Lunch and Learn with Google Maps

Noon - 1PM, 2/5/10
Leecy Wise, 4CPDRC, CDE/AEFL

HOME

A.   Getting Started

Adapted from http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/past-issues/volume12/ej48/ej48ej48m1/

Activity 1: Play with the features

1)   Open a Google account or register a current email address with Google.

2)   Make sure your students are comfortable navigating the maps with. For example. Have them use the click and drag function, the zoom function, and the search function.

3)   Have them search for specific places in different ways, such as the drag feature versus the search maps button.

4)   Have them zoom in for close up looks of a city, and then back out again for wide looks of the earth.

5)   Have them try to find their own house using the different views, such as map view first then the satellite view.

6)   Make sure they students are familiar with the different screens: the basic map screen, Get Directions screen, and My Maps screen. When you first go to Google Maps you will be on the basic map screen. You can click on the Get Directions or My Maps tab to change the screen. You will need to be on the My Maps screen to create and edit maps of your own, or to access other features in the directory, which we’ll do later in this session.

B.   Create a Map

1)   Click on “Create new map” from the My Maps page. Once you have created a map, be sure to save every time you make major additions to it, just like any other document you are working on, or you may lose your work. You can create multiple maps for different purposes or for different classes. The maps you create will be listed on the sidebar on the left side of the screen if you are signed in to Google.

2)   As you open maps, make selections on the More button to see photos, videos and more

3)   You can develop different projects at different levels of detail. For example, you can work on a global level if you have students from many different parts of the globe, a regional or country level if you have students from one country, or even on a street level if you prefer to have students make maps of their home towns or their current residences.

C.   Find interesting places around the Eifel Tower or any other city.

D.  Figure out mileage between two places. Open My Maps, Choose Browse the Directory. Explore a few options. Select Distance Measuring Tool.

My home town

Create new map.US capital cities.

In a separate window, Google “state capitals,” and open a link, such as http://www.50states.com/cap.htm

Choose a capital, and enter “XXX Landmarks.” Example, “Denver landmarks.”

Lewis and Clark or other famous journeys

Google Lewis and Clark expedition: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/journey_leg_1.html

http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/trailmap/index.html

Use Google Images to see details.

Write down main landmarks. Identify them on a map.

Trace literary journeys.

Identify language-speaking areas in the world.

Remember that you can take pictures of anything on your desktop and place the image into reports or “albums” in MS applications. Windows: Print Screen, paste and modify. Mac:Shft+Cmd+3.

http://www.google.com/educators/p_maps.html - Google Maps for educators.

http://www.google.com/educators/geo_class.html - Suggested activities for students.

http://earth.google.com/outreach/tutorials.html - Tutorials

http://econym.org.uk/gmap/ - This is a great tutorial on specific features.

http://dgl.salemstate.edu/geography/Profs/luna/Projects.htm - A variety of student project examples.

http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/past-issues/volume12/ej48/ej48ej48m1/ - A good start for using My Google Maps for classroom projects.

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=98DA918472BB3131&search_query=google+maps – A list of videos for using GMaps.