Google Earth 3D globe overlaid with satellite imagery with interactive zoom, rotate, and tilt, and the ability to search, import, and export. Download o http://www.google.com/earth/index.html Navigation o Zoom o Pan
o Rotate and tilt o Latitude, longitude, elevation
o View altitude Search: fly to o Type a city and state or country, or a full address Toolbar o Add placemark o Add polygon o Add path o Add image overlay o Record a tour o Time slider Shows historical satellite images, see the coverage and quality improve through time, also see effects of nature and humans o Sunlight Shows position of the sun Time slider also available to play the position of the sun, useful for showing seasons in polar regions o Planets Switch between Google Earth, Sky, Moon, and Mars Google Moon and Mars are also 3D globes with layers Google Sky explores space from the surface of the earth, constellations can be shown o Ruler Measure the distance and angle east from north between two points or along a series of points, the units can be chosen View
o Grid: shows latitude and longitude grid with equator, tropics, meridians, and circles labeled o Overview Map: shows world map at lower right o Scale Legend: shows scale bar at lower left Layers o Borders and Labels: country and province borders and labels o Places: airports, food, lodging, national parks, etc. o Photos: taken and posted by anyone, some are panoramas, more realistic than satellite imagery o Roads: everything from major highways to neighborhood streets o 3D buildings: many places (like the UofA) have been constructed in 3D o Ocean: many resources for information and environmental concerns, often with videos and/or links to websites for more information o Weather: You could play the weather announcer on TV. Clouds, radar, conditions and forecasts, and ocean observations from stations and buoys. o Gallery: 360 Cities: more than just cities, you enter a 3D panorama photo Discovery Networks: travel pictures and videos Earthquakes: USGS earthquakes, click for info Everytrail: trail info European Space Agency: photos of places and phenomena from space Gigapan photos: ultra high resolution panoramas, placed in context Gigapxl photos: ultra high resolution photos, placed in context Google Earth Community: facts about places or links to information, created by anyone NASA: photos of places and phenomena from space, also city lights good estimate of population density National Geographic Magazine: Series of wildlife resources New York Times: news and travel articles Rumsey historical maps: can view in info bubble or projected on Google Earth Tracks 4 Africa: travel info Travel and Tourism Trimble Outdoor Trips Volcanoes: shows global volcanoes Webcams.travel Wikiloc: trail info Youtube o Global awareness: many organizations focusing on wildlife preservation, sustainability, climate change, etc. o More: More places, imagery, wikipedia links, etc.
Google Earth Activity 1. Find your school in Google Earth. 2. Record the latitude, longitude, and elevation of your school. Latitude: Longitude: Elevation: 3. Find the peak of Mt. Lemmon in Google Earth 4. Record the latitude, longitude, and elevation of the peak of Mt. Lemmon. Latitude: Longitude: Elevation: 5. Measure and record the distance (as the crow flies) between your school and the peak of Mt. Lemmon. Distance:
GeoMapApp Can choose equator-centered, north pole-centered, or south pole-centered view This program is slower than Google Earth Download o http://www.geomapapp.org/ Navigation o Pan: hand or arrows keys o Zoom in: + hand lens o Zoom out: - hand lens Toolbar o Distance/profile tool Easily draw a topo profile across a region Default is 100x vertical exaggeration Gives lat/lon of endpoints and length in meters Useful for identifying trenches, mountains, plateaus, basins, etc. Layer Manager o Uncheck box to hide o X to remove layer o i link to information webpage o Legend, if available, online o Zoom to layer o Slide opacity o Arrow layer position Overlays: can be moved with arrow tool o Color scale: appears in upper left, useful for colored data sets o Distance scale: appears in lower left, in metric o Global map inset: appears in upper right with red box indicating field of view o Layer Manager: shows the list of layers o Coastlines: helps see islands and coastal patterns o Human night lights o Lakes and rivers o Watersheds o Country boundaries: useful for location o Local administrative boundaries: Includes state and province borders for countries Geologic provinces Tectonic faults Southern extent of glacial ice Impact sites, etc. Basemaps: tectonic examples o Global Grids Bathymetry and topography: different data sets, GMRT is often used by profile tool Seafloor bedrock age: shows symmetry around spreading ridges Seafloor spreading rate: shows that Pacific is spreading faster than the Atlantic
o Geologic maps: for many places, link to legend in layer manager o Geophysical/tectonic maps: world lithospheric plates Datasets: tectonic examples o Earthquakes and plate boundaries o Volcanoes and seamounts: major volcanoes and ages of seamounts Education tab links to several educator resources, mostly aimed at secondary to college level, but can be adapted to middle school level Save map window o KMZ (Google Earth): file that can be imported into Google Earth o JPEG: smallest file, least memory required o PNG: highest resolution GeoMapApp activity 1. Turn on the country borders layer. (Overlays > Country Boundaries) 2. Turn on the lithospheric plates layer. (Basemaps > Geophysical/Tectonic Maps > World Lithospheric Plates) 3. Slide the opacity in the layer manager so that you can see the lithospheric plates and the continents underneath. 4. Identify a subduction zone based on the location of plate boundaries and topography. 5. Make a profile across the subduction zone and identify the trench and the volcanic arc. (Note: when you click the profile tool, GMRT will show up on top of everything. Move this layer down using the arrow buttons so that you can see the plates and topography.) (Hint: the more zoomed in you are, the less blocky your profile will look.) 6. Frame your subduction zone in the window, and save it to the desktop as a KMZ file (Google Earth file). 7. Open this KMZ file in Google Earth and explore the subduction zone in 3D.
Standards that can be easily addressed with these tools: All grades Strand 1: Inquiry Process Strand 2: History and Nature of Science Strand 3: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives 6 th grade Strand 6: Earth and Space Science Concept 1: Structure of the Earth Describe the composition and interactions between the structure of the Earth and its atmosphere. PO 1. Describe the properties and the composition of the layers of the atmosphere. PO 2. Explain the composition, properties, and structure of the Earth s lakes and rivers. GeoMapApp PO 3. Explain the composition, properties, and structures of the oceans zones and layers. PO 4. Analyze the interactions between the Earth s atmosphere and the Earth s bodies of water (water cycle). GeoMapApp: watersheds and drainage divides PO 5. Describe ways scientists explore the Earth s atmosphere and bodies of water. Google Earth and GeoMapApp data and resources (See Strand 2 Concept 1) Concept 2: Earth s Processes and Systems Understand the processes acting on the Earth and their interaction with the Earth systems. PO 1. Explain how water is cycled in nature. PO 2. Identify the distribution of water within or among the following: atmosphere lithosphere hydrosphere PO 3. Analyze the effects that bodies of water have on the climate of a region. GeoMapApp precipitation maps PO 4. Analyze the following factors that affect climate: ocean currents elevation GeoMapApp precipitation maps rain shadows clearly visible location PO 5. Analyze the impact of large-scale weather systems on the local weather. GeoMapApp hurricane tracks PO 6. Create a weather system model that includes: the Sun the atmosphere bodies of water
7 th Grade Strand 6: Earth and Space Science Concept 1: Structure of the Earth Describe the composition and interactions between the structure of the Earth and its atmosphere. PO 3. Explain the following processes involved in the formation of the Earth s structure: erosion deposition plate tectonics volcanism PO 4. Describe how the rock and fossil record show that environmental conditions have changed over geologic and recent time. Concept 2: Earth s Processes and Systems Understand the processes acting on the Earth and their interaction with the Earth systems. PO 1. Explain the rock cycle. PO 2. Distinguish the components and characteristics of the rock cycle for the following types of rocks: igneous metamorphic sedimentary PO 3. Analyze the evidence that lithospheric plate movements occur. Google Earth and GeoMapApp earthquakes, volcanoes, hotspots, seafloor ages, etc. PO 4. Explain lithospheric plate movement as a result of convection. PO 5. Relate plate boundary movements to their resulting landforms, including: Google Earth and GeoMapApp mountains faults rift valleys trenches volcanoes PO 6. Describe how earthquakes are measured. Concept 3: Earth in the Solar System Google Sky Understand the relationships of the Earth and other objects in the solar system. PO 1. Explain the phases of the Moon in terms of the relative positions of the Earth, Sun, and Moon. PO 2. Construct a model for the relative positions of the Earth, Sun, and Moon as they relate to corresponding eclipses. PO 3. Explain the interrelationship between the Earth s tides and the Moon. PO 4. Explain the seasons in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres in terms of the tilt of the Earth s axis relative to the Earth s revolution around the Sun. PO 5. Identify the following major constellations visible (seasonally) from the Northern Hemisphere: Orion
Ursa Major (Great Bear) Cygnus Scorpius Cassiopeia Google Sky Constellations PO 6. Explain the relationship among common objects in the solar system, galaxy, and the universe. Resources Google Earth o Google Earth for Educators http://sitescontent.google.com/google-earth-for-educators/ o Earth Observation Day http://www.earthobservationday.com/pages/resources-lessonplans.htm o Carleton College, plate tectonics exercise http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/google_earth/examples/49004.html o UNAVCO http://www.unavco.org/edu_outreach/data/data.html o There are interactive Google Earth files of almost anything online. GeoMapApp o GeoMapApp Education http://www.geomapapp.org/education/index.html o Carleton College, teaching with data, simulations and models http://serc.carleton.edu/nagtworkshops/data_models/toolsheets/geomapapp.html o This is a newer tool, but the education resources should expand quickly Plate tectonics o USGS: This Dynamic Earth http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html#anchor3819844 o UT-Austin http://www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/plates/links.htm#education o USGS: Cascades Volcano Observatory http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/glossary/platetectonics/description_plate_tectonics.html o CalTech Tectonics Observatory http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/outreach/