Google in Education

Part 2: Google Apps in the Classroom

Using Google Earth in the Classroom

The Basics of Using Google Earth

Google Earth is a fantastic tool for showing the geography of regions to your students. Use it to show famous landmarks, compare the sizes of towns and cities, or download features such as Amnesty International’s Crisis in Darfur project for lessons in current events. With the help of the Google Earth Community (a resource-sharing message board), you can show famous battles overlayed on current geography, such as a battle map of Gettysburg shown over a modern-day Gettysburg. To use Google Earth in the classroom, you’ll need:

• A computer with broadband access to Internet

• A video projector hooked up to the computer with the broadband Internet

• A projector screen

To download Google Earth:

1. Go to www.google.com and type “Google Earth download” in the search box.

2. Follow the first link, which takes you to the Google Earth download page.

3. Download the version of Google Earth available for your operating system.

To use Google Earth (Figure 5):

1. Start Google Earth.

2. After Google Earth has completely loaded, explore the application before using it in the classroom. To start, type a location in the Fly-To box. Press enter, and it will fly you to your location. If you type “Jackson,” but do not specify “Mississippi,” a screen will come up with a list of all available Jacksons and you can choose the correct one.

3. Once at your location, you can adjust the height, direction, and angle of the view by using the ...