Google earth tour

Location	Activity Description	Google Earth Content
1. Hawaii	Find the Loihi volcano and read the description by the Smithsonian. What does it tell us is going to happen in 10,000-100,000 years? What does this tell us about how volcanoes affect Earth's surface?	placemark Gallery layer
2. The Grand Canyon	View the youtube video X-Country: Grand Canyon Bar Ten, AZ. Note the layers in the canyon wall. What could have caused there to be layers? Look at the bottom of the canyon. What kind of erosion took place to carve out this canyon?	Gallery layer polygon tool placemark
3. Himalayan Mountains	Look at the mountain range on the northern edge of India. The Himalayas were formed when the country of India was smashed into Asia by colliding continental plates. When they crashed into each other, uplift occurred, forming these mountains. Use the ruler to measure from the west end of the Himalayas to the east end (don't worry that the ruler goes straight while the mountains are curved.) How many miles long is it? Now zoom in closer on the mountains and view the 360 degree city image entitled: Mountain Pass. How does life here in the Himalayan Mountains differ from life in our city?	Gallery layer ruler polygon tool
4. Sahara Desert	This is the Sahara Desert, one of the largest deserts in the world. Follow the path to look at all the specified panoramio images. Which of the following erosional forces do you think formed these sand dunes? (waves, wind, water, gravity, or glaciers). Why?	image overlay no layers needed

5^th grade

Standard 2
Students will understand that volcanoes, earthquakes, uplift, weathering, and erosion reshape Earth's surface.

Objective 1
Describe how weathering and erosion change Earth’s surface.

Describe how geological features (e.g., valleys, canyons, buttes, arches) are changed through erosion (e.g., waves, wind, glaciers, gravity, running water).

Objective 2
Explain how volcanoes, earthquakes, and uplift affect Earth’s surface.

a. Identify specific geological features created by volcanoes, earthquakes, and uplift.

b. Give examples of different landforms that are formed by volcanoes, earthquakes, and uplift (e.g., mountains, valleys, new lakes, canyons).

I decided to address this content in a Google earth tour because these are all geologically rich places that I cannot visit in person with my students. With the exception of the Grand Canyon, these locations are all quite far away. By visiting these locations on Google earth, the students will be able to become acquainted with more of the world and understand how geological processes affect Earth's surface in many different locations.

In this tour I combine direct instruction with guided discovery learning. Since my students will not have all the background knowledge necessary to fully understand the tour, I provide them with information. The students can then build upon that knowledge by discovering information about each location (using my prompts) and making educated inferences about information they don't know.

Google earth is perfect technology for this content and pedagogy. Google earth makes the world our classroom by enabling students to see and experience the geology in various parts of the world. Pedagogically, Google earth enables me to scaffold by providing my students with needed information, while also allowing me to guide them through the discoveries I want them to make.