Google Earth Lessons

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Google Earth News

May 4th, 2008 - Flat Stanley icon for use with the Flat Stanley Project. Just a fun little thing that I was tinkering with...

Paste the web address below into your placemark's custom icon location and you can have Flat Stanley show up on earth wherever your class sent him!

http://gelessons.com/graphics/flatstanleyicon.gif

If you haven't heard of Flat Stanley, he is a boy who gets flattened one night and has a series of wonderful adventures. Written by Jeff Brown, Illustrated by Tomi Ungerer (originally) and published by Harper and Row in 1964, Flat Stanley (Amazon.com - Scholastic) inspired a whole series of Flat Stanley books as well as the 'Flat Stanley Project' (www.flatstanley.com) where Stanleys are mailed around the world and students write stories of his adventures.

It struck me that it might be fun to send Stanley around the world in Google Earth.

Stanley at Buckingham Palace with 3D model (click for full size)

The full lesson is still under development, but you can get started with your kids today with a little imagination and some placemarks that ask good questions to spur writing and literacy.

Just create a placemark where Stanley is visiting, click the yellow thumbtack to change the icon:

, click the 'Add Custom Icon button' and paste in the green URL above.

Then click OK, OK and there's Stanley! Hope you have some fun with this one, and feel free to share success stories with me by emailing "david AT gelessons.com" (except with @ instead of the AT of course).

May 4th, 2008 - New Nifty Trick - Insta-Topos with WMS - Learn how to add dynamic topographic maps to anywhere in the US in two minutes or less, as well as get introduced to the power of Web Map Services (WMS) and some of its limitations.

Becomes...

May 4th, 2008 - Super Workshop-Ready Manual for teaching with GE! Frank Taylor at the Google Earth Blog spotted another great educational resource for teachers who are interested in using Google Earth entitled "Designing and Creating Earth Science Lessons with Google Earth" by a team of teachers in New York, including Steve Kluge (Fox Lane HS), Drew Patrick (Fox Lane HS) and Eric Ferman (Eastchester HS). The long single page is a wonderfully concise, to the point, well illustrated tutorial on how to use Google Earth in your lessons. I can really see this document being successfully used as the basis for any number of workshops and staff development opportunities. They are also kind enough to include the page as a PDF download as well! A great collaborative effort and well worth spending some time on before leaping in to teaching with Google Earth (and a lot less overwhelming than this site is :-) Great job guys!

April 20th, 2008 - Juicy Geography offers new lesson! - Noel Jenkins continues his series of powerful, challenging lessons with an examination of land use policies surrounding Stonehenge. The lesson utilizes a broad range of materials and Google Earth capabilities as students justify their chosen solution in dealing with the challenges facing this remarkable landmark and World Heritage site. Designed for 12-14 year olds, the lesson can be customized for other age groups.

April 15th, 2008 - Google Releases Version 4.3! Today Google released the latest upgrade to Google Earth and there are some fantastic changes! Navigation has been simplified with new controllers (which I am still getting used to):

You can also click on the surface of Earth to zoom and control:

But aside from the navigation changes, some content changes have occured as well. There is now the ability to show the day/night sides of Earth with the current dividing line,

the ability to view Street View images of select cities (formerly only available in Google Maps, be careful though, it makes performance of the computers and network drop significantly):

Word is that the new Mac version also now supports the Flash based content like movies and Quia content that Windows users have enjoyed for a while now!

(click for full size)

The new version will also display the date that the images were taken at the bottom of the screen (select areas only) so you won't have to wonder how old the imagery is. All in all a beautiful update with some great new stuff for you and your students!

April 14th, 2008 Easy Video in Placemarks with TeacherTube.com! YouTube, while popular, is generally blocked by content filters in schools for obvious reasons. Thanks to TeacherTube.com it is remarkably easy to include video into your placemarks though (still Windows Only for a short time longer). There is a growing array of educational videos being posted by teachers from all over the world. To include a video, just find the video you need, create a Google Earth placemark at the desired location and then copy/paste the embed code that is provided on the TeacherTube page.

You can also download the video using the provided link if you want to host the video file locally to reduce network strain. In that case, simply put the network or drive path in place of the http part of the embed code.

If you register for TeacherTube you can upload your own (or student created) video files and TeacherTube even supports uploading of the supporting KMZ placemark files!

Here is an example I created to see how it worked (kml file) (TeacherTube.com Link to project video with support file). For this concept piece I used an inexpensive ($90 at Circuit City) little hand held digital video camera, shot the video, tossed the .ASF video file produced by the camera into Windows MovieMaker, added some support stills and video, saved it under the 'for the web' settings, uploaded it to TeacherTube.com (account creation needed to upload) and instantly the video was available! All in all it took maybe an hour or two to produce.

This would make a wonderful project idea for students to work on with only a minimal investment. I can't even begin to imagine how creative the students would be!

April 12th, 2008 New Site features K-12 Math Lessons! RealWorldMath.org created by Thomas J. Petra is a remarkable new resource for teachers looking for applied math lessons with Google Earth! As I explored the lessons I couldn't help but think, WOW! The lessons are phenomenal, the support materials are great, and some of the concepts are deeply innovative in their application! A MUST SEE!

January 27th, 2008 New lesson added - World Wonders With Google Earth - Lesson Notes here, Student Page here, entire lesson zipped here (7Mb with video tutorial) . Students explore over 30 amazing landmarks around the world and create placemarks with linked photos courtesy of the WikiMedia Commons. 3rd - 8th Social Studies

January 5th, 2008 - Video Tutorial Added - Enhanced Placemarks with HTML

Another video tutorial, this one includes custom icons and how to use an HTML editor to create enhanced placemarks with colors and graphics. Streaming On-Line (17 minutes, 30Mb) or as a .zip archive (30Mb) for use over a LAN or off CD.

January 3rd, 2008 - Speaking of cold... The U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has a wonderful library of Google Earth enabled content for you to use as you examine topics such as Glaciers, Sea Ice, Permafrost and Antarctica http://nsidc.org/data/virtual_globes/

One of the most impressive collections contains over 4,000 images of glaciers and other images from around the globe!

The collection is organized into network folders.

Most glaciers have many links which you can use to have students investigate chilly topics.

Another great resource, although not directly Google Earth related, is a series of lessons about Earth Sciences, from the Tides to Plate Tectonics with great models and activities for students to investigate on-line courtesy of NOAA. These would be great for Grade 5-8 Science computer station activities.

January 1st, 2008 - PDF's get Google Map enabled (Windows Only) - Here is a curious little advancement, for what it is worth. Now map PDF's can be Geo-enabled, to a degree. The US Geological Survey (USGS) recently started making their entire topographic map collection available for free to download as PDF. As neat as that is, it is even neater that the maps gain additional functionality thanks to an Adobe Acrobat plug-in called the GeoPDF Toolbar, a free addition from TerraGo Technologies (terragotech.com).

So, follow the step by step directions to download the map you want from the USGS Store (http://store.usgs.gov)

Selecting the map you want at the USGS Site is easy

Then after you have downloaded and installed the GeoPDF Toolbar (pay particular attention to the last screen of the installer to see where the toolbar was installed, since on my computer I had older versions of Adobe Reader and it only installed it into one of the older versions) your map PDF's gain additional functionalities!

One of the functions in the GeoPDF toolbar is GoogleMaps integration.

The plug-in can do GPS tracks too, but I didn't try that part. Anyway, with the tool you might want to use the combination of Geo-enabled Topo maps to lead students to make predictions and analysis as they switch between the more abstract topographic representation of earth and other, more familiar views provided by Google Maps.

Comparing similar map information helps lead to understanding.

While you are at the USGS site, be sure to check out their extensive, royalty, copyright free image gallery that contains thousands of scientific and historic images from around the world!

December 28th, 2007 - Maps Galore! WikiMedia Commons on-line Atlas of the World! - When teaching about various places around the globe, it sure would be handy to have access to a digitized atlas that would allow you to create overlays to show concepts such as historical boundaries, etc. Well, the WikiMedia Commons offers that resource! The great majority of the maps are freely available for teachers to use under either the GNU or Creative Commons licenses.

Great maps (and more!) await you and you students at the WikiMedia Commons!

By downloading the maps and creating an image overlay, you and your students can examine Earth in great new ways!

Adding an overlay to show Germania provinces in 9 A.D.

December 28th, 2007 - Great new tools for Geo-tagging! - Two wonderful new tools have emerged that allow teachers and students to create awesome placemark collections quickly and easily that include embedded images. JetPhoto Studio is my favorite as it runs on Windows or Mac and has lots of extra features like being able to build Flash based galleries as well as smooth GoogleMaps/GoogleEarth integration. For $25, the Pro version allows you to even run your own photo gallery server that is 100% Google Maps and Google Earth enabled! (check out the GELessons tinkering around with it albums!)

Geo-tagging an image is very straighforward with JetPhoto Studio

GeoSetter is the other new kid on the block and will also output placemark collections that are geo-tagged. It runs under Windows only, but is 100% freeware and has an impressive feature set! GeoSetter can also be downloaded as a zip file, meaning that it can be run without administrative access on locked down school computers, or even from a USB flash drive.

GeoSetter allows you to tag photos manually, or by synching with a GPS log!

Both programs work very well with GPS devices, so even if your digital camera doesn't have a built-in GPS capability, you can plug in your car or handheld GPS unit (certain models, of course) and the software matches up the pictures with the GPS tracks!

Here is an example of a track made by my 5th Grade team before I found these great new tools to show some of the possiblities of equiping students with a digital camera and a Garmin handheld.

November 2nd, 2007 - PhotoOverlay Creator Tutorial - Create immersive content with the free PhotoOverlay Creator software. Works on all platforms, Win, Mac, Linux. (requires the latest version of Google Earth and Java needs to be installed)

November 2nd, 2007 - New Lesson Plan Added! - Boom Town by M. D. Harrison. This is a neat, well written, lesson that focuses on the Gold Rush, natural resources and geography. To quote: "This lesson has students go through a simulation to learn about value, abundance, and scarcity and asks them to consider the things that they would be willing to work very hard for." Wonderful!! Full of excellent links!

October 23rd, 2007 - Quia.com gives a thumbs up to including its Flash based content in Google Earth placemarks! For those of you who use Windows computers, that ability of Google Earth to show Flash content has just been boosted a hundred-fold thanks to Quia's decision that embedding it's flash based content in balloons falls within their appropriate use guidelines! This means that 1. While students are interacting with Google Earth they can also be interacting directly with curriculum based activities. 2. In teacher led situations, you can play knowledge games without leaving Google Earth! This is WAY cool!

The four types of Quia.com flash activities include:

• Battleship (I would suggest this for students 8 and older)
• Challenge Board (A great Jeopardy clone)
• Rags to Riches (a 'Who wants to be a Millionaire' clone that the kids love!)
• Hangman (for reinforcing vocabulary)

Quia is a subscription based service, but they have thousands of great free pre-made activities here. With a subscription you can create your own custom activities as well as have html based quizes that are scored by the system. And no, I am not being paid anything, not even a penny, by Quia to plug it. I just thought it was a neat mash-up and that it was neat that Quia was cool with it!

A GELessons Nifty Tricks Tutorial on how to create the interactive balloons with Quia content is here. The balloon above can be grabbed here.

October 21st, 2007 - New Lesson Plan Added! ISTE Aligned Professional Development Plan created by S. Hansen!

October 15th, 2007 - New Lessons! Not one, not two, but three great new lessons to explore with your students! The origins of inventions and business provides the foundation for The Origins of Business lesson. A traveller's dealings with Time Zones provides students with insights, and personal histories are explored in Where are You From!

October 14th, 2007 - Thanks Minnesota! GPS to Google Earth for free on Windows. If you happen to have Garmin GPS units, like the educationally popular eTrex Legend, there is a way to move your data from the GPS into Google Earth without having to get a Google Earth Plus or Pro license for your students if you are using Windows computers. It is thanks to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The DNR Garmin software can be used for many things, like transfering waypoints and tracks to multiple GPS units, but it also has the ability to export the data to Google Earth in .kmz format! Not only that, but the data is perfect for lesson integration with spreadsheets and other applications! I will try to put together a Nifty Tricks page together in the near future.

October 7th, 2007 - New Lesson - Sheila Samuel shows how 'traditional' lessons can be updated to take advantage of new technologies such as Google Earth and Smartboards in this lesson where students investigate the Migration of Neo-Tropical Songbirds! Be sure to download the in-depth lesson file (pdf)!

September 22nd, 2007 - Multimedia Leaves Google Earth (except for Flash)

It was really cool while it lasted, and hopefully it comes back soon, but as of the latest Google Earth build Google Earth has lost the ability to play MP3's and other multimedia content except for Flash .swf and .flv formats. Bummer.

September 1st, 2007 -MultiMedia comes to Google Earth!

Most Google Earth fans are aware that they can now view YouTube videos inside Google Earth placemarks, but what they may not be aware of is that Google Earth supports all Flash content as well as Windows Media compliant formats as well! This means that you can put anything from home or instructional videos to what I am calling 'geoCasts', geographically referenced audio files (podcasts with a place attached!), all within placemarks. You can download the placemark examples here. (Windows Only, you must have the newest 4.2 release of Google Earth installed)

Imagine being able to give a quiz right in Google Earth!

For a fuller discussion and tutorial on embedding multimedia content, please visit the Nifty Tricks Tutorial page.

July 12th - There is a neat new site for teachers to use with Google Earth that was just announced, viaTime.org allows students to learn about Geography, Math and Business as they set up their own airline! Students select a Departure and Destination city from a pull down list, select other parameters such as departure times and flight speed (a pop-up window shows you the aircraft! Cool!) and then it creates KML files with the flight paths and the positions of the aircraft when they are in flight! There is even the opportunity for pretend Corporate Sponsorships called 'TidBits'! Some teaching suggestions though, the kids need an email address for their passwords to be delivered (the account I set up let me in without a password, so I don't know if all you need is a unique email address or what) and it will help if you have them design a little square logo for their airline before signing up. A cool concept courtesy of the Huxley College, Department of Geography, Western Washington University!!

On the Fly (pun intended :-) KML placemarks and flight routes are delivered to students!

July 8th - A new Beta Version of Google Earth is released with better memory management! This would be a livable version to update to if you can't wait for the final version. My recommendation about holding off to deploy on a large scale still stands, but it definately is getting closer! There is also talk about Picassa being integrated into Google Earth, allowing you to geo-code photos easily, but at this time there are no details available. If it should come to pass it may provide for some neat lesson possibilities!

June 20th - New versions of Google Earth and SketchUp Review: Well, I am back from holiday in Europe and while I was gone there was a major release of a new version of Google Earth along with a sister update of SketchUp! There are a lot of GREAT, AWESOME, FANTASTIC things about both, but at this time I am recommending against deploying the new versions to classroom computers. To learn more, click here.

May 26th - If you haven't downloaded it yet, there is a neat free tool for Windows users that allows you to create charts and graphs inside Google Earth. GEGraph takes either raw data or basic placemarks, allows you to enter data and then it creates some neat graphs (bar, circle, squares,...). When used with data sites such as world population data through the US Census Bureau, neat lessons are bound to materialize! Here is a simple sample comparing infant mortality rates in North and South Korea. (Note from David: We head out tomorrow for Europe, so there won't be any new posts for a few days until I can find a network to link off of. I am taking the new Garmin eTrex I got at BestBuy and will post some tracks, photos and educational stuff about the Bavarian Alps when I can :-)

     
When students see raw data represented graphically it builds important skills.

May 25th - If you are studying the US there is a neat resource available courtesy of the Feds that provides customizable, printable maps to use in the classroom. The NationalAtlas.gov website has a wealth of premade maps or you can design your own with the interactive map builder using hundreds of data sources. It is then a simple matter to add the map to your Google Earth Lesson as an overlay or series of overlays!

         
Create a map, print it, then save it to use as an overlay!

May 23rd - One of the most effective tools for teaching with Google Earth is an interactive white board, but jeepers they are expensive! A low cost alternative is to use your projector or screen and a Screen Pen! PC users can use the freeware JiniBong while Mac users can use either Doodle Draw ($10) or Scriboard ($20).

Inexpensive way to focus student's attention!

May 22nd - Forget Earth, how about Mars! There have been rumors for a while that Google was going to release a 'Google Mars'. You don't have to wait. There is a Google Maps web type interface already available with search options that your students can use today! You can find it at www.google.com/mars. Another option is the large Mars Map Pack (4.5M) for Google Earth. Be sure to turn off all placemarks and layers though. Wanna see something cool? Check out the Top 20 Pictures from the Opportunity and Spirit Rovers!

A familiar interface for a different planet at www.google.com/mars.

Click for full size. The Mars Map Pack has valuable information such as regions and spacecraft landing sites

May 20th - Thanks to Frank Taylor over at the Google Earth Blog for spotting a fantastic new effort by the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program! Countless hours must have gone into creating the world's most comprehensive and informative placemark collection that details all of the world's Holocene volcanos. With images, links, descriptions and details about thousands of volcanos around the globe, you will want to add this incredible resource to your educational arsenal! From a quick visual representation of the impact of plate boundries on volcanic activity to the historic impact of volcanos, there are literally hundreds of lessons waiting to happen with this one!

Click for larger view

May 19th - GPS Visualizer has an incredible new Network Link! You and your students can instantly create overlays of a diverse range of data, from high resolution images of 'low res' areas in the US, to topographic overlays, infrared and more! For a brief tutorial, visit here.

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May 16th - A new site about SketchUp, SketchUp3D.org, has some nifty tricks, including one about how to create 3D fonts using a freeware program called 'EleFonts' (PC Only, Xaos Tools has the TypeCaster plug-in for Macs, not free though). With a little creativity, your students, or you, could enhance their placemark reports by creating 3D placemarks! Here is one that was tossed together in under 10 minutes. Check out the GELessons Nifty Trick tutorial on how you can create your own!

Archived Headlines- Here

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GELessons Editor's Pick - Essential Placemark Files:

Geography & Social Studies K-12
Continents - 185 World Webcams - World Designer -
Science & Weather K-12
World Cloud Cover - Recent Earthquake Monitor - Day/Night Line -Volcanos of the World - Mars Map Pack v1.1
Google Earth Tools All Users
Utility Collection (network version) - Utility Collection - Icon Palletes - GPS Visualizer

May 23rd - Added the Doodle Earth Nifty Trick Tutorial
May 19th - Added the GPS Visualizer tutorial.
May 17th - Added the 3D Neatie Nifty Trick tutorial.
May 12th - Added the 'File Browsing and FTP with Google Earth' Nifty Trick.
April 26th - Added the 'Endangered Planet Project' lesson.
April 23rd - Added the Google Earth Screen Shots Library start. Includes all Menu items and Search Panel (71 screenshots so far). I need to reorder the database I think so that search results appear in the order of the menu items. Any other ideas for improvements are welcome!
April 22nd - Slapped together the Screen O'Lay! Nifty Trick tutorial. It is functional, but needs some work I think.
April 21st Got some work done on building a screenshots library. Redesigned home page for clarity. Added a Collaboration Central page summarizing interactive features.
April 16th - Finished Section 2 of Teaching with Google Earth covering purchasing, planning and management of Layers and Placemarks.
April 14th - New Tutorial in the Nifty Tricks section - Appearing Live... Adding Live Pictures to Placemarks!
April 12th - Added the first of a series of 'Nifty Tricks' tutorials! How to colorize placemarks.
April 8th - New Math/Social Studies Lesson Added! Create a neat Google Earth image of where your students originate from while learning Mean, Median and Mode.