5th Grade GoogleEarth Video Tours
Fifth graders have been learning about the regions of the United States, which is a new SOL for them this year. Here’s a cool project you can do with your students to highlight the special features and landmarks of each region. Open GoogleEarth and be sure that 3D buildings is turned on (it’s in the left side panel). Then zoom in on features and famous landmarks in the region and place pushpins to mark the locations. Finally click the “Record a Tour” button in the top toolbar (it looks like a video camera) and click the pushpins in the “My Places” menu. As you zoom to each place, record yourself narrating the important information. You can save the video as a .kmz file which would open in GoogleEarth on any computer. However, if you want to add titles or a soundtrack, you could use a screen capture tool like Screencast-O-Matic, save your video and open it in iMovie or GarageBand. Take a look at this student sample about the midwest region from Chamberlayne Elementary. Let me know if you’d like me to help teach a lesson like this in your classroom!