If you haven’t played around with Google Earth, you really should. You can download it here.
What does Google Earth do? It allows you to view satellite photographs of ANYWHERE on Earth. Anywhere. Admittedly, some areas allow you to zoom in really far (with clarity), while in other areas, the view gets pretty fuzzy as you get closer to the earth’s surface. In general, urban and suburban areas tend to be more detailed/”zoomable” than rural spots. Here’s the thing, though. In areas that are detailed, you can zoom in far enough to see homes. In detail. We can type in our address, and Google Earth goes zipping over to our area of the country, then dives in until we can see our road, our neighborhood, the nearby train track, our driveway. All of it. Cool.
Here are some neat things you might want to do with Google Earth:
1) Virtual vacations. Check out the Grand Canyon, get a close-up view of the Statue of Liberty, take a peek at the Eiffel tower or the Great Wall of China. Do it to engage in a personal 5-minute escape from reality or to show your kids a little more of the world.
2) Find out what your cousin’s new neighborhood is like. Or any other “spying” you’d like to conduct on people you know. I confess, this might only be fun if you’re a bit of a snoop (like me). But I’ve had fun looking up places I’ve lived in the past, homes/neighborhoods of out-of-town friends, and the campus of the college I went to (since it has been majorly built up since I left).
3) Allow your 7-year-old son to pretend he is flying an airplane. Well, this is something we do at our house, anyway. C. has mastered the tools that allow him to control direction, speed, and distance from the Earth. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard something along the lines of, “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Orlando, Florida. In just a moment, we’ll be taking off again and heading for Chicago. Then we’ll fly up into outer space for a while. Please be sure your seats are in the upright position and enjoy the flight.” Of course, that’s my cue to un-recline my blogging seat…but I don’t always cooperate.
4) Teach your kids about latitude and longitude.
5) Plot chicken house locations as part of your ongoing research into the spread of the avian flu. All right, nevermind. You don’t have to do that. But scientists are.
A nifty little piece of software that’s educational AND fun: works for me!
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Read other Works-for-Me-Wednesday tips at Rocks in My Dryer.
And if you have a minute, check out the Fall Into Reading Challenge and think about joining us. Happy Wednesday!
I think Mike would like this! Thanks for the tip. We need a vacation – ha! LOL – I can just hear C. in his pilot’s voice!
Fun ideas. I remember you had told me about that before, and I did look at our old house. The pilot thing is cool. And I’m on the record as having very very little concern or alarm about the avian flu. . . .
I love stuff like this. Once I found a site where I was able to find my own home…and I could see my red car in the driveway, LOL!
We used this during Katrina. My mom and brother evacuated to my house. We used Google Earth to check on their house and the houses of my enormous, crazy Cajun family. It helped us to know who was under water, who had roofs blown off and fences down, etc. before they went back in to see for themselves.
Handy tool!
I love google earth!!! Great tips.
I LOVE Google Earth! Only thing is, there’s a big ol’ honkin’ tree blocking most of the overhead shots of our house. And it tends to slow down my already slow computer, but every once in a while, I go exploring with it anyway.
Ooo, I’ve never been to Disney World with it! I bet that would be neat.
I knew about Google Earth but never thought of all these neat applications — thanks!
What a great thing, I’ve never even heard of it. I’ll have to check it out.
Kilikina
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I love Google Earth! I really like your tips on fun ways to use it too.. thanks!
This sounds like fun! What did you say your address was?
Wow, that sounds like a blast
I am such a snoop too!!
I LOVE google earth! Love it! Where I live isn’t searchable – thanks, obscure rural location! – but I’ve managed to cruise around the neighberhood in Chicago where my dad grew up and be shocked by how grubby the roof of Buckingham Palace is. (Where ARE the Royal Roof Cleaners?)
That’s a great tip!
My kids love google earth and so do I. It really came in handy when I was writing my novel and needed to know if my character turned right or left off of a NYC street.
Wow, I never heard of this yet. I will have to check it out and show hubby!
Thanks for letting us know!
I love that idea! I have seen our neighborhood from someone else’s laptop but never realized I can download it myself.
My husband has Google Earth downloaded on his PC at home and we love exploring! Excellent tip!
I’ve posted a WFMW linking within comments tip.
I’m downloading Google Earth right now. Thanks for the post.
30-40 minutes later, after finding 5 of my childhood neighborhoods/homes….
Wow, what a great idea! lol
My children probably hope that the next thing that Works for Mom this Wednesday is… making supper!
Thanks for the fun idea.
I bookmarked the website until I have time to play with this. You got me when you mentioned looking at places we used to live. How fun!
I’m downloading now. I feel a little silly that when people referred to Google Earth, I thought they were talking about Google Maps. Thanks for enlightening me!
I’m so jealous. I can’t download it on my laptop, so I haven’t had a chance to play with it yet. It sounds like so much fun!
Thanks for the site. I will have try this for sure.