Google Earth

First of all I think Google Earth is AMAZING and it should be used by all teachers. I can't wait to use it durring my Japan and Kenya units in the spring. I loved playing around with it and seeing my house. It was so easy to go into Google Maps and save my field trip as a KML or "Keyhole Markup Language" file. Then all I had to do was open it in Google Earth and there were all my places.

I think using Google Maps was an important step. It was very easy to create a list of places to visit and save them to Google Maps which made importing them into Google Earth a breeze. I went on to the Google Earth For Educators website and started looking around at all the lessons. When I searched for Google Earth lessons for ages 0-6 I was not able to find anything. However, I did find one lesson for a second grade scavenger hunt that with some tweaking I think would work really well for my class. I would have to make it places in Japan and Kenya and I would do it whole group.

Just like the Google Maps assignment I think this assignment is all about developing digital age learning experiences. The kids are able to see for themselves places that they may never get to see in person. I think it would be so cool to be able to transport my kids to Kenya or Japan. It really brings their learning to life.