Earth

 I had heard of Google Earth but have never used it.  From what I have seen it is really interesting.  You can look at the oceans from the waters surface, under the waters surface or even explore the ocean floor.  Another feature Google Earth contains is the ability to look at maps from the past.  It shows what a location looked like decades ago.  The most interesting aspect I have seen is the feature to look at Mars.  You can see the surface of Mars and even see where scientist have explored using rovers and landers.  All the features that you can use on Earth you can also use on Mars including historic maps.  This program is full of surprising things you can do.  You can see the sun rise and set in certain locations even.

Google Earth can be a useful resource in the classroom.  The idea sheets give a lot of ideas for integrating it into your class.  One idea is to have students practice identifying states and countries.  Another interesting idea is to have students identify where they live and then write about their home life.  The students can then look at the map and see where there classmates live and how their home is like or different than theirs.  For older students, they can create an overlay for migration.  They can show how different people groups have moved and what the migration pattern is currently.  This idea is from the middle school idea sheet but I think it could also be adjusted for other grades.  This program can be used in so many ways and in all content areas.

One of the links I looked at was the Google Earth for Educators website.  This website has a lot of information for teachers to integrate this program into the curriculum.  It has many ideas for the various features such as having the students use the 3-D Building feature to look at famous architecture and even public landmarks.  It also gives ideas by content area and even lesson plans.  This website also shows some samples of student work and has a discussion forum.  Using Google Earth in the classroom is it a great way for the students to create experiences with the content area and to learn collaboratively.