GaGa 4 Google

Posted on June 22, 2013 by lmoore4

I just completed the free Mapping with Google online course. I thought I knew everything about Google Earth, but there were a couple of features unfamiliar to me. My final product for the Google Earth portion was a Thanksgiving Timeline virtual field trip for K-8 students. One of the advanced required features was to embed the tour on a blog, so here is the updated tour:

The embed gadget that I’m using can be a little wonky, so click here if you would like to download the tour and view it within Google Earth. See my previous blog posts to see my Google Maps Engine Lite project and the Haunting Shipwrecks with AC/DC tour.

Prezi Perfection!

Posted on June 18, 2013 by lmoore4

I’ve been working on creating a series of Prezi presentations for Standard V and stumbled upon this fantastic example on explaining the Theory of Relativity:

It reminded me of how powerful a tool Prezi can be when students are tasked to demonstrate understanding of a concept. Prezi now offers a variety of templates to make the creation process easier and less time consuming. The target tech level of technology integration requires giving students a choice of presentation tools. Because of Prezi’s unique interactive features and the ability to add multimedia, images, and animations, students will naturally gravitate toward this particular tool. Click here to view a Prezi tutorial. For more information on the different levels of technology integration, view my Standard V Prezis below:

Standard V iPad Lesson Examples
Standard V Document Camera Lesson Examples
Standard V SMARTboard Lesson Examples
Standard V Computer Lab Lesson Examples

Create a Custom Google Search Engine

Posted on June 16, 2013 by lmoore4

This is an example of how insomnia can be your friend. While I was blog hopping, I stumbled upon one with a customized Search Engine for finding resources related to a specific topic. I can’t tell you how many times I have gone from one website to another searching for that perfect SMART Notebook lesson. By typing in a specific curriculum topic (for example, water cycle) I can now search all my favorite SMART websites at once. Oh, the extra time I shall now have on my hands…

To create your own search engine:

On the Google Custom Search home page, click New search engine. In the Sites to search section, add the pages you want to include in your search engine. You can include any sites you want, not just sites you own. You can include site URLs or page URLs, and you can also get fancy and use URL patterns. The name of your search engine will be automatically generated based on the URLs you select. You can change this name at any time.
Select the language of your search engine. This defines the language of the buttons and other design elements of your search engine, but doesn’t affect the actual search results.
Click Create.
To add your search engine to your site, click Get Code on the next page. Copy the code and paste it into your site wherever you want your Custom Search Engine to appear.

Haunting Shipwrecks and AC/DC

Posted on June 14, 2013 by lmoore4

Here’s my second product from the online Mapping with Google course. Our task was to create a tour of 5 secret locations from around the world. They ended up being shipwrecks from various continents. We had the choice of including audio, so of course, my background music is AC/DC…hence the name Haunting Shipwrecks and AC/DC. Click here to download the tour and open in Google Earth. Enjoy!

Google Maps Engine Lite – Scotland Style

Posted on June 14, 2013 by lmoore4

I’ve been taking part in an online Mapping with Google course mainly to learn how to use Google Maps Engine Lite. I must say I’ve been at my computer for 2 days straight. One of our assignments was to create a custom map on a topic of our choice. I’ve been missing Scotland and felt compelled to share my favorite points of interest with the world, so… here it is! Expect many more posts on using Google Maps Engine Lite in the classroom.

Timelapse Video in Google Earth

Posted on June 9, 2013 by lmoore4

As many of you know, Google Earth is one of my favorite cross-curricular tools to use with students. They recently added a timelapse feature that makes it possible to view changes in the Earth’s surface over a period of time. Click here to read more about it.

In the example above, students can explore a global timelapse video of our planet, constructed from Landsat satellite imagery. The Columbia Glacier is retreating at a rapid rate. Each frame of the timelapse map is constructed from a year of Landsat satellite data, constituting an annual 1.7-terapixel snapshot of the Earth at 30-meter resolution. The Landsat program has been acquiring images of the Earth’s surface since 1972. Landsat provides critical scientific information about our changing planet. How can this new feature enhance your Google Earth placemarks? They can be embedded! Simply right click on the timelapse video you would like to use and select “inspect element”. Copy and paste the highlighted HTML code into your placemark. Below is a screenshot of a placemark I created and some follow-up questions for students. More featured sites can be found here: http://earthengine.google.org/#intro

One “Smore” Tool for your Arsenal

Posted on June 9, 2013 by lmoore4

Every month or so I find a new tool to fall in love with. I think this might be my favorite tool of the year. Smore is a free online service that allows you to create dynamic flyers that include links, video, text, images and even maps. Over the past few weeks, Mrs. Davis’ 5th grade class at Bulverde Creek have been learning about different inventions and how a simple invention can change the world. Each pair of students chose an inventor to research and then used smore.com to create flyers. Click here to see a few of the AMAZING results. Below is an introductory video that demonstrates how easy it is to use.