I'm Feeling Lucky

Have students use the I’m Feeling Lucky feature (represented by the dice icon) in Google Earth to visit five to 10 locations around the world. Have them explore each place using Google Earth data and maps, including Street View (if available for that location). Students should save each place in their My Places folder so they can easily refer back to them. For each location, have students decide the three most important pieces of information about each of those places. (Tip: Students can use the Knowledge Cards to gather information.) Challenge students to develop detailed geographic descriptions that might include absolute or relative locations, the topography of the landscape (or architecture, if it’s a built structure), and other cultural attributes of the place.

Twenty Earth Questions

Have students work in small groups to challenge each other to a game of Twenty Questions, using the I’m Feeling Lucky feature. Have one student at a time click the dice icon and see where it takes them. The other students in the group then ask questions about the geography of the place to try and figure out where the first student landed in Earth. Students can ask questions such as “Is your place on the African continent?”, “Is it a body of water?”, or “Is it east or west of the Mississippi River?” The students guessing can use Google Earth to narrow down possibilities before they guess.

Exploring the Hydrosphere

Have students view Google Earth to find and identify as many examples as they can of the hydrosphere. If background information is needed, you can have them read this encyclopedic entry on the hydrosphere or use the activity Our Hydrosphere. Working in Google Earth, students can find examples of lakes, rivers, artificial reservoirs, glaciers, icebergs, ice sheets, and even clouds (make sure to be zoomed out and looking at the whole globe to see clouds in Google Earth). You can split students into groups to conduct a hydrosphere scavenger hunt and lead a discussion about which elements of the hydrosphere are harder to find than others (e.g., underground reservoirs).

Ten-Day Tour Around the World

Movement of Goods

Start by having students watch this video as an introduction to the challenges of shipping cargo and then answer questions about the video in the Questions tab on the page. Then have students type “Port of Los Angeles” into Google Earth search and fly to this location. Explain to students that there are many important ports around the world and that the Port of Los Angeles is one of the largest cargo ports in the United States. Ask students what they think is imported and exported from this port (major imports include products such as furniture, footwear, electronics, cars, and apparel; major exports include paper wastepaper, cotton, animal feed, and scrap metal). Then ask students how they think goods are transported in and out of the port. Have students view the satellite imagery for clues, and if needed, direct them to identify the train and rail infrastructure in and around the port. Use this as an opportunity to lead a discussion about transportation systems and how they move people and goods or go further with this topic in the Geography of a Pencil activity.

National Parks Rock

Exploring Landforms

Use Google Earth with the activity Mapping Landforms. Have students identify different types of landforms and create a state landform map. Students can race around the world in Google Earth to find examples of the following landforms: lakes, mountains, valleys, plateaus, plains, rivers, bays. You can create a game out of this by assigning points when students find unique examples or examples from different countries or continents. You can get more complex with additional landforms such as mesas, archipelagos, and glacial moraines. See our encyclopedia of geographic terms and concepts for background info, such as this article on isthmuses. Extend this idea by leading a discussion about how different features form over time or which ones make human settlement easy or difficult.

Comparing Map Projections

On Top of Half Dome