Google Earth in the Homeschool
Part II
by Andy
Harris
Last month I introduced Google Earth—a truly fascinating tool for exploring the planet. This month we go
deeper to learn all kinds of fascinating new uses for this incredible free
tool. If you need a refresher, look into last month’s article. Fire up your own
copy of Google Earth—you’ll want to play along!
The Layered Look
One of the most powerful features of Google Earth is the Layers feature,
which allows you to display various other features on top of the existing map
data. There are a number of fascinating possibilities. Here are a few of my
favorites:
• Borders and
Labels: Select this layer to see state and national boundaries and city names.
This can really help you figure out exactly where you are.
• Roads: Prominent
roads are featured on the map, along with labels.
• 3D Buildings:
This is one of the coolest features in Google Earth, but it does require a
higher-powered computer to appreciate. Turn on this option and when you get
close to the ground, you’ll be able to see three-dimensional buildings.
Thousands of famous
(and not-so-famous) buildings are already included, and you can even add your
own house! (See the section below on Google SketchUp for details.) You
can turn on full textures for the maximum realism or go for a flat single color
for better performance.
• Ocean:
Traditional atlases treat oceans as empty space, but Google Earth gives you
many options for exploring the oceans. Turn on the Shipwrecks button to see the
locations and stories behind many shipwrecks. Ocean Expeditions takes you on a
tour of several interesting expeditions. For example, one expedition that
starts in Guam takes you on a tour of undersea volcanoes, some with videos!
Animal tracking lets you select an animal such as a shark or a whale and see in
first-person view where that animal has been swimming!
• Weather: The
Weather tab is equally fascinating. Turn on Clouds to see major cloud
formations in close to real time. You can also view radar data and view current
temperature and conditions anywhere in the world.
• Gallery: This
menu features some exceptional content. Especially noteworthy is the Ancient
Rome 3D Gallery, which allows you to see what Rome looked like. National
Geographic
has provided several interesting options, but our favorite is the live
WildCams. This feature allows you to view live webcams of animal habitats all
over the world. Once we watched elephants come to a watering hole in Botswana
while we ate our breakfast. NASA has some very nice imagery, and Wikiloc shows interesting
trails. Note that some content comes from the outside Internet, so as always,
you should monitor your kids as they use this content.
• More: If you’re
not overwhelmed yet, there are even more layers available in the (cleverly
named) More section. Among the most interesting options here are
Places/Categories, which allows you to place a marker on coffee shops and ATMs,
and the Transportation section, which allows you to mark airports and rail
lines.
Changing Space and
Time
A program as
comprehensive as Google Earth isn’t limited by silly things like space and
time. There are many ways to modify when and where you’re looking. For example,
you can choose Historical Imagery from the View menu to get a slider to pick a
time span. For some parts of the earth, you’ll see aerial photos for the last
fifteen years or so. In a few places (like Rome) you can go back thousands of
years.
You can also use
the View Sun menu command to see the current day/night boundaries. This also
pops up a slider so you can change the time.
Space is a big part
of Google Earth too. If you zoom way out, you can see the stars. You can also
turn off atmosphere from the View menu to see the stars from any particular
part of the globe. (Note that star positions change constantly, so they may not
be exactly accurate.) For more celestial adventures, go to the Explore menu
under the View menu. You can explore the sky, the moon, and Mars! Sky View
gives you a view of the constellations. You can zoom in on a particular area of
space for much more detail. The images are absolutely astounding.
Sky has its own set
of layers, which allows you to turn on constellations within the solar system.
The Welcome to Sky tour is worth doing if you have any interest in astronomy.
You can also visit
Mars. As you’d expect, there’s quite a bit of detail in the Layers menu. You
can see place names, satellite images, and paths of the rovers and satellites
that are currently exploring Mars. The moon is just as interesting, as it
features photos, images, and models of various explorations. You can zoom in to
the Apollo 11 landing site and see a model of the lunar lander.
I Believe I Can Fly
One of my favorite features of Google Earth is a built-in flight
simulator! Navigate to any location on the planet and choose Enter Flight
Simulator from the Tools menu. You’ll be given a choice between two aircraft: a
jet fighter and a more manageable prop plane.
If you’re a beginner, you’ll have better luck with the slower plane.
Before you get started, click on the Help button that comes with the
flight simulator pop-up window. This describes the keyboard commands you’ll use
to control the plane. When the flight simulation begins, you’ll see a heads-up
display that indicates the aircraft’s speed and direction. You can use a
joystick or keyboard to fly the plane, but I think the mouse control is
probably the easiest. Click the mouse button while the flight simulator is
running; the mouse cursor will change to a cross, and your mouse will act like
a flight yoke. Push forward to push the aircraft’s nose down, pull back to
raise the nose, and use side-to-side motion to roll the plane and control its
direction.
The aircraft is easiest to manage when you’ve turned on Roads
(especially if you’re flying in a place you know) and Airports (from the
Layers/More/Transportation) layer. It can be challenging to land the aircraft,
but it is possible. You can even fly on Mars and the moon. (I know; there’s no
atmosphere on the moon, but still, it’s pretty cool.) The flight simulator adds
an entirely new dimension to Google Earth as you try to buzz the St. Louis arch
and fly through the Grand Canyon.
Building Your Own 3D Models
You can take Google Earth even further. Google has released a free 3D
modeling tool called Google SketchUp. While 3D modeling is never easy, this
tool makes it relatively painless. You can download a copy of SketchUp here: sketchup.google.com/download.
You can build a model of your house, models of prominent buildings in
your area, or whatever else you want. You can then submit your model to be
included in Google Earth. Part of the reason Google Earth has models of
buildings all over the world is because they have been contributed by the
community. SketchUp is a great tool for talking about 3D geometry, modeling,
and architecture.
The Google Building Maker is an online tool
that’s a little easier to use than SketchUp. It makes it easy to make
buildings, but they are available for only a limited area. You can find this
tool at sketchup.google.com/3dwh/buildingmaker.html.
Google Earth Plug-in Fun
One of the other amazing aspects of Google Earth is how it has been
extended. The folks at Google created a version of Google Earth called the GEPlug-in, which exposes the Google Earth engine to web
browsers. Clever developers have added all sorts of interesting games and
add-ons based on this technology:
• G. E. Flight
Simulator
(www.ge-flightsimulator.com)—This is as close
to a real flight simulator as you’ll see in a web browser. It adds a few
features not in the standard G. E. simulator, including a moving map, multiple
aircraft, and multiplayer with chat.
• Ships (planetinaction.com/ships15)—If airplanes are
too high-speed for you, maybe a boating simulation is a better match. Pilot river
barges, a cruise ship, a catamaran, or even a Zeppelin.
• Helicopters (planetinaction.com/helicopters)—This comes closer
to a full-fledged game, where you control a helicopter and take part in various
missions.
• Monster Milktruck (earth-api-samples.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/demos/milktruck/index.html)—This simple
application allows you to drive a milk truck with monster wheels anywhere in
the world. Pretty fun, huh?
• Stadiums Sample
(earth-api-samples.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/demos/stadiums/stadiums.html)—Take a tour of
well-known sports facilities.
For any of these
examples to work, you’ll need to download and install the Google Earth Plug-in,
available at www.google.com/earth/explore/products/Plug-in.html.
So how does this
fit my school? Clearly Google Earth is an impressive program, but it’s not
designed as a curriculum. It certainly won’t replace traditional media for
geography, science, or history, but it can provide added benefits in all these
areas. Google Earth is especially suited to help technically minded students
interact with various subjects. Here are just a few project ideas to get you
started:
Science
• Look over weather
patterns and make your own predictions based on cloud and radar images to the
west of your town.
• Investigate a
wilderness web cam for several days and log the animals you see.
• Look into the
volcano, earthquake, and tsunami layers for information about these geologic
events.
Geography
• Use Google Earth
to more closely investigate areas you study, read about, or visit on mission
trips. Look for photos, panoramic images, and videos of your favorite places.
• Build a tour of a
country or region you’re studying. Use the Audio tool to describe each area as
you zoom into it.
• Investigate
mountain ranges, islands, and ocean trenches.
History
• Use Google Earth
to discover shipwrecks. Do more Internet and library research to discover the
story behind the wrecks.
• See how far back
image data goes for your town. Create a poster or paper describing how your
area has changed. (You can print out the results of G. E. searches.)
• Create a tour
that describes a historical trek: the Israelites in the desert, Sherman’s march
to the sea, or Napoleon’s misadventure in Russia.
Art/Architecture
• Model your house
or some other building, and submit it to Google Earth.
• Locate famous
sculptures and statues throughout the world.
• Use SketchUp to
build a 3D model of anything you can imagine.
Let me know if you come up with anything else. If you have trouble
finding any of the links in this document, please visit my website: www.aharrisbooks.net.
There is so much fun to be had with this app. Don’t tell your kids
they’re learning stuff.
Andy Harris is a homeschool dad, father
of four great kids, and husband to the greatest homeschool teacher ever. He has
taught all ages of students, from kindergarten to university level. Andy is the
author of a number of well-known books, including HTML/XHTML/CSS:
All in One for Dummies, Game Programming—The L Line, PHP6/ MySQL Programming
for the Absolute Beginner, and Beginning Flash
Game Programming for Dummies. For more information about his books, to
see where he is speaking next, or to just say hi, please stop by his website: www .aharrisbooks.net.
Copyright
2012, used with permission. All rights reserved by author. Originally appeared
in the March 2012 issue of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, the trade magazine
for homeschool families. Read the magazine free at www.TOSMagazine.com or read
it on the go and download the free apps at www.TOSApps.com
to read the magazine on your mobile devices.
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