Mr. Williams’ Class Blog

So what can you do if you don’t have Google Earth (or can’t get it at your school)??

Use Google Maps.

You can search by an address, click and drag around, zoom in… just about everything you can do in Google Earth for viewing. Make sure you click on Satellite or Hybrid in the top right corner of the map.

You can even view placemarks in the Google Earth Community on Google Maps.

Take a Tour of Google Maps.

Here is a view of our school from Google Maps.

Using geoGreeting! you can use the earth to spell messages. It uses buildings from around the world in the shape of letters. It puts a placemark on the map to show you where the “letter” came from. It even makes a webpage that you can link to or send out in email messages so anyone can view what you’ve made.

Here is the link for the picture below:
http://www.geogreeting.com/view.html?zcjVUsZC+g6YCGsr

Want to practice your spelling words for next week?

Unexpected spellings
doubt, fascinate, science, scenic, autumn, column, guilty,
league, guardian, disguise, subtle, debt, reminiscent,
descent, condemn, solemn, guidance, vague, fatigue, intrigue

This week there will not be any bonus words. You can get your three extra points by making a geoGreetings of at least three words. Email it to me, or put the link in a Word File in the class folder (name the file as your name). We’ll talk about this more before computer lab on Thursday.

The Amazon Indians are using GPS devices and Google Earth to help preserve the rain forest. This article shows the incredible things that can be done with free software and how it can effect the world. Also, the Indians are able to create documents and reference material based on the interviews they are doing for the place names that they are mapping. What started as a small project is turning into a multi-age effort to preserve their area and heritage.

http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1114-google_earth-act.html

“Deep in the most remote jungles of South America, Amazon Indians are using Google Earth, Global Positioning System (GPS) mapping, and other technologies to protect their fast-dwindling home. Tribes in Suriname, Brazil, and Colombia are combining their traditional knowledge of the rainforest with Western technology to conserve forests and maintain ties to their history and cultural traditions, which include profound knowledge of the forest ecosystem and medicinal plants. Helping them is the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), a nonprofit organization working with indigenous people to conserve biodiversity, health, and culture in South American rainforests.”

GPS data gathering on a mapping expedition in the Amazon. Image courtesy of ACT.

Here is the flash animation we watched in class. It is from the Maps of War website.

The Power Points from class are now available to be viewed and reviewed right in the blog.

The new Power Points will go up in the blog and be archived on the Power Point page.

To view all the previous Power Points go to:

http://mrwilliams.edublogs.org/power-points/

Chapter 13.1 – Part One