No matter which Geography or History curriculum you are using (or if you are unschooling), you can REALLY jazz it up and give your kids a more wholistic view of the world with GOOGLE EARTH.
This is how we use it: When studying China we learnt about the Terracotta Warriors or the Entombed Warriors, we were then able to enter the town name on the Google Earth screen, and we were instantly "Flying" over to China, and ZOOMING down to the town of Xi'an for a look around.
People post their snaps (photos) of these locations onto Google Earth. You are able to see what the place looks like by clicking on these photo sites, as well as viewing the aerial images that make up Google Earth. On top of this, Google Earth includes photos and information about significant places on the map as well. I promise you (and the kids!) will want to stay on Google Earth for hours!! They notice things on Google Earth that no amount of talking will explain to them. After looking at some of these towns in China, my kids were amazed at how close the houses were together for such big cities. Go look at Mount Everest or see how BIG the Amazon Jungle is (and how much of the edges are logged!), or how LONG the Mississippi River is! Like I said, you could stay on there all day!
This simple addition to our schooling has made a big difference to the childrens' perspective on the earth and the topics of geography and history. Try it yourself!
This is a photo (taken from an aeroplane (airplane) of where??? Clue: it is the capital of Australia! (Double click = more detail)
P.S. With this version you can also "fly" around the solar system. Now how about that for improving your science curriculum!
PPS Put a timer on before you start flying around the world, or leave this activity as the thing to do once the other schoolwork is done......(trust me on this one...we did it wrong, so you can do it right!)
Aussie Kim
Here's a P.S. from LA Sue - The Sphinx and the Pyramids are our favorite things to visit using Google Earth.
What's your favorite?
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