Google Earth

Google Earth Resources

Google Earth Workshop page by Dr. Kim Bridges from his workshop at Duke on June 5, 2008

Overview

What Is It?

is a virtual globe browser that superimposes satellite imagery onto the earth. Users can annotate the globe with text, pictures, movies, placemarks and superimposed images to share data that involves location. Key characteristics of Google Earth include:

Free to download
Encourages investigation
Large and growing community of users
Uses placemarks, image overlays, polygons and paths to add data to the globe
Data can be collected and organized into layers
Files of data and imagery can be easily saved and shared

Who Uses It?

Everyone! There are examples of useful Google Earth files for geography, environmental issues, literature, political science, history, social science, biology, ecology, geology, architecture and more. Explore the Google Earth showcase and read the community discussion board for ideas from your subject area.

How Does It Work?

Download Google Earth onto your computer.
Experiment with Google Earth. Try finding a landmark, your house or your university.
Use Google Earth video help for easy, quick tutorials on navigating, searching, marking locations and geotagging.
Consult the user guide, especially the "five easy things you can do in Google Earth" section.

With Google Earth, you can orient students to the areas you are discussing, share data and placemarks you have collected or have students create projects. A quick tour will generate ideas.

Uses as an Instructional Technology

Use Google Earth as part of your presentation, to orient students and show connections. Assign the students to investigate a topic and present their results as placemarks, overlays and/or a tour. As a group project, ask students to create a layer with data about a relevant topic. Specific ideas can be found in the Google Earth educators site or in this blog entry about back to school.