Summary
Good. Better. Best. The staff at
Google never stops to rest when it comes to their applications. Google Earth 6.2 is the most rich and versatile
Google mapping tool yet. What’s
better, your personal Google Map can be imported
into Google Earth. Google Earth can be downloaded
to your desktop and used to view geological
features, buildings in 3-D, panoramic photos and more. These images
are brought to you using both hi-resolution
and low-resolution imagery. Much of
what is seen is displayed from satellites; these images may appear pixilated
and are not hi-resolution images. However, Google’s panoramic images and users self-submitted photos were most likely
taken with hi-definition cameras, they images appear less distorted. These images
are seen by operating the application similarly to Google Maps. Users are able
to zoom in and out and scroll across the terrain using a mouse. However, in Google Earth, users are also
able to “travel” using the ground level
view as opposed to a bird’s eye view. In addition, millions of pictures can
be viewed by clicking on the Polaroid icons. Hours could be spent exploring
your neighborhood, a region you’ve always wanted to travel to, the depths of
the ocean, and the wonders of the world (both natural and man-made) that you’ve
only every read about or seen on television.
With Google Earth 6.2, users are
no longer confined to exploring the far reaches of planet Earth. It is now
possible to travel around mars and throughout
the solar system.
What I Did
People
who have access to my Google Map are able to rate it, comment, and open map
with a KWL file in Google Earth. After
taking a look at Google Developers page about KWL, I learned that the acronym
stands for Keyhole Mark-Up Language
which is a file format used for
displaying geographical data (to pinpoint locations, overlay images, etc.). Using
the KWL file option, while it sounds complicated, was one of the easiest tasks
I’ve had to complete yet. With my Google Map open, I clicked “KWL” and…….well,
that was it! Google Earth opened automatically and zoomed in to show my place
marks. From there, I could use Google Earth as normal or click on the place marks to view my descriptions.
How I Use It & What I’ve Learned
I have been using Google Earth
for several years now and have even worked it into previous lessons. One of my
favorite uses for Google is the ocean feature. I have used it in the past to
explore the features of the seafloor with my students. Although, I have not
used Google Earth since it was last updated (the 6.2 version). I was
disappointed to find that the ocean feature, while it had been updated, was
less user-friendly than it had been. In the previous version, it was simple to
plunge into the ocean and scroll along the ocean floor. The updated version
drags the user down to the bottom and has them creep along the bottom by double
clicking to move forward. If there is a landform, the user will be walked into
it and then moved around it. It is a very tedious process and the landforms are
more difficult to define. Unfortunately, I will have to be careful if I choose
to do my sea floor lesson again.
Earth Science is my passion, in
looking through Google Earth lesson plans in Google for Educators,
I found a lesson for a Geological scavenger hunt. It’s the first one on the
list in this Google Lesson Plan Library.
Standards Reflection
When
teachers engage their students in the use of Google Earth in their classrooms,
they are meeting ISTE-NETS-T’s Standard
2 and its components. A typical lesson can be brought to life using Google
maps, an interactive tool that encourages students to explore and make discoveries
by following their interests. Using the varied features Google Earth offers
students can create land marks, videos, measurements, and more to share their
knowledge, develop innovative products, and provide evidence of their learning
for purposes of assessment.
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