Week 9: Googling Around

Weekly Goals

  • Become familiar with basic Google Earth functions, such as zooming, tilting, moving, and looking.
  • Understand how astronaut photography helps us capture and understand dynamic events of geological, oceanographic, environmental, and meteorological significance on Earth.
  • Understand how to use placemarks to identify and tag specific locations on Earth.
  • Learn how to connect a series of locations in a Google Earth tour to tell a cohesive story.
  • Share your ideas about how you might use Google Earth in your classroom teaching.
  • Provide feedback on what you are learning and the process of learning it.

List of This Week's Tasks

  1. Navigate in Google Earth by zooming, tilting, looking, and moving around.
  2. Find out how Dr. Leroy Chiao and other NASA astronauts contribute to our understanding of Earth through hand-held digital photography.
  3. Create and position a placemark at a location of interest to you.
  4. View and create Google Earth tours.
  5. Contribute to an online discussion centered on using the capabilities of Google Earth in your teaching.
  6. Answer the Week 9 Feedback questions.

A Look at the Week Page by Page

Intro to Google Earth

This page provides an overall introduction to the Google Earth. You will learn about basic navigation tools and techniques, including how to zoom, tilt, look, and move around in Google Earth.

If you are pressed for time, focus on learning to use the Navigation Controls and watch all the movies.

Eyes on Dr. Leroy Chiao

Meet Dr. Leroy Chiao, a former NASA astronaut who took more than 24,000 photographs of Earth from aboard the International Space Station.

If you are pressed for time, read the background information and save the Resources for later.

Getting to Know Google Earth

This page introduces you to using Google Earth's layers and tools, and shows you how to create your own placemarks.

If you are pressed for time, focus on learning about the Layers Panel and using the Add Placemark and Ruler tools. Create your own placemark and take a screenshot showing the placemark and the description balloon that appears when you zoom in on the placemark. This is the image that you'll post to your discussion section.

This weekly activity is required and is due on Tuesday, April 20, 2010.

Using Google Earth

This page will teach you two ways to create your own virtual tours using Google Earth.

If you are pressed for time, skip creating your own tour and download and test-drive one of the tours from the Google Earth Gallery.

Share and Discuss

This page allows you to access your discussion section plus gives you the opportunity to provide us feedback.

Feedback is optional and anonymous. However, if you have time to provide feedback, you can help us better meet your needs.

Posting on Your Weekly Discussion Section Page (i.e. JSC 1, JSC 2, etc.)

Discuss with your colleagues how you might incorporate Google Earth navigation and the use of placemarks, into your teaching. It is helpful if you create a new thread when you post your Tuesday assignment. Then use the reply function to "talk" to others in your section about their ideas.

This weekly activity is required and occurs from Tuesday, April 20, through Thursday, April 22, 2010.


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