Google Maps

As I am not an owner of a GPS, I rely on google maps to get me just about everywhere. I even used google maps to make my 300-mile bike route a few weeks ago all throughout Indiana! Though I have used it many times for directions, I learned a few more helpful features.

1. You can easily view real estate in the chosen area, as Google will mark all the listed real estate with red dots that you can then click on/zoom in on. You can do the same with hot spots!

2. You can plan out routes using public transit OR for walking! This is pretty neat.

3. You can check live and predictive traffic information!

Google Maps can also be a great tool for the classroom! Alice Christie has designed several lesson plans that place curriculum on the map for students to follow. On example I looked at was "The Corps of Discovery" that covers the trail of Lewis and Clark. Christie took different significant parts of their expedition and marked them on the map for students to click on and read in more detail of the historical adventures while seeing where they were located. Each tap also comes with questions for the kids to keep in mind and to answer. I think the maps helps in that is gives a more tangible grasp to history by helping the students visual where actual events took place.

I then looked at a lesson plan that was actually designed by a student. She worked on math problems using real life scenarios and charted them on a map! For example, she located Brooklyn Bridge in New York, and captioned it by stating, "It would take you 22 minutes to walk the bridge if you walked 264 feet per minute." Teachers can incorporate maps even into subjects such as math simply by creating problems with locations that can be charted. Perhaps this would help students remain engaged??