Today in class I used Google Earth to show where World War II battles were fought. The students found it very interesting and I told them I would post a blog about the software.
Google Earth:
The idea is simple. It’s a globe that sits inside your PC. You point and zoom to anyplace on the planet that you want to explore. Satellite images and local facts zoom into view. Tap into Google search to show local points of interest and facts. Zoom to a specific address to check out an apartment or hotel. View driving directions and even fly along your route. We invite you to try it now. (From the Google Earth Website)
Google Earth is free and can be downloaded at: http://earth.google.com/
– To use Google Earth you will need a high-speed Internet connection (Cable or DSL).
You can download “Placemarks” that show specific sites. You can also create your own placemarks and share them with the Google Earth Community.
Download the WWII battles .kml here
Click on the “Open this Placemark” link under the title. It will open Google Earth. You can save the .kml file when you close Google Earth.
The great thing about this file is that it is broken into categories. Viewing it all at once is overwhelming. You can set it to only view battles in specific countries, or to only view things like Concentration Camps, Nazi & Japanese war crimes, etc. It also has links to WikiPedia articles about each placemark. **Note: WikiPedia can be edited by anyone. Be sure to double check the information you find on it if you are using it for your projects.
Google Earth is a great resource for History and Geography because it is so visual. It is also very fun. The students really enjoy using it on the Smart Board.