IfItWereMyHome.com
If It Were My Home gained some popularity during the oil spill because it was able to virtually place the oil spill over your home town and get an idea of how large it was in comparison to your hometown and surrounding area. Now the site offers some even more features. You can now make comparisons of the United States to other countries and view important statistical data and compare the size of the countries compared to your home. This feature alone is good to offer students the real perspective on the size of other countries when you compare population statistics, especially density.
Mapeas - World News on a Map
Mapeas is a new service for geographically exploring the news. Mapeas places sports, entertainment, business, science, and general news stories on a map. Click any circle on the map to zoom-in on a location and select a story. Stories are provided by ABC, NBC, Fox, the Associated Press, and AFP. Stories are linked to articles for further reading and or to videos.
Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for the link.
Applications for Education
Mapeas could be a great resource for anyone that requires students to read global news stories. Students can locate stories by location which provides a geographic context for the stories they read.
Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
The Full Wiki - Wikipedia Meets Google Maps
Mashpedia - The Real-time Encyclopedia
Nachofoto - Realtime Image Search
SMARTBoards and the Fifty Nifty States and Capitals
Today, while searching for a Geography Notebook activity to highlight on the blog, I came across a simple United States map activity that utilized the U.S. background and the U.S. State images from the Gallery. I've seen and used these Gallery objects in the past and I really like them because the images fit perfectly into the U.S. background image.
What I didn't realize was that the background image has a special built-in feature - it actually "snaps" the state images into place if they are dragged close enough to the correct location. I'm not sure how I missed that before but I think it's pretty cool.
I found a wonderful interactive activity on the SMART Exchange called 50 States - Political Map created by C. Austin and added a page where the students drag the State names on to the map. I also included a solution page. Click here to download the Notebook file.
In addition to the U.S. Notebook activity, here are some good interactive sites intended to help students practice learning their States and Capitals.
Ben's Interactive Games - Place the State
This is an outstanding resource that has two activities for placing the States in the correct location as well as one activity for placing the State Capitals.
Vectorkids - State Capitals
In this resource, students touch on a State and then select one of three possible answers for the capital.
Sheppard Software - U.S. Geography Games Page
This is one of the best interactive resources for reinforcing the states and capitals. The activities range from beginner to very advanced and teachers can utilize the supporting detail when using the activities.
YouTube - Fifty Nifty United States song
Popular version of the Fifty Nifty song. You can search and watch other versions appropriate for your students.
If you have difficulties opening the Notebook file, please switch to another browser like Firefox or Chrome. Internet Explorer and Safari have difficulties recognizing .notebook files. If you have to use one of these browsers, then save the file to your computer first and make sure the file extension is .notebook and not .zip - if it's not, you'll need to rename the file and change the extension back to .notebook.
The Best Sites For Learning About Historic Maps
I’m not teaching Geography this year, but if I were (and I might again in the future), I’d want to introduce students to some historic maps.
So, for when I do teach that class again, I’ve decided to develop an appropriate “The Best…” list.
Two companion posts to this piece are:
The Best Map-Making Sites On The Web
The Best Websites For Learning & Teaching Geography
Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Learning About Historic Maps (and are accessible to English Language Learners):
Animated History of European Mapmaking comes from the BBC.
Historical Maps also comes from the BBC.
Finding Our Place In The World is from the Field Museum.
Ten of the greatest: Maps that changed the world is a slideshow from the Mail Online.
Historic Maps in K-12 Classrooms has historic maps as well as lesson plans to accompany them.
The David Rumsey Map Collection
Early World Maps comes from Wikipedia.
Why a map is a window on to history is an article from the BBC. It’s not accessible to ELL’s, but it would certainly be useful to teachers.
Vista Zoo - Panoramic Tours on Google Maps
Vista Zoo is a Google Map featuring 3D panoramic tours of more than 1400 locations around the globe. The Vista name comes from the 3DVista products used to construct the 3D panoramic images shown on the map. Click on any placemark on the map to be taken to a collection of 3D panoramic images of that location. In some cases there is sound to accompany the panoramas.
Thanks to Google Maps Mania for the link.
Applications for Education
Much like Google Street View or 360 Cities, Vista Zoo offers students a way to explore places far away from their homes. Exploring the panoramas is far better than simply looking at static images in a textbook.
Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Historic Maps in K-12 Classrooms
Maps of War - Animated Thematic Maps
4 Ways to View the World in Panoramic
World Mapper - Mapped Displays of World Data
World Mapper hosts nearly 700 informative maps and posters. The maps are based on economic, scientific, and demographic data sets. The maps are drawn according to the data so the countries appearing on the map don't always match the geographic size of a country. For example, the World Youth Literacy map depicts each country's size based on the rate of youth literacy rather than just the population of a country. All of the maps created by World Mapper can be downloaded as a PDF. The PDFs include a brief description of the data and its meaning as displayed in the map.
In addition to PDF maps, World Mapper has a selection of animated maps that compares two maps. Click here to see an animated map that transitions from a standard land area display to a map drawn based on the population of each country.
Applications for EducationLooking at data on its own often doesn't mean much to students. World Mapper's maps should help students interpret data sets and make comparisons between data sets.
Show World - Infographic Maps
Show World is an interactive mapping website that takes demographic, economic, environmental, and political data sets and creates maps based on those data. This can be done with Google Earth and Google Maps before, but Show World is slightly different. Each time you select a different data set, the size of each country increases or decreases in comparison to other countries. For example, if you select the data set about steel production, the size of China is huge relative to African countries. On the other hand, if you select the data set for students not in school, the African countries swell while China decreases in size.
The maps generated by Show World can be downloaded. You can also embed the animated maps into your blog. To get the embed code you do have to submit your email address.
Applications for Education
Show World is a great way for students to visually interpret data sets. Having students explore the data sets and watch the size of the countries change could be a good discussion starting activity. Exploring the data sets on Show World could also be the starting point for research about the economic and social conditions of countries around the world.
Stay.com
Stay.com lets users easily “drag-and-drop” attractions they want to see in different cities in order to create their own unique downloadable PDF travel guide.
The site just opened to the public today and, happily, in this new version you can also read the PDF without having to download it. Students can just post its url and still view it on the Web.
I’m adding it to The Best Sites Where Students Can Plan Virtual Trips.
Historypin - Historical Images in Google Streetview
Historypin is a new service developed by We Are What We Do in partnership with Google. Historypin allows anyone with a Google account to place images within the setting of current Google Maps Streetview imagery. If you don't have images to add, you can simply explore the imagery added by others. To explore the imagery onHistorypin, zoom in on a location then select a range of dates on the Historypin timeline. Learn more aboutHistorypin in the video below.
Popout
Hat tip to Google Maps Mania for the info about Historypin.
IfItWereMyHome.com
If It Were My Home gained some popularity during the oil spill because it was able to virtually place the oil spill over your home town and get an idea of how large it was in comparison to your hometown and surrounding area. Now the site offers some even more features. You can now make comparisons of the United States to other countries and view important statistical data and compare the size of the countries compared to your home. This feature alone is good to offer students the real perspective on the size of other countries when you compare population statistics, especially density.
Mapeas - World News on a Map
Mapeas is a new service for geographically exploring the news. Mapeas places sports, entertainment, business, science, and general news stories on a map. Click any circle on the map to zoom-in on a location and select a story. Stories are provided by ABC, NBC, Fox, the Associated Press, and AFP. Stories are linked to articles for further reading and or to videos.
Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for the link.
Applications for Education
Mapeas could be a great resource for anyone that requires students to read global news stories. Students can locate stories by location which provides a geographic context for the stories they read.
Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
The Full Wiki - Wikipedia Meets Google Maps
Mashpedia - The Real-time Encyclopedia
Nachofoto - Realtime Image Search
SMARTBoards and the Fifty Nifty States and Capitals
Today, while searching for a Geography Notebook activity to highlight on the blog, I came across a simple United States map activity that utilized the U.S. background and the U.S. State images from the Gallery. I've seen and used these Gallery objects in the past and I really like them because the images fit perfectly into the U.S. background image.
What I didn't realize was that the background image has a special built-in feature - it actually "snaps" the state images into place if they are dragged close enough to the correct location. I'm not sure how I missed that before but I think it's pretty cool.
I found a wonderful interactive activity on the SMART Exchange called 50 States - Political Map created by C. Austin and added a page where the students drag the State names on to the map. I also included a solution page. Click here to download the Notebook file.
In addition to the U.S. Notebook activity, here are some good interactive sites intended to help students practice learning their States and Capitals.
Ben's Interactive Games - Place the State
This is an outstanding resource that has two activities for placing the States in the correct location as well as one activity for placing the State Capitals.
Vectorkids - State Capitals
In this resource, students touch on a State and then select one of three possible answers for the capital.
Sheppard Software - U.S. Geography Games Page
This is one of the best interactive resources for reinforcing the states and capitals. The activities range from beginner to very advanced and teachers can utilize the supporting detail when using the activities.
YouTube - Fifty Nifty United States song
Popular version of the Fifty Nifty song. You can search and watch other versions appropriate for your students.
If you have difficulties opening the Notebook file, please switch to another browser like Firefox or Chrome. Internet Explorer and Safari have difficulties recognizing .notebook files. If you have to use one of these browsers, then save the file to your computer first and make sure the file extension is .notebook and not .zip - if it's not, you'll need to rename the file and change the extension back to .notebook.
The Best Sites For Learning About Historic Maps
I’m not teaching Geography this year, but if I were (and I might again in the future), I’d want to introduce students to some historic maps.
So, for when I do teach that class again, I’ve decided to develop an appropriate “The Best…” list.
Two companion posts to this piece are:
The Best Map-Making Sites On The Web
The Best Websites For Learning & Teaching Geography
Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Learning About Historic Maps (and are accessible to English Language Learners):
Animated History of European Mapmaking comes from the BBC.
Historical Maps also comes from the BBC.
Finding Our Place In The World is from the Field Museum.
Ten of the greatest: Maps that changed the world is a slideshow from the Mail Online.
Historic Maps in K-12 Classrooms has historic maps as well as lesson plans to accompany them.
The David Rumsey Map Collection
Early World Maps comes from Wikipedia.
Why a map is a window on to history is an article from the BBC. It’s not accessible to ELL’s, but it would certainly be useful to teachers.
Vista Zoo - Panoramic Tours on Google Maps
Vista Zoo is a Google Map featuring 3D panoramic tours of more than 1400 locations around the globe. The Vista name comes from the 3DVista products used to construct the 3D panoramic images shown on the map. Click on any placemark on the map to be taken to a collection of 3D panoramic images of that location. In some cases there is sound to accompany the panoramas.
Thanks to Google Maps Mania for the link.
Applications for Education
Much like Google Street View or 360 Cities, Vista Zoo offers students a way to explore places far away from their homes. Exploring the panoramas is far better than simply looking at static images in a textbook.
Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Historic Maps in K-12 Classrooms
Maps of War - Animated Thematic Maps
4 Ways to View the World in Panoramic
World Mapper - Mapped Displays of World Data
World Mapper hosts nearly 700 informative maps and posters. The maps are based on economic, scientific, and demographic data sets. The maps are drawn according to the data so the countries appearing on the map don't always match the geographic size of a country. For example, the World Youth Literacy map depicts each country's size based on the rate of youth literacy rather than just the population of a country. All of the maps created by World Mapper can be downloaded as a PDF. The PDFs include a brief description of the data and its meaning as displayed in the map.
In addition to PDF maps, World Mapper has a selection of animated maps that compares two maps. Click here to see an animated map that transitions from a standard land area display to a map drawn based on the population of each country.
Applications for EducationLooking at data on its own often doesn't mean much to students. World Mapper's maps should help students interpret data sets and make comparisons between data sets.
IfItWereMyHome.com
If It Were My Home gained some popularity during the oil spill because it was able to virtually place the oil spill over your home town and get an idea of how large it was in comparison to your hometown and surrounding area. Now the site offers some even more features. You can now make comparisons of the United States to other countries and view important statistical data and compare the size of the countries compared to your home. This feature alone is good to offer students the real perspective on the size of other countries when you compare population statistics, especially density.
Mapeas - World News on a Map
Mapeas is a new service for geographically exploring the news. Mapeas places sports, entertainment, business, science, and general news stories on a map. Click any circle on the map to zoom-in on a location and select a story. Stories are provided by ABC, NBC, Fox, the Associated Press, and AFP. Stories are linked to articles for further reading and or to videos.
Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for the link.
Applications for Education
Mapeas could be a great resource for anyone that requires students to read global news stories. Students can locate stories by location which provides a geographic context for the stories they read.
Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
The Full Wiki - Wikipedia Meets Google Maps
Mashpedia - The Real-time Encyclopedia
Nachofoto - Realtime Image Search
SMARTBoards and the Fifty Nifty States and Capitals
Today, while searching for a Geography Notebook activity to highlight on the blog, I came across a simple United States map activity that utilized the U.S. background and the U.S. State images from the Gallery. I've seen and used these Gallery objects in the past and I really like them because the images fit perfectly into the U.S. background image.
What I didn't realize was that the background image has a special built-in feature - it actually "snaps" the state images into place if they are dragged close enough to the correct location. I'm not sure how I missed that before but I think it's pretty cool.
I found a wonderful interactive activity on the SMART Exchange called 50 States - Political Map created by C. Austin and added a page where the students drag the State names on to the map. I also included a solution page. Click here to download the Notebook file.
In addition to the U.S. Notebook activity, here are some good interactive sites intended to help students practice learning their States and Capitals.
Ben's Interactive Games - Place the State
This is an outstanding resource that has two activities for placing the States in the correct location as well as one activity for placing the State Capitals.
Vectorkids - State Capitals
In this resource, students touch on a State and then select one of three possible answers for the capital.
Sheppard Software - U.S. Geography Games Page
This is one of the best interactive resources for reinforcing the states and capitals. The activities range from beginner to very advanced and teachers can utilize the supporting detail when using the activities.
YouTube - Fifty Nifty United States song
Popular version of the Fifty Nifty song. You can search and watch other versions appropriate for your students.
If you have difficulties opening the Notebook file, please switch to another browser like Firefox or Chrome. Internet Explorer and Safari have difficulties recognizing .notebook files. If you have to use one of these browsers, then save the file to your computer first and make sure the file extension is .notebook and not .zip - if it's not, you'll need to rename the file and change the extension back to .notebook.
The Best Sites For Learning About Historic Maps
I’m not teaching Geography this year, but if I were (and I might again in the future), I’d want to introduce students to some historic maps.
So, for when I do teach that class again, I’ve decided to develop an appropriate “The Best…” list.
Two companion posts to this piece are:
The Best Map-Making Sites On The Web
The Best Websites For Learning & Teaching Geography
Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Learning About Historic Maps (and are accessible to English Language Learners):
Animated History of European Mapmaking comes from the BBC.
Historical Maps also comes from the BBC.
Finding Our Place In The World is from the Field Museum.
Ten of the greatest: Maps that changed the world is a slideshow from the Mail Online.
Historic Maps in K-12 Classrooms has historic maps as well as lesson plans to accompany them.
The David Rumsey Map Collection
Early World Maps comes from Wikipedia.
Why a map is a window on to history is an article from the BBC. It’s not accessible to ELL’s, but it would certainly be useful to teachers.
IfItWereMyHome.com
If It Were My Home gained some popularity during the oil spill because it was able to virtually place the oil spill over your home town and get an idea of how large it was in comparison to your hometown and surrounding area. Now the site offers some even more features. You can now make comparisons of the United States to other countries and view important statistical data and compare the size of the countries compared to your home. This feature alone is good to offer students the real perspective on the size of other countries when you compare population statistics, especially density.
Mapeas - World News on a Map
Mapeas is a new service for geographically exploring the news. Mapeas places sports, entertainment, business, science, and general news stories on a map. Click any circle on the map to zoom-in on a location and select a story. Stories are provided by ABC, NBC, Fox, the Associated Press, and AFP. Stories are linked to articles for further reading and or to videos.
Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for the link.
Applications for Education
Mapeas could be a great resource for anyone that requires students to read global news stories. Students can locate stories by location which provides a geographic context for the stories they read.
Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
The Full Wiki - Wikipedia Meets Google Maps
Mashpedia - The Real-time Encyclopedia
Nachofoto - Realtime Image Search
IfItWereMyHome.com
If It Were My Home gained some popularity during the oil spill because it was able to virtually place the oil spill over your home town and get an idea of how large it was in comparison to your hometown and surrounding area. Now the site offers some even more features. You can now make comparisons of the United States to other countries and view important statistical data and compare the size of the countries compared to your home. This feature alone is good to offer students the real perspective on the size of other countries when you compare population statistics, especially density.
Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for the link.
Applications for Education
Mapeas could be a great resource for anyone that requires students to read global news stories. Students can locate stories by location which provides a geographic context for the stories they read.
Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
The Full Wiki - Wikipedia Meets Google Maps
Mashpedia - The Real-time Encyclopedia
Nachofoto - Realtime Image Search
SMARTBoards and the Fifty Nifty States and Capitals
What I didn't realize was that the background image has a special built-in feature - it actually "snaps" the state images into place if they are dragged close enough to the correct location. I'm not sure how I missed that before but I think it's pretty cool.
I found a wonderful interactive activity on the SMART Exchange called 50 States - Political Map created by C. Austin and added a page where the students drag the State names on to the map. I also included a solution page. Click here to download the Notebook file.
In addition to the U.S. Notebook activity, here are some good interactive sites intended to help students practice learning their States and Capitals.
Ben's Interactive Games - Place the State
This is an outstanding resource that has two activities for placing the States in the correct location as well as one activity for placing the State Capitals.
Vectorkids - State Capitals
In this resource, students touch on a State and then select one of three possible answers for the capital.
Sheppard Software - U.S. Geography Games Page
This is one of the best interactive resources for reinforcing the states and capitals. The activities range from beginner to very advanced and teachers can utilize the supporting detail when using the activities.
YouTube - Fifty Nifty United States song
Popular version of the Fifty Nifty song. You can search and watch other versions appropriate for your students.
I’m not teaching Geography this year, but if I were (and I might again in the future), I’d want to introduce students to some historic maps.
So, for when I do teach that class again, I’ve decided to develop an appropriate “The Best…” list.
Two companion posts to this piece are:
The Best Map-Making Sites On The Web
The Best Websites For Learning & Teaching Geography
Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Learning About Historic Maps (and are accessible to English Language Learners):
Animated History of European Mapmaking comes from the BBC.
Historical Maps also comes from the BBC.
Finding Our Place In The World is from the Field Museum.
Ten of the greatest: Maps that changed the world is a slideshow from the Mail Online.
Historic Maps in K-12 Classrooms has historic maps as well as lesson plans to accompany them.
The David Rumsey Map Collection
Early World Maps comes from Wikipedia.
Why a map is a window on to history is an article from the BBC. It’s not accessible to ELL’s, but it would certainly be useful to teachers.
So, for when I do teach that class again, I’ve decided to develop an appropriate “The Best…” list.
Two companion posts to this piece are:
The Best Map-Making Sites On The Web
The Best Websites For Learning & Teaching Geography
Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Learning About Historic Maps (and are accessible to English Language Learners):
Animated History of European Mapmaking comes from the BBC.
Historical Maps also comes from the BBC.
Finding Our Place In The World is from the Field Museum.
Ten of the greatest: Maps that changed the world is a slideshow from the Mail Online.
Historic Maps in K-12 Classrooms has historic maps as well as lesson plans to accompany them.
The David Rumsey Map Collection
Early World Maps comes from Wikipedia.
Why a map is a window on to history is an article from the BBC. It’s not accessible to ELL’s, but it would certainly be useful to teachers.
Vista Zoo - Panoramic Tours on Google Maps
Thanks to Google Maps Mania for the link.
Applications for Education
Much like Google Street View or 360 Cities, Vista Zoo offers students a way to explore places far away from their homes. Exploring the panoramas is far better than simply looking at static images in a textbook.
Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Historic Maps in K-12 Classrooms
Maps of War - Animated Thematic Maps
4 Ways to View the World in Panoramic
In addition to PDF maps, World Mapper has a selection of animated maps that compares two maps. Click here to see an animated map that transitions from a standard land area display to a map drawn based on the population of each country.
Applications for Education
Looking at data on its own often doesn't mean much to students. World Mapper's maps should help students interpret data sets and make comparisons between data sets.Show World - Infographic Maps
Show World is an interactive mapping website that takes demographic, economic, environmental, and political data sets and creates maps based on those data. This can be done with Google Earth and Google Maps before, but Show World is slightly different. Each time you select a different data set, the size of each country increases or decreases in comparison to other countries. For example, if you select the data set about steel production, the size of China is huge relative to African countries. On the other hand, if you select the data set for students not in school, the African countries swell while China decreases in size.The maps generated by Show World can be downloaded. You can also embed the animated maps into your blog. To get the embed code you do have to submit your email address.
Applications for Education
Show World is a great way for students to visually interpret data sets. Having students explore the data sets and watch the size of the countries change could be a good discussion starting activity. Exploring the data sets on Show World could also be the starting point for research about the economic and social conditions of countries around the world.
Stay.com
Stay.com lets users easily “drag-and-drop” attractions they want to see in different cities in order to create their own unique downloadable PDF travel guide.
The site just opened to the public today and, happily, in this new version you can also read the PDF without having to download it. Students can just post its url and still view it on the Web.
I’m adding it to The Best Sites Where Students Can Plan Virtual Trips.
Historypin is a new service developed by We Are What We Do in partnership with Google. Historypin allows anyone with a Google account to place images within the setting of current Google Maps Streetview imagery. If you don't have images to add, you can simply explore the imagery added by others. To explore the imagery onHistorypin, zoom in on a location then select a range of dates on the Historypin timeline. Learn more aboutHistorypin in the video below.Popout
Hat tip to Google Maps Mania for the info about Historypin.
Make Group Maps With “Share My Map”
Share My Map lets you create a map — and a “social community” of others who can contribute to it by adding points of interest, photos, video, or text information.
After registering, it’s pretty easy to use, and you can embed Flickr photos just by using their url address. People can comment on the map but, there again, you have to register first (it’s pretty easy to do so).
A group of students could use this site to create a joint project describing locations on a field trip, or to describe and show a historical group of explorers.
I’m adding the link to The Best Map-Making Sites On The Web.
I’m also adding it to The Best Online Tools For Collaboration — NOT In Real Time.
Thanks to Google Maps Mania for the tip.
Students Can Design A Travel Guide With Explorra
Explorra is a new travel site that appears to be designed to compete with the many others that allow you to create your own travel itinerary. I’ve posted many of those similar sites at The Best Sites Where Students Can Plan Virtual Trips. I wouldn’t add Explorra to that list, though — the others seem to do a better job at that.
However, Explorra does have one feature I really, really like — the ability for users to create an online guide to anyplace in the world. After sign-up, which only takes a minute, you identify a city, country or state, and then start listing what you think are the most interesting places there. Explorra will search the Web for images of each location, and you can write descriptions.
Because of that feature, I’m adding the site to The Best Places Where Students Can Write For An “Authentic Audience.”
In addition, the site has a fun text and picture travel quiz that students might enjoy taking, and it’s accessible without registration.
Make Group Maps With “Share My Map”
Share My Map lets you create a map — and a “social community” of others who can contribute to it by adding points of interest, photos, video, or text information.
After registering, it’s pretty easy to use, and you can embed Flickr photos just by using their url address. People can comment on the map but, there again, you have to register first (it’s pretty easy to do so).
A group of students could use this site to create a joint project describing locations on a field trip, or to describe and show a historical group of explorers.
I’m adding the link to The Best Map-Making Sites On The Web.
I’m also adding it to The Best Online Tools For Collaboration — NOT In Real Time.
Thanks to Google Maps Mania for the tip.
After registering, it’s pretty easy to use, and you can embed Flickr photos just by using their url address. People can comment on the map but, there again, you have to register first (it’s pretty easy to do so).
A group of students could use this site to create a joint project describing locations on a field trip, or to describe and show a historical group of explorers.
I’m adding the link to The Best Map-Making Sites On The Web.
I’m also adding it to The Best Online Tools For Collaboration — NOT In Real Time.
Thanks to Google Maps Mania for the tip.
Explorra is a new travel site that appears to be designed to compete with the many others that allow you to create your own travel itinerary. I’ve posted many of those similar sites at The Best Sites Where Students Can Plan Virtual Trips. I wouldn’t add Explorra to that list, though — the others seem to do a better job at that.
However, Explorra does have one feature I really, really like — the ability for users to create an online guide to anyplace in the world. After sign-up, which only takes a minute, you identify a city, country or state, and then start listing what you think are the most interesting places there. Explorra will search the Web for images of each location, and you can write descriptions.
Because of that feature, I’m adding the site to The Best Places Where Students Can Write For An “Authentic Audience.”
In addition, the site has a fun text and picture travel quiz that students might enjoy taking, and it’s accessible without registration.
However, Explorra does have one feature I really, really like — the ability for users to create an online guide to anyplace in the world. After sign-up, which only takes a minute, you identify a city, country or state, and then start listing what you think are the most interesting places there. Explorra will search the Web for images of each location, and you can write descriptions.
Because of that feature, I’m adding the site to The Best Places Where Students Can Write For An “Authentic Audience.”
In addition, the site has a fun text and picture travel quiz that students might enjoy taking, and it’s accessible without registration.
Wild Sanctuary - Sounds of Nature on Google Earth
Wild Sanctuary is a great resource that allows users to listen to the "sounds of nature" as recorded around the world. Wild Sanctuary offers Google Earth andGoogle Maps files of placemarks containing audio recordings from around the world. Each placemark features a recording of the sounds of nature (birds, waves, rivers, mammals, etc.) made at that location.
Applications for EducationWild Sanctuary's "sounds of nature" maps are great examples of how Google Maps or Google Earth can be used in a science class. In the lower grades Wild Sanctuary's maps are good resources for students to explore on their own. In the upper grades Wild Sanctuary's maps are a good model for students to use in creating their own maps. A fun project that would get students outside of the classroom and get them using technology would be to have students make recordings of their local environment and include those recordings on placemarks on their own maps.
Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Google Earth Across the Curriculum
Free 33 Page Guide - Google for Teachers
Using Maps in an Elementary School Math Lesson
Maps ETC - 5,000+ Historical Maps
Florida's Educational Technology Clearinghouse has a collection of more than5,000 historical maps. The maps are licensed for free download and reuse by teachers and students. The collection is organized by continent and country. The US category is further broken down and organized by state and by historical theme.
Thanks to Donna Murray for the link.
Wild Sanctuary - Sounds of Nature on Google Earth
Wild Sanctuary is a great resource that allows users to listen to the "sounds of nature" as recorded around the world. Wild Sanctuary offers Google Earth andGoogle Maps files of placemarks containing audio recordings from around the world. Each placemark features a recording of the sounds of nature (birds, waves, rivers, mammals, etc.) made at that location.Applications for EducationWild Sanctuary's "sounds of nature" maps are great examples of how Google Maps or Google Earth can be used in a science class. In the lower grades Wild Sanctuary's maps are good resources for students to explore on their own. In the upper grades Wild Sanctuary's maps are a good model for students to use in creating their own maps. A fun project that would get students outside of the classroom and get them using technology would be to have students make recordings of their local environment and include those recordings on placemarks on their own maps.
Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Google Earth Across the Curriculum
Free 33 Page Guide - Google for Teachers
Using Maps in an Elementary School Math Lesson
Florida's Educational Technology Clearinghouse has a collection of more than5,000 historical maps. The maps are licensed for free download and reuse by teachers and students. The collection is organized by continent and country. The US category is further broken down and organized by state and by historical theme.Thanks to Donna Murray for the link.
Google Compass - Plot and Record Routes
The Barcelona Field Studies Centre has developed a neat little compass tool that works with Google Maps. Google Compass overlays a compass on a Google Map. Users can drag the compass and position it to point in any direction. Users can then plot a route on the map using the compass. The compass tool will account for magnetic declination when necessary. The compass tool will also provide users with the coordinates of their routes.Applications for EducationGoogle Compass could be used to teach students about the difference between magnetic north and true north. Students can position the compass on various places on the map to see how the difference between magnetic north and true north varies depending upon where you are on the globe.
Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Google Earth Across the Curriculum
Free 33 Page Guide - Google for Teachers
Using Maps in an Elementary School Math Lesson
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Games/GeographyGames
National Geographic Kids has a wide variety of games, puzzles, and activities for students of elementary school age. National Geographic Kids has nine games specifically for developing geography skills.
http://www.placefy.com/
Placefy is a fun and challenging geography game that uses pictures as questions. Placefy presents players with an image of a city square, buildings, and other famous landmarks. Players then have to choose the correct answer from four answer choices. Playing the game is simple, but the images as questions make it a challenging game.
http://www.eduplace.com/geonet/
GeoNet is a geography quiz game from Houghton Mifflin that offers students more than just the state or country identification questions typical of geography games. GeoNet has a category of games based on a world map and games based on a map of the United States. Within each category are six types of quiz game questions. Each quiz game has two levels.
http://www.placespotting.com/
Place Spotting is a website of geographic riddles. Place Spotting is based on the Google Earth platform. Place Spotting users can create their own geographic riddles or try to solve riddles created by others. The search feature on Place Spotting lets users search for riddles based on level of difficulty, language, region, or creation date.
http://www.usa.learningtogether.net/
Learning Together offers four activities for learning about the geography of the United States. Learning Together also offers a game about world geography and a game about European geography.
http://www.yourchildlearns.com/online-interactive-maps.htm
Owl and Mouse Educational Software offers sixteen, free, interactive maps for students. The maps cover every continent except Antarctica.
http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/
Lizard Point gives students 37 interactive maps to study. The maps cover basic world geography as well as specific geography questions for various regions and countries around the world.
http://www.reachtheworld.org/geogames/index.html
Reach the World produces great online games for Geography students. The GeoGames from Reach the World feature an interactive map which students drag and drop onto different elements. The beginner level games asks has student place continents and the poles in the correct position. As the games levels progress students have to place countries and capitals in their proper positions. In the Build Planet Earth section students have to place continents, oceans, mountains, and rivers in their proper positions.
http://www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq/game1
Traveler IQ Challenge has 14 interactive geography activities.
