ITSC Geography YouTube Videos

For those of you requesting the YouTube videos...here they are:

• Geography Lesson for Americans
• Wyss' Pieces: Geography 101

Quick Ideas for Student Activities using GE

Create placemarks for:

• Three landmarks along the Oregon Trail
• The locations where Lewis and Clark started, wintered over each year, etc.
• Physical features such as isthmus, straits, deltas; additional tasks would include incorporating images into the placemark
• Wonders of the Ancient World
• Label state capitals
• Your dream vacation and then write about why you selected those locations
• Locations that you learned about this year in class; what did you learn about this place (annotate the placemark)? Why is this place important to you?
• Locations that your ancestors lived; what were the push/pull factors (why did they move away from somewhere or move to somewhere)?
• The topic of your choice. Why did you make these placemarks? Why are they important to you?

Observations about:

• Vegetation and season
• Vegetation and terrain
• Elevation and vegetation patterns

Compare and Contrast

• Populations of different regions of a state (e.g. why do so many people live in the Willamette Valley)
• Natural resources and industry

Measurements and Routes

• How far is it to..?
• How wide is...? How does this compare to Autzen stadium? To our school yard?
• How do you get to...? Where would you stop along the way? What would you see or do in these places?

Session

iPhone Blog Post

Using email and my Blogger account, I can post images to my blog. This photo was taken in the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming.

iPhones/Touches at ITSC #7

Gabcast! iPhones/Touches at ITSC #7



This was recorded using Gabcast on my iPhone by dialing an 888 number and was automatically posted. There are two things that you have to do to set this up--(1) edit your channel settings in Gabcast -- essentially tell it about your Blogger blog; and (2) authorize your Blogger account (you will be prompted to do this when you edit your Gabcast channel).

ITSC 2009: Recording Audio for your GE Project

gcast: Record your audio using the information presented in the session. If you choose to record to Lynn's gcast account, you can access your audio files the here.

• Benefit: can be done without a computer in a quiet location
• Downside: audio is linked to GE projects rather than embedded

Google Earth 5: You can also record directly in Google Earth, using the new Tour feature , if your computer has a microphone.

• Benefit: audio is embedded directly into your GE project
• Downside: must be recorded while at a computer

ITSC 2009: Google Earth Classroom Projects

Imagine that you are a student and have been asked to make a presentation. You want to incorporate geography, pictures, text, and maybe even some audio into a presentation that you will be giving to the class. In this workshop, you will learn how to use Google Earth to create a virtual tour that incorporates location, text, images, and even your own podcast! Join us and learn how you can use Google Earth to help your students make global connections to their learning.

Google Earth Classroom Examples

• Discoverer of America
• Immigration
• Skate Park In My Backyard?
• Endangered Animals (KML file)

Additional Student Projects

• Time Travel: Explorers and Voyages
• 5th Grade Explores Explorers (files and lesson overview)
• Historical Events
• Centennial Elementary's Community Walk
• Riverbend Elementary's Community Walk
• Google Lit Trips

Additional Resources

• Google Earth Blog
• Digital Explorer: Bringing the World to the Classroom, British Geographical Society (Virtual Fieldwork Using Google Earth; Advanced Virtual Fieldwork Using Google Earth; School Grounds Projects Using Google Tools)
• Google Earth 5.0 Tour
• Springfield Public Schools Instructional Technology Google Earth Resources

ITSC 2009!

I can't believe that it has already been a year since the last ITSC! Coming up in short order will be posts on Google Earth Student Projects and a couple of blog postings directly from my iPhone.

Speaking of which, if you are interested in iPhones, I have started using a WordPress blog as I can post to it from the WordPress iPhone app. The difference in posting to Blogger via iPhone is that my posts are done by emailing them from my phone. This is great for iPhone users, however, if you are a using a school-owned iPod Touch, you may not have it configured to view your email.
Happy blogging!