Going Cross Curricular

(with Google Earth)

bit.ly/googleearthclassroom

Earth

Maps

My Maps

A good first step for everyone...

Go to Earth View, spin it, and drop Pegman at a random location.
Elementary -- Write a quick 5 sentence story with this location as the setting. Feel free to get create and use more than one photosphere if you'd like! Make sure to paste the link to your photosphere on your document.
Middle/High -- Write a story where the photosphere which appears is it's setting.
Open up the document to the right and press File --> Make a Copy and start writing.

Writing Prompt

Open up the street view image to the right.
How long have the cranes been in downtown Lexington?
Discuss with your groups why these cranes are here?
What did this area look like before this construction project began? What happened to those businesses?
Why do you think it's taking so long to finish?

Instead of a diorama, have students create visual book reports through Google Earth
Search for the locations/settings in their stories where the events may have taken place.
Have the students add summaries, questions, descriptions, quotes, etc.
Here's an example from Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Have students type out personal narratives/short stories using Google Docs.
Copy and paste those paragraphs onto a new Google Site.
Have students find the locations/settings of their Personal Narratives on Google Maps/Street View.
Using this trick (click), embed those locations onto a Google Site. Ka-boom: interactive stories
Click to view an example written by one of my fifth graders

Google Earth let's your import KML / KMZ files.
These are graphical overlays that you can put on top of Google Earth. While you (or your students!) can make these yourself, there are lot of them available to download for free!
Check out some of the ones I've downloaded here.

Create .kml files using a tool like Google Gemini or ChatGPT.
Example Prompt: "Write some KML code that creates a custom Google Earth map with [insert topic] as placemarks. Each placemark should include a couple of sentences describing the item or location to give helpful context."
Once it is written, paste the code into a text editor and make it have an ending like .kml.
You can then upload that file into Google Earth for a quick jumpstart in making a Google Earth project.

Click the link to view the Google Earth Gallery.
Find something that connects to your content area, get ready to share!
My favorites? Timelapse, Earth at Night, Warming Planet, This is School, Urban Expansion
www.google.com/earth/about/gallery/

There are 12+ years of Google Street View images available. Many places have more than one image available from different locations, and you can browse all of them!

Google’s Free Map Creator
Add custom pins, layers, directions, and now distances!
Maps can then be shared just like Google Docs and edited by multiple users simultaneously
You can also view your creations in Google Maps
Maps can even be made “public”, where anyone in the world can have access to it.
Add images, videos, and/or paragraphs to each pin.
Draw polygons and calculate distance
Download or Upload KML files from/to Earth/Maps.

Student Created My Map with Attached Videos.

If students "Attach from Drive" a My Map onto a Google Classroom assignment, it automagically shares it with the teacher.
Students create map, you get to view it.
If students work collaboratively on the map, only the OWNER of the map can turn it in, so make sure the students' names are all on it

Have students locate your school on a map and draw polygons around the buildings
Estimate/Sum up/round the total, etc.

Cool assignment idea: outline your state, compare it to other states. How many Delawares do you think could fit inside California?

Have a link on your class webpage to a Google Form that students can fill out anything they go somewhere different/unique.
Turn on notifications for the form so you know everytime it's updated
Upload that form to a My Map that's embedded on your site. Bingo - instant Class Map.