For their first visit to the computer lab, second grade students were asked to demonstrate their present knowledge of the world by drawing their own map. Each child was given a piece of paper and asked to think about the maps they have seen before. For fifteen minutes they sketched and labeled - and when it was all done, these young cartographers learned that it is really hard to make a world map that looks like the world!
So begins their geographic journey. As they study the seven continents in their classrooms throughout the school year, they will also participate in a variety of technology experiences with tools such as online atlases, encyclopedias, hand-held GPS and Google Earth in the lab.
Today, they learned how to fly around Google Earth viewing satellite imagery, maps, and terrain. After moving form Earth > Continent > Country > State > City and seeing our school from a "bird's eye view," they flew to their own homes. (This required students writing their home address on a note card before coming to the lab.) The students were delighted to see their rooftops as well as those of their friends.
You can download Google Earth 5.0 for free from http://earth.google.com/intl/en/download-earth.html.
