IEP

For my IEP I choose to learn Google Earth and create lesson plans that would go along with the science unit of energy. This unit looks at the different forms of energy and how energy transformations can have an impact on the environment. The standards that this unit addresses are as follows:


Science standards:

The student demonstrates an understanding of how energy can be transformed, transferred, and conserved by: [8] SB2.1 identifying the initial source and resulting change in forms of energy in common phenomena.

The student demonstrates an understanding that interactions with the environment provide an opportunity for understanding scientific concepts by: [8] SA3.1 conducting research to learn how the local environment is used by a variety of competing interests (e.g., competition for habitat/resources, tourism, oil and mining companies, hunting groups).

Technology Standards:

C. A student should be able to use technology to explore ideas, solve problems, and derive meaning. A student who meets the content standards should use technology to observe, analyze, interpret, and draw conclusions; create new knowledge by evaluating, combining, or extending information using multiple technologies.


Learning Google Earth was a lot of fun! I had no idea how much stuff you can do with the program. I can really see this program being used in any subject. Once the students learn how to use the software, they can use it in any class without every teacher taking the time to introduce the students to it. There are many features that could be used in a variety of ways. Having students take the time at the start of the year to learn this program would be very beneficial in a middle school setting where the teachers have a team setting. A plan at the start of the year could have students learn the program in one class, or multiple classes. Then throughout the year they could build on what they know by using Google Earth in other classes.

As you will see in my lesson plans, this tool is wonderful for giving students a great visual and perspective. I read a lesson plan online about using Google Earth for a language arts class where students map out the travels of a character in a book. Once again this gives students wonderful images. As we know from experience any time you give a student more images and ways to remember the material, the more likely they are to remember it. I truly see the possibilities being endless with this software.

To start off I looked at some YouTube videos on the basics of using Google Earth. On a personal note one of my new favorite features is the fly over where you can visually see a location and take a virtual drive there. This is very helpful to a person like me, who gets lost very easily, especially after living on an island with 14 miles of road for the past 5 years. I can see a lot of my students using this feature if they move to the lower 48. Sitka is not a place where many young adults learn to use a road map well.

Another feature that is useful is the Historical Imagery Feature, (the clock button). This feature allows you to see a given area and how it has changed over time. The first thing that came to my mind with this feature is studying how forests have changed over time. With this tool you can literally see how much plant life has changed. You could use this feature in any number of ways to have students see how environments change and how people have a direst impact on the environment.

A great feature for an astronomy unit is the ability to explore both the sky and the planet Mars. You can bring up an image of Mars and explore it the same way you can explore Earth. There are information boxes you can click on that give great facts. It is a fun and interactive way for students to learn about Mars.

The layers tool has a wealth of information that students can explore on their own. You can choose from a variety of topics such as “Global Awareness” and “Animal Tracking”. One thing I really like about this feature is there are so many topics to choose from. When using Google Earth for any number of lessons you can allow students to pick up little facts that are interesting and now they are related to a location on a map for the students. Not just information you lecture to them, or read from a book.

For the energy unit I downloaded many premade applications for Google Earth from the website Google Earth Outreach. This site has a tremendous amount of resources for using Google Earth in the classroom. The applications that I downloaded showed a variety of things including CO2 emissions for countries around the world. I have studied about CO2 emissions before, and have always known what countries are the major contributors, but this visual was even helpful to me. It really put things in perspective and made me think “wow” . This is exactly the effect I want on my students for two reasons. One, it will help them remember the information, and two, hopefully it will make them want to lean more.

The lesson plans listed below are only part of the energy unit. The students have already learned about energy transfer and how much of the energy produced in the world comes from burning fossil fuels. The main idea behind using Google Earth for this unit was to give students better visual images, and a better understanding of human impact of the Earth. The following are the lesson plans using Google Earth. Each lesson plan is designed for a 50 minute class.

Lesson 1 – Introduction to Google Earth
Lesson 2 – Advanced features of Google Earth
Lesson 3 – Climate change in our world
Lesson 4 – CO2 Emissions
Lesson 5 - Where does the oil come from?

If you would like to see some of the images from Google Earth that I talked about please check out the presentations below.

Part A
Part B
Part C