Thing 19 -- Google Earth

WOW....simply the most amazing tool I've probably ever used!

I have used Google Earth in the past, but that was right when it first came out. And I've never used it in a classroom setting. But that's definitely going to change!

Just looking at the layers all kinds of lesson ideas started coming to mind. I haven't had the chance to look at the potential resources listed on the 20/20 things but I plan on doing that soon. I was having too much fun playing with the different layers and features.

A few things that I really liked were the historical imagery. I've done lessons on Urban Sprawl in the past and it's nice to be able to look at historical maps to see how neighborhoods have changed through time, even in the past 9 or 10 years. I looked at the area where I live and even in 10 years things have changed drastically.

I also really liked several of the layers. Those include "Everytrail" (a description of different hiking trails)and "Webcams.travel" (shows different webcams at different popular tourist areas).

I can totally see students loving to use this. However, I also think that the teacher really needs to provide thorough guidance while the students are using this as the possibility of getting off task with this is highly increased with all the cool things the kids can do!

From a personal standpoint, I enjoy just looking at places that I have been or never been but want to visit. You can actually get a decent idea of what a place is like just based on that and find tons of information on it if you do want to go. I'm a big outdoor enthusiast so it's a great took for me to use to plan hikes, camping trips, etc.! Thanks for allowing us to work on this as part of our class!