Google Earth in my Classroom

As I mentioned in my earlier post on Google Earth, I am interested in exploring the oceans feature with my students next year. When we are studying oceans, we learn about the animals that live in some of the ocean zones. Google Earth has an animal tracking feature. On the layers sidebar, you have to click on oceans, then on animal tracking. On your map, different icons will appear that you can click on to find out more about that animal.

When I clicked on the shark, the following pop-up showed up on my screen.

I can get facts about that animal as well as tagged data. I can even swim with that animal to see what the ocean environment looks like. One way I foresee this working in my classroom would be for my students to have a list of animals that they need to find. Then they could read about the animals with the ultimate goal of classifying the zone the animal lives in.

As I was experimenting with this feature, I found that it was a little difficult to navigate around. I think my 4th graders would have trouble with this. I would either navigate around on the big screen so everyone could see at once, or create a pre-recorded tour that visited the animals that I wanted them to visit.

Another way I plan to use Google Earth in my classroom is to explore the rising and setting of the sun. There is a button that shows a sun with a cloud in the toolbar. When you click this, it is dark or light depending on the actual time of day in that location. Students could take a tour to view the rising and setting of the sun and determine time zones of specific locations. Below is a picture that shows how it is dark in one area, but lighter in another.

I am excited to explore Google Earth further and find ways to integrate it in my classroom.