges based in the real world while being stuck in a classroom. Eg. Measure and compare distances between known locations, not a cartoon house and school.
How To
How to make a google earth project: Beginner
Watch this video on how to make a simple google earth project. This projects tells you how to:
Find locations
Zoom in
Capture a street view
Add title pages
How to cheat sheet.
Print off on A3, 9 slides per page, to have on desks to look at while making a project.
Put on Google Classroom for pupils to work through at their own pace.
Lesson Ideas
Look at Greek ruins then find examples of Greek columns on modern buildings.
Use an overlay of an ancient map to compare how people used to think their empire looked.
Travel down the Nile to see how people still rely on it.
Use Timelapse to see changes over time eg. discovering Mayan temples.
Science
Use Timelapse Feature to see how habitats have changed
Follow the migration of animals
Follow the water cycle
Discover different habitats and animals
Find evidence for dinosaurs and evolution
Geography
Go inside a volcano, river etc
Plot volcanoes versus plates
Identify human and physical features
Discover climate zones
Find, label and follow a river from source to mouth
English
Recreate the journey of...
Find a setting & explore.
Interactive comprehension: Read the text to find out where to go and find the next clue.
Read the ABC's from space
In class
Teacher Led Activity
Go through a project together as a whole class on the interactive board. Zooming in on details that you want to highlight or that pupils ask about.
Full screen slides between locations and self-made Knowledge cards allow you to put key questions or relevant facts on to the screen.
Pupil led activity
Share a Google Earth project on google Classroom for pupils to look through. This could be for pupil exploration or directed by key questions and facts displayed on Knowledge cards or on the teachers board.
Example 1: (1 per 4-6pupils)
Explore Greek ruins - What do they have in common? What do these buildings tell us about Greek life?
Then collect ideas, maybe in the comment section on Google Classroom or on mini whiteboards, and then share a second Google Earth project of modern buildings that have been influenced by the Greeks. Pupils then write in their book, how each building has been influenced by the Ancient Greeks.
Example 2: (1 per pupil)
Read an extract of a character's journey around the world, then create their own google earth project of locations mentioned.
Example 3: (1 per pair)
Identify features of a church, mosque etc, by pupils going through a project of different churches around the world. Use Knowledge cards, to give context about the building (eg. An Orthodox church, Cathedral etc. )
Allow pupils to discuss how there are common features in most buildings but that there are still differences depending on the individual beliefs within that religion.
