Google Earth

Google Earth is an incredible tool which can be used to explore language, arts, maths, science, and social studies across a wide range of year levels, particularly upper primary. According to Google Earth (2011), it allows you to travel the world through a virtual globe and view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings and much more. As such, you can click on any location/landmark on the virtual globe and view images and information related to that location. Additionally, you can get directions from one place on the world to another where the route is shown on the map as well as written instructions. This can be seen in the image below.

As I continue to explore this tool, I have found that there are many endless possibilities for its use in the classroom. Whilst exploring this tool, I found it very easy to navigate and trial the different features available thus, making this an appropriate tool for all year levels, particularly upper primary.

For example, the 3D buildings feature on Google Earth could be used in the classroom to analyse the effects of a tsunami on a city before designing a safer city. Students could either work in small groups or individually to make decisions about hazards and building locations. Using Google Earth, students could locate existing hospitals and consider the impacts of it relocating such as population, access to roads and transportation. They could then create a new place mark for the new hospital and describe their reasoning.

While exploring this tool I also found the ‘ruler’ feature where two locations can be selected and the distance between each is provided. Once the distance is provided students could work out how long it would take to get to certain locations going certain kilometres per hour. This provides children with meaningful and real life contexts.

Google Earth Classroom Resources (2011) offers a number of possibilities for use in the classroom by both teachers and students.

The State of Queensland (Department of Education) (2002) believes that this tool can effectively promote higher order thinking and a problem based curriculum by providing learners wit the resources they need to independently solve problems and locate information of a geographical nature. As this is a tool which I have previously used within learning experiences, it will most definitely be a tool which I will endeavour to use in future teaching and learning practices.

References

The State of Queensland (Department of Education). (2002). A guide to productive pedagogies: Classroom reflection manual. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Queensland Government.