Thank you for attending my session and for visiting the site. On this page you’ll find all of the information and references I presented, plus more for you to play with on your own.

In the interest of full disclosure, you’ll find more than the “19″ bits of material noted in the title, so please don’t hold me to that. :-)

This page assumes you have some working knowledge of Google Earth, which has an ever expanding list of features with each new update.  If you need some help getting started with the program, there are a few resources linked at the bottom of the page.

With the introductions taken care of, let’s get started with the list.

1. Use a mouse – You can navigate around the Earth using the track pad in your laptop but a scroll-wheel mouse makes it so much easier.  Move in and out quickly with the scroll wheel.  Hold the right button and use the mouse to move in and out even faster, plus reorient to a top view.  Hold down the scroll wheel button (did you know that was a button?) and the mouse becomes a joystick to manipulate the map view in multiple ways, including tilting.

2. Turn on the 3D layer – The arial photography in Earth can be impressive but many people have actually build three dimensional models of structures famous and not so famous which Google has added to program. Check out the more than 100 tours of 3D structures in the Google Earth Gallery.

3. Use Earth as a research tool – Look in the More folder, turn on the Wikipedia layer, and now when you visit a location you’ll see icons that will open a summary of the Wikipedia article related to that area.  The Panoramio layer at the top level of the Primary Database turns on links to thousands of photographs of the area. Both are excellent tools for basic student research.

4. Get the big picture – The Gigapxl Project uses a special format camera to create images of US and Canadian cities, parks, and monuments of incredible resolution.  Turn on the layer in the Gallery folder and look for the icons near large cities and famous locations. Then click the link in the marker to “fly into” the picture. In the Gigapan layer, multiple images have been combined into amazing panoramic views. See the Gigapxl Project for more information and images. More information about Gigapan is on their web site.

5. Don’t get lost – It’s easy to lose your way when traveling the globe but Earth also makes it easy to find your way home. To get back to the standard view in Earth, double-click on the Primary Database in the layers section. (anyone know why Earth uses this view? that’s 0E 0N).

But you can also set your own starting location. First, set the view you want when the program opens and then selecting Make this my start location under the View menu. This will place a marker called Starting Location under My Places that you can double-click to get back to that home view anytime.  Uncheck the box to make the marker invisible.

6. Heads up. If all you need is to orient the map so that North is at the top of the screen, just click once on the N in the navigation controls. Pressing n on your keyboard will do the same thing.

7. Go deep into the Layers – The Gallery and Global Awareness folders have a huge amount of material on all kinds of topics. For science, the Ocean folder (featured at the top level for now) has text, image, audio, and video content from NOAA, National Geographic, and more. For history, add the Rumsey’s Historic Maps layer (in Gallery) to see how certain areas were laid out many years ago. The Global Awareness section is great for current events with material from many non-profit advocacy organizations.

8. But don’t layer on too much at one time – If you turn on too many layers, especially those using real time information like Weather and Traffic, you may find Earth slowing down. The easiest way to fix the problem is to click the box next to Primary Database and then turn back on just the layers you need.

9. Go get some new layers – While the material that Google includes is great, many other people are create layers with great information as well.  You’ll see them called KML or KMZ files since those are the file extensions indicating a document should be opened in Google Earth.  Look for them at the National Geographic, NASA, and other sites that link geography and other subjects.

10. Literature + maps = LitTrips – One of the best examples of instructional layers for Earth is Google LitTrips, created by an English teacher for his students. The site now includes trips for books all levels, combining literature with geography, history, government, culture, and more.

11. Visit the Gallery – The Google Earth Gallery offers hundreds of tours on just about any topic you can think of.  These can be downloaded and used for your classes. Google is also building a section of their site just for K12 education which will include a section where teachers can exchange lessons and ideas for using Earth and Maps in the classroom.

12. Use Google Maps instead of Earth –  While Earth is a great piece of software, there are some good reasons to use Google Maps instead. For one thing, Maps will work on older and less capable computers. It’s also simpler to use and it has it’s own set of “layers” with some instructional material.  In addition, many creative people have come up with some excellent mashups combining geography with other data.

13. Look for mashups – Google makes it relatively easy for people to combine their mapping technology with other information and the result is called a mashup. There are hundreds of them all over the web including Conflict History, a timeline of wars throughout history linked to the locations where they took place, and geo.worldbank which presents economic and social data from the WorldBank on a map.

13. Leave the Earth – Instead of looking down, you can switch to Sky (click the button that looks like Saturn) and observe celestial objects that also include images and video from NASA.  You can also visit Mars and the Moon and take some historic tours about the Apollo program. Makes for a great overlap between social studies and science.

15. Be smart about the board – If you have an interactive whiteboard (like those from Smart or Promethean), use the highest level of orientation when using Google Earth or Maps. This will give you a great deal of extra accuracy when manipulating objects on the maps.  You may also want to get rid of the left sidebar to fill the board with just the picture.  To do that, click the Hide/Show Sidebar button, the first one in the button bar at the top of the window.

16. Print (if you must) – Both Earth and Maps are great for printing exactly the map view you need or for capturing just the map you need for another document. First adjust the display to show exactly the view you want (remember in Earth you can also tilt the view).  In Earth, first go under the View menu, pull down to View Size, then to Print Output, and select the size you need.  After the screen resizes, make your final adjustments and use Print from the File menu.

In Maps, using the Print link on the upper left side of the map or choosing Print from the File menu will often not give very good results.  The best way to get exactly the view you want, use a screen capture tool such as the one built-in to the Mac OS or a product like SnagIT in Windows.

17. Things change – You can see how an area has changed over time using the Historical Imagery button (the clock) in the tool bar.  This gives you a slider that allows you to go back in time, depending on how well photographed the area is.  How much change you see depends on how much arial photography has been done for that particular area.  Good examples of this feature are the Las Vegas strip which starts around 1950 and New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina which hit the city on August 29, 2005.

18. Google Earth isn’t done – The databases are updated regularly and, even if the software hasn’t been updated, there could be something new in the layers.  Make sure your version of Earth is up to date.  Google adds new features and interface changes with even “minor” updates so you may be missing out on some cool new tools if your software is old.

19. Continue exploring the world of Earth – As I said, Earth, and all of Google’s mapping technologies, are constantly changing. You can keep up with it by subscribing to the Lat-Long Blog, the official blog of Google’s Earth and Maps team and to the Google Earth Blog and Google Maps Mania, two independent blogs about these tools.  Also visit Google’s online resources such as Google Earth for Educators and the Google Earth Community Forums where thousands of people are discussing the thousands of ways they use Maps and Earth.

All of the materials we used, step-by-step directions for the processes I showed, and any sites I referenced are linked from this page, along with other information for you to explore at your lesure.

And the files we used to build the project (along with a few sample tours) are here —V

Download File

If you have any questions, comments, critiques, or suggestions about my presentation or this topic, please feel free to contact me.

Since this workshop assumes you have a basic understanding of how to use Google Earth, we won’t be covering that here. If you need a refresher, take a look at the resources linked from this page.

A Small Sampling of Tours in the Google Earth Layers

In the Geographic Web section

• Panoramio – a collection of images posted to Google’s travel photo sharing site.
• Wikipedia – adds markers with information drawn for articles about the location from this online encyclopedia.

In the Ocean Layer

• Explore the Ocean – a collection of markers with images and video about the ocean and it’s creatures. Put a check mark in the box next to the listing and then double-click on the name to see the introductory video. The actual tour begins with a marker for the Hawksbill Turtle on the nearby island of Isla Pinta.

In the Gallery Layer

• Volcanos – adds markers identifying every known volcano on earth along with information about it’s history and current status.
• Earthquakes – an historical record of earthquakes all over the world including magnitude and links to more information if available.

A Few Tours Created By Others

Google Lit Trips – A concept created by a high school teacher to illustrate the locations in books his student were reading. The site now includes contributions from other teachers at all grade levels.

Geography Awareness Week – An annual spotlight on geography education sponsored by the National Geographic Society and other organizations. Their web site includes several Earth tours including the Glimpse tour we looked at.

3D Buildings Tours – Tours that visit collections of buildings and other structures in the 3D Buildings layer of Google Earth. The Cathedrals Tour we took can be downloaded from here.

3D Models in the Ocean Layer – This site is not so much about layers but does have links to 3D models of sunken ships and other structures in and on the oceans of Google Earth. One part of Google’s 3D Warehouse most files can be downloaded and opened in SketchUp.

You can find many more layers on the Google Earth Gallery pages. Get there by clicking the Earth Gallery button at the top of the Layers section in the left column.

Creating Tours of Your Own

Markers are the fundamental building blocks of tours in Google Earth. The short video below explain the basics of creating them.

If your school blocks YouTube, or if you prefer written directions, check out these simple instructions.

As you’ve seen from the examples in the Earth layers, it’s possible to make balloons with embedded graphics, audio, and video. This video will give you the basics.

Here’s a short text-based introduction to using Google’s templates and HTML for formating your markers.

And two other tutorials from Google for Embedding YouTube Videos Into Placemarks (also works for TeacherTube, SchoolTube and other similar video sharing sites) and Creating an Immersive User Experience.

Once you have all your markers placed, you can then turn it into a self-running tour, complete with narration. This tutorial from Google will get you started.

Google has many more tutorials, both text and video, on different aspects of creating and customizing your tours in Google Earth in their Outreach section.

Way Too Many Resources

Keeping Track of Changes

Google updates both Maps and Earth frequently, adding new layers, refreshing the photography, adding new resources for teachers. Here are some good sites to keep up with all the changes.

Google for Educators: Geo Education section – This is Google’s site for educators who want to make use of their Maps, Earth, and Sky tools, along with their SketchUp software.

Google Lat Long Blog – A blog of news and notes written by the Google Earth and Maps team.

Google Earth Blog – An independent blog spotlighting new features and applications of Google mapping technologies.

Google Maps Mania – An unofficial Google Maps blog tracking the websites, mashups and tools being influenced by Google Maps.

Google Earth Community – This is a very busy collection of bulletin boards where thousands of Earth users post questions, answers, suggestions, and share their projects. Check the Education forums for posts from teachers and students.

Examples for using Google Maps/Earth in the Classroom

Google Sky, Mars, and Moon – A short video introduction to the astronomy tools in Google Earth.

David Rumsey’s Historical Maps – More than 120 historical map overlays in Google Earth or you can also download the kmz file. The maps can also be seen as overlays to Google Maps in a mashup.

Google Earth User Guide for Geography Teachers – From the Royal Geographical Society

Classroom Idea: Google Earth Where are we today?

A very few examples found in the Google Earth Community

• All the places in Shakespeare’s Plays – teacher-created maps mashup and earth overlay with markers for every locations mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays
• Jane Austin’s Life and Works – earth layer with over 230 locations from her books and real life.
• Pyramids of Ancient Egypt – maps mashup and earth layer with markers for the pyramids and other locations from ancient egypt

GigaPan – This site features panoramic pictures from locations all over the world. Most have kml/kmz files that can be used in earth to pinpoint the location and see the images.

Google Earth Lessons – lessons using Google Earth and other mapping tools created by and for teachers

geoGreeting – I have no idea how they do it but type in a message and the software finds close up images for each letter in the phrase

Gombe chimanzee Blog – blog entries from researchers at the Jane Goodall Institute accompanied by layers for earth showing where in the world they are working

World Heritage Properties – interactive map and earth layers with pointers and information for all 851 sites

Ancient Monuments – earth layers for hundreds of archaeological sites all over the world

Spectacular satellite images of the world – dozens of kmz files that pinpoint exactly what the title says.

Advanced Topics

For complete creative control over your markers, layers and tours, you’ll need to learn a little about KML, the scripting language behind Google Earth.

KML Developers – This is your starting point for learning how to write and edit KML files for Google’s mapping applications. You’ll also find lots of examples of what other people are doing with the technology.

KML Tutorial – An easy to follow introduction to the KML language.

Saving markers and tours is fairly straightforward if all your media is already on the web. It gets slightly more complicated if you want to include your own media. This tutorial will explain the basics (although the videos no longer work).

You can give your user more control over their tour by adding navigation buttons in each marker balloon. Here’s a video to explain how to do that.

However, it’s not all that difficult to use the picture and sound files stored on your computer’s hard drive in your projects. We’ll discuss video at the end.

These instructions assume that you understand how to create balloons in Google Earth as well as how to add links to web-based files.

Getting Organized

Start by moving or copying the media you plan to use for your project into a single folder on your desktop. The files could actually be located anywhere on the hard drive but you’ll find it’s easier if they are in a single location with the simplest path possible.

It will also be helpful if the file names are short and “web safe”, that is with no spaces and using only letters and numbers.

Within Google Earth, your project should be in a single folder under either MyPlaces or Temporary Places.

Adding The Media

Start a new balloon and enter the following lines of code.

For a still image:

<img src=”/Users/<user name>/Desktop/project/picture1.jpg”> (if you’re on a Mac)

or

<img src=”C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Desktop\project\picture1.jpg”> (if you are using Windows)

Replace <user name> with the name of the user who is currently logged into the computer. If you’re not sure, right click on a file and choose Get Info (Mac) or Properties (PC) and check the name used in the path to this file.

Replace project with the name of the folder where your media is stored and picture1.jpg with the name of the file you are using for this balloon.

For an audio file (use mp3 format):

<embed src=”/Users/<login_name>/Desktop/project/sound.mp3″> (Mac)

or

<embed src=”C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Desktop\project\sound.mp3″> (Windows)

Make the same replacements for still images.

For creating the audio files, I recommend Garage Band 06 or later if you have that software available on your Mac or Audacity on either a Mac or PC.

Embedding your original video in a balloon is a little tougher and depends on many factors. There are many formats to choose from (for example, QuickTime is the format most commonly supported on a Mac) and not all formats will work successfully on all computers.

Also, since video files tend to be much larger than still images or audio, they will greatly increase the size of your final project file.

I suggest if you plan to use video, post it to a sharing site like (TeacherTube or YouTube) and then use the embed code they give you in your balloons.

Saving Your Project

After completing your balloon, unfortunately, you will not be able to see the file you’ve embedded when you click on it. You’ll first need to save your project to a KMZ file so that Earth can put all the pieces together and then reopen it.

To do that, right click on the folder and choose Save Place As… Change the name of the file if you want something different and save it to the desktop.

After saving, right click on the folder and choose Delete. Then minimize GE and double-click on the KMZ file you saved to the desktop. Restore GE and your project will be restored to the Temporary Places section. Now click on any of your markers to see the results.

All of this may seem a little convoluted but once you’re confident that the process works, you can do several markers without actually checking to see if things worked.

This page includes links to all the activities we used during the session along with many more to help you to continue your learning after the session.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to write me.

Introduction

Since this class assumes you have a basic understanding of how to use Google Earth, we won’t be covering that here. If you need a refresher, take a look at the resources linked from this page.

If you want the files we used during the workshop, please download this file.

A Small Sampling of What’s in the Google Earth Layers

In the Geographic Web section

• Panoramio – a collection of images posted to Google’s travel photo sharing site.
• Wikipedia – adds markers with information drawn for articles about the location from this online encyclopedia.

In the Ocean Layer

• Explore the Ocean – a collection of markers with images and video about the ocean and it’s creatures. Put a check mark in the box next to the listing and then double-click on the name to see the introductory video. The actual tour begins with a marker for the Hawksbill Turtle on the nearby island of Isla Pinta.

In the Gallery Layer

• Volcanos – adds markers identifying every known volcano on earth along with information about it’s history and current status.
• Earthquakes – an historical record of earthquakes all over the world including magnitude and links to more information if available.

A Few Layers Created By Others

Google Lit Trips – A concept created by a high school teacher to illustrate the locations in books his student were reading. The site now includes contributions from other teachers at all grade levels.

Geography Awareness Week – An annual spotlight on geography education sponsored by the National Geographic Society and other organizations. Their web site includes several Earth tours including the Glimpse tour we looked at.

3D Buildings Tours – Tours that visit collections of buildings and other structures in the 3D Buildings layer of Google Earth. The Cathedrals Tour we took can be downloaded from here.

3D Models in the Ocean Layer – This site is not so much about layers but does have links to 3D models of sunken ships and other structures in and on the oceans of Google Earth. One part of Google’s 3D Warehouse most files can be downloaded and opened in SketchUp.

You can find many more layers in the Google Earth Gallery. Get there by clicking the Add Content button at the top of the Places section in the left column.

Creating Layers and Tours of Your Own

Markers are the fundamental building blocks of layers in Google Earth. The short video below explain the basics of creating them.

If your school blocks YouTube, or if you prefer written directions, check out these simple instructions.

As you’ve seen from the examples in the Earth layers, it’s possible to make balloons with embedded graphics, audio, and video. This video will give you the basics.

Here’s a short text-based introduction to using Google’s templates and HTML for formating your markers.

And two other tutorials from Google for Embedding YouTube Videos Into Placemarks (also works for TeacherTube, SchoolTube and other similar video sharing sites) and Creating an Immersive User Experience.

Way Too Many Resources

Keeping Track of Changes

Google updates both Maps and Earth frequently, adding new layers, refreshing the photography, adding new resources for teachers. Here are some good sites to keep up with all the changes.

Google for Educators: Geo Education section – This is Google’s site for educators who want to make use of their Maps, Earth, and Sky tools, along with their SketchUp software.

Google Lat Long Blog – A blog of news and notes written by the Google Earth and Maps team.

Google Earth Blog – An independent blog spotlighting new features and applications of Google mapping technologies.

Google Maps Mania – An unofficial Google Maps blog tracking the websites, mashups and tools being influenced by Google Maps.

Google Earth Community – This is a very busy collection of bulletin boards where thousands of Earth users post questions, answers, suggestions, and share their projects. Check the Education forums for posts from teachers and students.

Examples for using Google Maps/Earth in the Classroom

Google Sky, Mars, and Moon – A short video introduction to the astronomy tools in Google Earth.

David Rumsey’s Historical Maps – More than 120 historical map overlays in Google Earth or you can also download the kmz file. The maps can also be seen as overlays to Google Maps in a mashup.

Google Earth User Guide for Geography Teachers – From the Royal Geographical Society

Classroom Idea: Google Earth Where are we today?

A very few examples found in the Google Earth Community

• All the places in Shakespeare’s Plays – teacher-created maps mashup and earth overlay with markers for every locations mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays
• Jane Austin’s Life and Works – earth layer with over 230 locations from her books and real life.
• Pyramids of Ancient Egypt – maps mashup and earth layer with markers for the pyramids and other locations from ancient egypt

GigaPan – This site features panoramic pictures from locations all over the world. Most have kml/kmz files that can be used in earth to pinpoint the location and see the images.

Google Earth Lessons – lessons using Google Earth and other mapping tools created by and for teachers

geoGreeting – I have no idea how they do it but type in a message and the software finds close up images for each letter in the phrase

Gombe chimanzee Blog – blog entries from researchers at the Jane Goodall Institute accompanied by layers for earth showing where in the world they are working

World Heritage Properties – interactive map and earth layers with pointers and information for all 851 sites

Ancient Monuments – earth layers for hundreds of archaeological sites all over the world

Spectacular satellite images of the world – dozens of kmz files that pinpoint exactly what the title says.

Advanced Topics

For complete creative control over your markers, layers and tours, you’ll need to learn a little about KML, the scripting language behind Google Earth.

KML Developers – This is your starting point for learning how to write and edit KML files for Google’s mapping applications. You’ll also find lots of examples of what other people are doing with the technology.

KML Tutorial – An easy to follow introduction to the KML language.

Saving markers and tours is fairly straightforward if all your media is already on the web. It gets slightly more complicated if you want to include your own media. This tutorial will explain the basics (although the videos no longer work).

You can give your user more control over their tour by adding navigation buttons in each marker balloon. Here’s a video to explain how to do that.

On this page you’ll find links to some of the best introductory training, many of which were used as the core activities during our workshop, along with other resources for continuing your learning about SketchUp.

Overview

What is SketchUp and why is it part of Google? At it’s core, SketchUp is very powerful 3-D modeling software of the type used by architects and drafters. They bought the company that originally created it in 1999 and soon released a free version along side of the $500 Pro version.

SketchUp may seem like a strange match for Google but the reasoning becomes clear when you realize they are in the process of building a 3D world to go with their 2D maps. Making available a free, easy to use modeling program means they’ll have plenty of amateur designers, like you, willing to contribute.

Sketchup vs. Sketchup Pro – the Pro version includes additional tools for those who do professional modeling. If you’d like to see the differences for yourself, teachers can get a free copy of Pro (but schools must buy licenses for student use). The price is $495 for a single version with lower per license fees for quantity purchases.

What can you do with the free version of Sketchup?

• Easily create a 3D drawing that approximate real life objects.
• Use aerial photographs from Google Earth, a photograph of the object, or file from other CAD programs.
• Make models that are almost as detailed as you have time to make them.
• Share models through Google’s 3D warehouse, export images in many different formats, or export movies of your work.

What can’t you do with the free version of Sketchup (but can with Pro)?

• Create photorealistic renderings.
• Animate objects or insert creations into other animation programs.
• Include the large amount of metadata that can be used by professional-level modeling programs

Technical requirements – According to Google, the recommended computer requirements are a 2+ ghz processor, 2 gb of RAM, 500 mb drive space, and most importantly a 3D-class video card with 512 mb memory.

That’s recommended. The minimal specs are much lower but using a machine with less than the recommended could be very frustrating.

The Basics

Most of the activity we did to create the dog house came from this video which was recorded to accompany the book Google SketchUp for Dummies by Aidan Chopra. It will give you some good practice with the basic drawing and navigation tools.

After making the drawing, we added some “paint” to our dog house and this video covers the basics of the materials pallet.

Finally, we try out some tools for adding shadows to our drawing.

Rummaging Through The Warehouse

Now that you’ve had the chance to build a sketch of your own, let’s get some inspiration.

Google’s 3D Warehouse is a site where anyone can upload a sketch they’ve created in SketchUp and share it with the world. Some of these have also been included in the 3D Buildings layer of Google Earth.

While you may not be ready to contribute to the collection, exploring the work of others in the Warehouse will give you a good idea of just what’s possible with this software (and the Pro version) along with a little inspiration.

Open the main page of the Warehouse find the section for 3D Building Collections. Use the left and right arrows to find the Ancient Rome collection and click to open that section.

On that page find the model for Trevi Fountain and download the version for Sketchup 6 and open it in Sketchup.

Play around with that model and see what you can do with the sketch. Click on any of the edges with the selection tool to see all the pieces of the sketch.

Zoom in on one of the statues in front of the building and then use the Orbit tool to look at it from the side. There’s no statue there! It’s just a picture of the statue and that’s a technique you can use: use photographs to make your drawings more accurate.

You’re likely to find a model for almost any well know (and some not so well known) structures in the Warehouse. So, let’s use the search tools to find something specific.

• Skip over the search box and click on Advanced Search.
• In the Find items with all of these words in the title box enter Sturbridge.
• In the Item type section, change the Find items that are models with this complexity popup to Simple.
• Use the find models with this file type popup to select SketchUp (.skp).
• Check the box next to Show only downloadable models.
• Click the Search 3D Warehouse button in the top right corner.

The search results page shows a collection created by the same person of buildings in an historic town in Massachusetts called Old Sturbridge Village.

In the search results choose the Village Printing Office, which at the time this was written was the third choice in the third column.

Download the model and open it in Sketchup. This one is much less complex than the Trevi fountain so it should be easier to see how the model was constructed.

In both the Sturbridge page and the Trevi page, you may have noticed the little Google Earth ribbon . That means this particular model can be seen in the 3D Buildings layer of Google Earth.

To find many more of them, do some exploring in the recently opened Google Earth 3D Gallery. Here you’ll find tours that will take you to a variety of collections of 3D structures, many of which you can click on and download to study in SketchUp.

Building Your Dream House From The Ground Up

While starting with a rectangular solid is one way to build your dream house, we can also use SketchUp to create the floor plan and expand from there.

This video will get you started with this technique.

And then follow with this one that explains the offset tool.

Continue with the remaining videos in this collection to see how to finish your model.

Constructing More Than Buildings

While most objects modeled using SketchUp are structures, the program can also be used to create objects of many kinds.

This tutorial for creating a chair will give you a good introduction to the concept.

Modeling For Google Earth

If you’re planning to model a building that already exists, chances are Google Earth already has a view of it and you can use that as your starting point.

This video will give you the basics of how to take that view and create a model that can be placed in Earth.

Google SketchUp Resources

SketchUp Help Center – Google’s official support center for SketchUp and SketchUp Pro.

Google Geo Education – The center for tutorials and instructional materials for teachers who want to use Maps, Earth, Sky and Sketchup in the classroom.

Sketchup Gallery – A variety of examples of models designed with Sketchup.

3D Gallery in Google Earth – A collection of kmz files with tours to various places having interesting 3D buildings.

SketchUp Channel on YouTube – A collection of more than 80 videos showing how to use SketchUp, some of which only apply to using Pro.

SketchUp Pro for Educators – Educators can apply for a free Pro license which is good for the academic year and must be renewed each year.

SketchUcation – An independent site featuring tutorials and other information about Sketchup.

SUWiki – Another independent SketchUp site.

More ideas for educational uses, as well as some excellent materials for learning how to use the many features of the software, can be found in Google’s Geo Education site.

If you have any other ideas for this list, please write me.

General Uses

1. Earth makes a great teacher demonstration tool for illustrating concepts in geography, general science, astronomy, oceanography, math, and more.
2. Easy to create scavenger hunts in any subject.
3. Use as a platform for student-created projects and presentations. Earth exports layers in the form of KML/KMZ files which are relatively small and easily distributed)
4. Earth makes an excellent research tool using the many layers and other features that are built-into the software. Some of the best layers for K12 students include:
5. • Photographs – various layers showing photos in different categories including travel (Panaramio, Everytrail), street-level VR (360 Cities), views from Space (NASA, European Space Agency), and live web cams (Webcams.travel)
   • Information, news and current events – includes links to articles in Wikipedia, the New York Times, and Google News
   • Ancient Rome 3D – recreation of Roman buildings from 320AD, including tours of the interiors and other information about how the Romans lived. Part of the Rome Reborn project at the University of Virginia.
   • Discovery Networks – markers that link to images and video from Discovery programs
   • Earthquakes – markers showing historical earthquake data from US Geological Survey
   • Volcanos – similar information from the Smithsonian Volcanism project
   • Ocean – new in version 5 is a collection of layers dealing with ocean features, marine life, and historical events.
   • Weather – overlay of real-time weather information for areas where such data is easily available
   • Global Awareness – layers related to ecology and human rights

English / Reading

1. Google Lit Trips – Created by an English teacher who participated in the Google Educators training program, a lit trip is a layer that allows students to explore the settings of a story in Google Earth
2. In a similar vein, students can follow a biography by visiting stops in a person’s life
3. Use Earth as a general research tool for term papers
4. The creation of a placemark could be a writing assignment as student learn to create a short piece that conveys information.
5. Use a location (or one of the layers) for a writing prompt – Where Am I? How do I know? Why is this important?

History and Social Sciences

1. Use the maps and layers to examine and document battle locations.
2. Use historical overlays to compare a region in the past to the present (ex: Ancient Rome 3D project, Rumsey’s historical maps).
3. Track population and other changes using the recently added.
4. Investigate the crisis in Darfur using that layer in the Global Awareness section.
5. Learn about cultures using layers created by the National Geographic Society and others.
6. Learn about state and national capitals, congressional districts, and other political divisions
7. Visually investigate latitude and longitude

Science

1. Track weather in real-time using the Earth Weather layer or weather in history using overlays created by the USGS and others.
2. View vegetation, land, water for biomes
3. Explore the “Ring of Fire”, “Great Rift Valley” and other volatile regions using real-time volcano and earthquake data available in Google Earth
4. Track Darwin’s voyage
5. Investigate watershed and other regions

Math

1. Investigate measurement – area, perimeter, distance (flying (direct) vs. driving (indirect) – using the line and area drawing and measuring tools built into Earth.
2. Use the same tools to calculate circumference and area of a circle and explore polygons
3. Real world math – create or have students create word problems that involve travel and other aspects of geography.

The Arts/World Cultures

1. Use layers created by others to follow events such as the Tour de France and the Iditarod.
2. Have students create a virtual vacation tour.
3. Take a virtual tour of art museums using layers and high definition images of the works
4. Learn about artists and their culture and how they were influenced by the geography and features of the region in which they worked.
5. Explore music of the world using embedded mp3 and video files.

To make that happen, it helps to know some HTML. However, Google has done some of your work for you by creating a collection of templates to use in building your own markers.

This page will provide you with the basics.

Getting Started

Download the templates from Google to a convenient place on your hard drive. You will be getting a small KMZ file which you will double-click to open in Earth.

In Earth, view will switch to San Francisco where you will find five sets of two markers. In each set, one will be labeled sample and the other template.

Both are pretty much the same except that the sample has some content included to show you a general idea of what the final product will look like.

To see what lies behind the front end, right click on the marker and choose Get Info (on a Mac) or Properties (in Windows/Linux).

Using the Templates

To start the editing process, select all the code in the template you want to use and copy it to your favorite text editor. DO NOT use Word since that software will add additional code you don’t need.

Next, it’s just a matter of inserting your material.

In the HTML template, look for the brackets { } with the text corresponding to the section you want to change. Replace the brackets and everything between them with the information you want to appear in your marker balloon.

Remember that all graphics you want to show in a balloon must already be located on the web. Replace the brackets and the text with the complete address of the image. Don’t loose the http:// at the start and the quotation mark at the end.

If you don’t have pictures taken by you or your students, look around the web for images that can be used for your project. Wikipedia and Creative Commons licensed photographs on flickr are good sources for geographic images. The Library of Congress is a good place to look for historical images.

Most images will need to be scaled down to fit the smaller space of the Google Earth Balloon. In the link for images, look for the section that specifies the width and height of the image: width=”400” height=”60”, for example. These numbers should be based on the size of the original (in pixels, of course) and should be scaled down proportionally.

Text colors are specified using the “hex code”. There are lots of hex code tables on the web (like this one). However, you can also use one of the sixteen basic color names: aqua, black, blue, fuchsia, gray, green, lime, maroon, navy, olive, purple, red, silver, teal, white, and yellow. Want more? Here they are.

More Resources

Geo Education – This is Google’s site with resources for their geography tools: Maps, Earth, Sky, and Sketchup. Just about anything you want to know about these applications is linked in there (somewhere).

Building Better Balloons – All the information on this page and more are in this tutorial, including a video demonstrating the process.

Embedding YouTube Videos into Placemarks – These instructions will also work with similar video sharing sites such as TeacherTube and SchoolTube and with placemarks in Google Maps.

Creating an Immersive User Experience – Tips and ideas for making your balloons and tours more accessible, easier to navigate, and more compelling.

Packaging Content in a KMZ File – Tutorial on how to bundle images into a self-contained package along with other tips for using KMZ files.

However, it’s easy for you to add your own markers and this page will give you the basics of doing that.

Simply Adding a Placemark

First, find the location you want to mark. For example, do a search for disney world and once you arrive, zoom out a little. You may also want to click the X at the bottom of the Search section to remove all the clutter on the map.

Click the push pin icon in the tool bar at the top of the Earth window. This will place the icon in the middle of the map and open the New Placemark window. Click and drag the push pin to the correct location.

With that disclaimer, let’s get started.

The workshop is divided into two main parts, Google Maps and Google Earth. Within each we’ll look at using the basic application, some instructional applications you can use right now, and an introduction to how you can create your own applications. Here’s our agenda.

Agenda

Introduction/Overview

Using Google Maps

Using Google Earth

Where do you go from here?

Introduction/Overview

Maps? Earth? What’s the difference?

While both Maps and Earth use the same maps, satellite and arial photography, much of the same technologies, and some overlapping features, there are some important differences between the two resources. This chart should explain the most important of them.

With that brief overview, let’s give Google Maps a try.

Where Do You Go From Here?

Now that you’ve had the chance to see what Google Maps and Google Earth can do, you’ll need to practice your skills and explore what others are doing with the tools.

One thing that the two resources share is that there are many sites on the web keeping track of new ways that people are using both Maps and Earth as well as the new features being added by Google. Here are some of the best.

Google Earth Community – A message board with thousands of members who post information about the many ways to use Earth. One section is dedicated to using the software for education. You’ll need to register (free) to take full advantage of the community.

KML Gallery – Many people have also created layers and overlays for Earth. The Gallery shows the best of these and makes them available for anyone, including educators, to use at no cost.

Google’s Geo Education Site – Part of the Google for Educators section, Geo Education offers information and lesson plans for using Maps and Earth as well as two other interesting applications, Sky and SketchUp, in the K-12 classroom.

Google Earth Lessons – A blog devoted to distributing lessons using Google Earth and other mapping tools created by and for teachers.

Google Maps Mania – A regularly updated blog that keeps track of the many mashups that mix Google Maps with other data. Most of these are not for use in the classroom, although some teachers might be interested in the Starbucks locator.

Google Sightseeing – A blog that links to unusual sights found on satellite images found on Google Maps and Google Earth. Most information is submitted by readers and they encourage everyone to submit tips.

Using Google Earth – This blog regularly posts tips and tricks for making the best use of the program along with links to other information and resource sites. Another good one, although with more ads, is the Google Earth Blog.

The Official Google Blog – The designers at Google write their own blog about new things being done at the company. This goes way beyond Maps and Earth but it’s still essential to keep up.

Using Google Maps

Google Maps Tips and Tricks – Google Maps are pretty easy to use but there are still lots of shortcuts and hidden features. This page will let you in on a few of the secrets behind this tool.

Instructional Applications

MyMaps – A section of Google Maps (click the tab at the top of the left column) that adds markers and information to your map. Click the Browse the Directory button and explore a few of these.

• Distance Measurement Tool – simply allows you to click the start and end points on the map to get a distance in miles, kilometers, or many other units.
• Photos by Panaramio – adds pictures from Google’s Pararamio travel photo sharing site to the location on the map where they were taken.
• Webcams – marks the locations of travel web cams all over the world. Click on a marker to see what the camera is pointed at.
• The Weather Channel – adds weather information to your map, which could include current temperatures, visible clouds, and radar scans.
• Dig a hole through the earth – one of my favorites. Click on a location and the map shows you where you would come out if you dug straight through the globe.

Earthquakes in the Last Week – A mashup of Google Maps with data from the US Geological Survey showing the location and magitude of earthquakes in all parts of the world from the past seven days.

Hurricane Tracking – Overlays tracking data on all named storms from the National Hurricane Center on Google’s maps. An archive is kept of all major storms for more than a hundred years. Includes hurricanes in the Atlantic as well as typhoons in the Pacific.

geo.WorldBank – The World Bank funds projects in many countries and this mashup adds information about both the projects and the countries to a Google Map. Click on the markers to see some basic demographic data and more.

US Presidents – Shows the birth places of all American presidents. Clicking on the marker brings up some basic information on the person and a marker with information on his wife (wives in the case of Ronald Reagan).

Flickervision – On a Google Map, watch as new additions to the photo sharing site are displayed with markers pointing to the locations of the upload. While the pictures only come from the collection marked by flickr as “safe”, you still need to be careful if you plan to use this with kids.

WikipediaVision – A similar mashup showing current changes to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, with markers showing the locations of the editors. No pictures but each information box has a link to the article along with one to the page showing what’s different.

Wikimapia – An ambitious project to “describe the whole planet Earth”. Registered users can add a location description or edit an existing one. Anyone can zoom in and read the notes.

Do It Yourself

Google MyMaps – If you want to learn to use Google’s APIs (application program interface), you can create mashups like the ones above. However, Google has made it much easier with the MyMaps section.

Your creations are saved behind the My Maps tab for later viewing and editing and they can be shared in a variety of ways. Remember, to use MyMaps you’ll need to register for a free Google account.

Here are some tutorials Google has provided for using MyMaps:

Basic Introduction to MyMaps

Collaborate on Your Maps

Embedding Maps into a Website

Google Maps also allows placing some HTML into the marker descriptions, including links to pictures and other web pages. Here are some basic instructions on how to do those last items without learning a whole lot of HTML.

Do-It-Yourself Activity – Right-click the link and download the text file to your desktop.  We’ll be using the materials here for the workshop.  If that links doesn’t work, try this zipped file.

Once you’ve created your map in MyMaps you can embed it in your own web page or email a link to anyone you like. Just click Link to this page above the upper right corner of your map and follow the directions.

QuickMaps – This free site offers teachers (or anyone else) an easy way to mark locations on a Google map with both text and pictures. The maps can be saved, linked to and embedded in a web site. The information can also be exported for use with Google Earth. One of the big advantages to QuickMaps over Google Maps is that a teacher could create a class account without allowing everyone access to the email capability that comes with the Google account.