How to use Google Earth more

effectively

Google Earth is a fantastic, FREE, tool for teaching and learning. There are many, many different ways of using it. It’s almost as if the whole world is a canvas!

As befits Google Earth, the following are some ideas from educators around the world as to how to use the program effectively.

1. Find pre-existing resources made by other educators. There are many websites to facilitate this. Here are some of them:

Google Earth Education Community (http://edweb.tusd.k12.az.us/dherring/ge/googleearth.htm)

Google Earth Goods wiki (http://googleearthgoods.pbwiki.com)

Google Earth Lit Trips (http://googlelittrips.com) Google Earth Lessons (http://gelessons.com) Google UK Schools (http://www.google.co.uk/schools/)

2. Go on a virtual field trip, or visit somewhere in Google Earth before you visit it in person!

3. Slow down! Don’t rush from place-to-place in Google Earth. Go to Tools -> Options and then click on the ‘Touring’ tab. Move the sliders all the way to the left-hand side. This means you have a chance to explain what’s going on as Google Earth’s doing its stuff!

4. Embed videos and other media in locations on Google Earth. You can do this by going to Add -> Placemark in the toolbar menu. Copy-and-paste the ‘embed’ code into the description area. If you simply want to add a picture or Internet link, use the following:

For a picture: <img src=”http://linktoyourphoto.com” alt=”description”>

For a link: <a href=”http://linkyouwant.com”>Link Text</a>

This will result in something like the following, once configured:

5. Don’t use Google Earth as a separate program! You can get a plugin for your web browser: http://code.google.com/apis/earth/ It will look something like this:

Alternatively, there is Google Maps (http://maps.google.co.uk), within which you can turn on the ‘Satellite’ or ‘Terrain’ views. In addition, you can use files you would normally use within Google Earth via this website if you login!

Finally, try Flash Earth (http://flashearth.com). Again, this allows you to view the world within a web browser. This website gives you access to more than just Google’s data – NASA, Microsoft, Yahoo!, and more. You can run this full-screen:

6. Create a learning resource quickly and easily with http://quikmaps.com

It’s as easy as dragging-and-dropping icons and labels onto the Google Map, giving it a title and description, then pressing the ‘Save It!’ button. You can then import this into Google Earth by going to File -> Open and browsing to your saved resource.

7. Create 3D models to use in Google Earth! You can browse objects that are already placed in the correct position by visiting the (free) 3D Warehouse: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse.

It’s much more rewarding, however, to either create objects yourself or – better still – get students to create them. You can download ‘SketchUp’, the program you will need here: http://sketchup.google.com/

In the past, I’ve had students in Year 7 use the program at home to create 3D castles, but the opportunities are endless!

8. Go flying! Google Earth has an inbuilt flight simulator. On Windows, use CTRL-ALT-A to bring up this window to select your aeroplane. As of version 4.3, it’s no longer hidden – just go to Tools -> Start Flight Simulator

Full details of the keyboard shortcuts to control the plane are on the Google website: http://earth.google.com/intl/en/userguide/v4/flightsim/index.html (or press CTRL-H within Google Earth). Here are the most important controls to get you started:

Page Up – increase thrust Page Down – decrease thrust Cursor keys – steering (remember up=down, etc.!)

I’d recommend, however, that you use the mouse to steer and that you start at least 30,000 feet in the air to avoid crashing!

Finally, Google in their wisdom have Google Earth automatically turn off 3D buildings when Flight Simulator is launched. To turn them back on, press CTRL-ALT-B to turn on the sidebar, go to the ‘Layers’ window at the bottom-left and re-enable 3D buildings. Don’t forget

to hide the sidebar again (using CTRL-ALT-B again) before you start flying again. Press the Space Bar to resume flying!

9. Save your overlays and placemarks for later use or to share with others! Simply right-click on the item you want to save in the ‘Places’ box, select ‘Save As…’ and then choose where you want to save the file:

10. Contribute to the official Google Earth Community: (http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/postlist.php/Cat/0/Board/EducationEducators). Exchange ideas and tips, and request resources!

A quick way to post resources on this website is to right-click on the file you want to share in the ‘Places’ section of Google Earth, and then select ‘Share/Post…’

This will take you directly to the Google Earth community site to upload your resource.