Application of Google Earth and Web 2.0 resources in Geoscience classes

1. Incorporating Google
Earth and Web 2.0 Apps
in Geoscience Classes
Dr. Lindley S. Hanson
Dept. Geological Sciences
Salem State College

2. WHAT IS WEB 2.0?
usgs
The Cloud
• everyone contributes
• platform independent
• users can collaborate
• control not required

3. Web 2.0 Resources
• Google Earth - Imagery
• Mapfinder - source for USGS 1:24:000 topo maps
• Google Docs or Zoho - collaborative online
writing, spreadsheet, and presention
• Google Maps - Browser enabled
• Bubble Us - Mind Mapping / Flow Charting
• Diigo - Bookmarking
• Quizlet - Flash Cards and Test
• Useful Utilities

4. Google Earth

5. Previous Challenges
Facilities/Resources
• Limited collection of maps and air photography
• Limited resources to keep collections updated
• No storage space or time to organize
• Students are required to buy laptops -- but most
classroom use typically restricted to word processing
or don’t allow students to use them

6. Goals
• To visualize landscapes using imagery and topographic
maps
• informative tours
• map overlays
• quick sketches and cross-sections
• To measure useful landscape parameters and observe
and quantify change
• drainage area, perimeter, sinuosity ratio, drainage
density, elongation ratio, rates of erosion, etc.
• To develop computer skills for upper level courses
• To foster curiosity and exploration

7. View Landscape from
the air
Google Earth
...and from
the ground

8. Mapfinder for Google Earth
Topographic Overlays
1.Download
2. Overlay
3. Adjust
4. Save
mapfinder for Google Earth online

9. Kmz/Klm files
use handles to place image on on a server
adjust overlay
save as
kmz or
klm file

10. Creating Exercises with
Google Earth
1. Build exercise
2. Save as kml/
kmz as

11. Visualization
Introduce the topic with an annotated geotour

12. Use Google Earth instead of PPT
post the file to your students

13. Visualization exercises
Students sketch topography
And then construct a
along profiles drawn on
profile from an overlay
Google Earth

14. Measurements and
Overlays
measuring tool
adjust transparency

15. Constructing X-Sections

16. Observing Change

17. Observing Change

18. Measuring Change

19. Measuring Change

20. Web 2.0 Office + Apps
• Google.com (docs, spreadsheet, presentation
• Zoho (writer, spreadsheet, presentation)
Google Docs in plain English

21. Advantages
Free
Do not require hard drive space
Accessable from any computer on any platform
Uniform interface
Enable collaboration
Exportable and Publishable
NO MORE “I lost my paper when my computer
crashed” or “we couldn’t find a common time to meet.”

22. Google Docs - Shared projects

23. Google Docs - Shared projects

24. Zoho - shared projects

25. Google Maps

26. embedding information

28. Wow! I’m there!

29. embedding maps on websites

30. Mind mapping

31. Mineral ID

32. Bookmarking & Sharing

33. Key words and descriptions

34. Highlighting

35. Quizlet
create
flashcard
sets and
quizzes
Video Tour

39. Quizlet
Create, print and
share quizzes

40. Free Utilites and Services
• Adrive.com 50Gb free storage space
• Transferbigfiles.com
• Authorstream.com or SlideShare.com upload
powerpoints
• Doodle.com scheduling appointments
• Surveymonkey.com great for creating class
surveys
• Skype.com video and voice communication
• incompetect.com/graphpaper/ Create your own
graph paper

41. Go explore the world of Web 2.0
TagCloud by Wordle