Google Earth Projects

Google Earth offers a new and different way for students to show what they know.

Created by Scott Aten, February 24, 2020

If you have not looked at Google Earth in awhile, you may want to take a look. There have been many new features added that make it a great tool to use with students. If you are teaching anything that involves locations on our planet from the past or present, then Google Earth can be a useful tool in your teaching tool kit. I recently provided a live PD webcast for Social Studies teachers, but much of what we looked at can be used in other content areas as well. Practical applications include:

Science - Study land forms, glacial geology, tectonics
Social Studies - See locations of various historical events, see the relationship between locations of events by distance.
Language Arts - Lit trips, see locations described in literature
Foreign Language - visit locations where the language is spoken, see how the culture has impacted the architecture and city design.
Mathematics - Measurement tools teach distance, area, and volume (Real World Math), use real-time coordinates to demonstrate distance calculations.
Art History and Architecture - Search for museums, study city planning techniques and trends
More ideas can be found on this website

Google Earth has many built in features that make it more than just a digital globe. Tools and features include:

Quickly find any location on the earth by searching for it by name. Once at the location yo can use the pre-created info cards to learn more about the location, see points of interest, and even add the location to a project.
The Voyager tool takes you to some Google created content that includes an education section. In the education section you will find projects that include topics like: The Underground Railroad, Exploring Earth's Keystone Species, Poetry Around the World, Congressional Redistricting in the United States, and much more.
I'm Feeling Lucky tool takes you to a random spot on our planet. Great intro activity to get conversation started in the classroom.
Projects are a great alternative to PowerPoint or Google Slides and are built right on top of Google Earth. Perfect for you as a teacher to design a lesson presentation taking your students from location to location with ease. Or better - let you students create projects to demonstrate their understanding of what you have been studying.
Measure Distances is a newer tool that allows you to measure the distance from one location to another or find the area of a space you draw on the map. Unit conversion is included as a part of the tool so calculations can easily be changed to whatever units on which you are focusing.

The map tools themselves provide you with the opportunity to zoom in and out of locations, change your view from 2D flat satellite view to 3D model view, and the ability to go down to street view of any location to see what it looks like today. All of this works on the Chromebook, so all of your students will be able to use this great tool.

I am sure that if you do some exploration on your own you will begin to think of many ways that Google

Earth could be used in your classroom to make what you are studying have more impact for your students.

Watch my presentation to see these tools in action.

[Green Google Training Center]

[Click here to go to the YouTube Channel]

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