Google Earth for Younger Students

I am interested in finding examples of educators who use Google Earth with primary (k-3) students.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lisa Glickman on July 25, 2008 at 7:36pm

I teach first grade and have used it a little bit when we were doing a unit on Israel. We took a "virtual trip" using Google Earth and the active board (smart board). The kids loved it. We pretended we were going on a real trip. We made paper suitcases earlier in the week and they drew and labeled different things in their suitcases that they would need to take with them based upon what they already learned about Israel. We had discussed and learned about certain cities and landmarks and we were able to "fly" right over and see all of them! It was great and the kids really enjoyed it!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Donna Hebert on July 25, 2008 at 9:30pm

Thanks Lisa! I appreciate your feedback.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Derwin Kitch on July 26, 2008 at 10:24am

My students love Google Earth. I allow it at Open Lab at lunchtime and you'll often see many students on it searching for their house and their Grandma's house and so on. Some play the flight simulator too, which is quite good.

In class, you can turn on the lines of latitude and longitude and study that. We've taken screenshots of various geographical features and pasted them in to a word processor thus making flash cards.

The virtual trips are great. We've covered the differences between city, suburbs, towns, villages, etc.

In Grade 5 we made 10 placemarks which representated key dates in the life of their choosen explorer. With each placemark, they had to include a brief explanation of what occured at that location. This could easily be done with Grade 3s.

It's also a great way to study countries and borders. There are also so many overlays that are great. Our Grade 2s were studying pollution and deforestation and there is a great overlay available via download that shows clear cutting in Brazil. There's just so many of the overlays out there that it's hard to describe all of their uses. Check out www.gearthhacks.com.

We've even talked about playground boundaries and how to get to the gym (it's a large campus) with the image of our school.

I'm really interested in hearing how others use it as well!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Donna Hebert on July 26, 2008 at 12:16pm

Thanks Derwin, especially for the link. It will be interesting to see what kinds of stories educators have to share.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Helen Otway on July 26, 2008 at 6:17pm

Hi Donna,

My Grade 4s used it to look at the different views from bird's eye view to oblique view. We then compared this to what we saw in a traditional atlas. We discussed which view was best for different situations. We discussed how features can be lost in bird's eye view and that in oblique view things at the back can be hidden. Then the students created their own maps based on what they had learnt.

Helen

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Donna Hebert on July 28, 2008 at 2:21pm

Nice! I like how you connect GE to traditional atlases and ask them to make inferences from the comparison.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ann on July 26, 2008 at 8:25pm

I was looking for something for my younger students and found a website called Google Lit Trips a while back. I used an idea to use with the book Make Way for Ducklings. I wrote a blog post about my research and the actual lesson. Hopefully, you will find that helpful.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Donna Hebert on July 28, 2008 at 2:20pm

Thanks Ann!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Bob F. on July 28, 2008 at 10:34pm

Our 4th graders were studying the Yukon River; geography, cultures, history, et al. We used GE to look at the course of the river from Whitehorse to the mouth. We could zoom in on various small villages along the route (some are really quite clear, others are just dots).
We were able to connect sites on the computer with the sites they'd read about in some literature and with sites that a parent showed in his presentation on his trip down the river.
I'm hoping to expand the project this year with a new group of munchkins.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Donna Hebert on July 30, 2008 at 9:12am

Were you reading The Call of the Wild?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lorraine on July 29, 2008 at 11:54pm

My students follow a sailor as he takes ocean voyages. Twice a week we look at the web posts for his current latitude and longitude and I help the students post his location on Google Earth. His next voyage will be the Vendee Globe in November 2008.