Google Earth is a tool that I found very interesting. Once I had downloaded it onto my computer I found myself playing around, typing in addresses around the world with much enjoyment. I think if I can find so much interest in this tool, my grade 2 class is bound to find it just as interesting, if not more so.
An idea I had with regards to implementing this tool was, for instance if we were looking at how certain animals prefer certain climates we could visit the different habitats of certain animals. Using polar bears as an example, I could use Google Earth go to the Arctic Circle and get the children to see, first hand how different it is to the Gold Coast and why it might be that Polar Bears natural climate is the Arctic Circle. We could then look at the differences in habitat and discuss why animals have climates that they are more suited to. This would also bring in a discussion as to how and why animals have needed to evolve to survive in their environment.
Programming a tour into Google Earth would also be an interesting experience for the students. Via Google Earth we could visit many different habitats of animals that we were learning about. Flying from one habitat to the next would give the students a more thorough understanding of the vast differences of each habitat.
