Google Earth Tour Table

Leah Barker & Celecta Moss
The 7 Natural Wonders of the World: In this Google Earth activity, students will tour the 7 Natural Wonders of the World and determine which ecosystem each wonder fits in. Students will have already learned about different ecosystems. They are to guess what ecosystem they think the wonder might fit in. The class would later discuss.

Using a Google Earth Tour to apply learning about ecosystems to actual places is a good approach because students get to actually see the places talked about. They watch the globe turn, so they are observing where different places are on earth. Students see the variety of places on earth that contain different ecosystems. Students would be drawn into the activity because it is interactive and contains visuals. Students can also play around with different views using the arrows and directional scrolls, which is engaging and encourages curiosity.

3rd Grade Social Studies: Standard 1
Students will understand how geography influences community location and development.
Objective 2
Describe how various communities have adapted to existing environments and how other communities have modified the environment.

1. Describe the major world ecosystems (i.e. desert, plain, tropic, tundra, grassland, mountain, forest, wetland).

Location	Activity Description	Google Earth Content
1. Grand Canyon	View pictures and read description of Grand Canyon. Guess which ecosystem it fits into.	Go to Grand Canyon. View picture and description.
2.Great Barrier Reef	View pictures and read description of reef. Measure reef. Guess which ecosystem it fits into.	Turn on marine protected areas under ocean layer. View great barrier reef. Use measurement tool to measure length of reef.
3.Harbor of Rio de Janeiro	View pictures and read description of harbor. Guess which ecosystem it fits into.	Zoom out so that all of South America is visible in the window. View harbor. Terrain/Borders and labels layers.
4.Mount Everest	View pictures and read description of mount. Guess which ecosystem it fits into.	Go to Mount Everest. Terrain/Borders and labels layers.
5.Aurora Borealis	View pictures and read about aurora borealis. Guess which ecosystem Ellesmere Island fits into.	Go to Ellesmere Island, Nunavut Territory, Canada. This is close to the North Magnetic Pole, where chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis is best. Terrain/Borders and labels layers.
6.Paricutin Volcano	View volcano pictures and read description. Guess ecosystem of the area surrounding the volcano. Measure the diameter of the caldera.	Go to Paricutin Volcano (I), Michoacan, Mexico. Places/Terrain/ Borders and labels layers. Use arrow scroll buttons in upper right corner to view the volcano 3d. Use measurement tool.
7.Victoria Falls	View pictures and read description of falls. Guess ecosystem.	Go to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Africa. Places/Terrain/Borders and labels layers. Use scroll arrows to view 3d.
8.Provo, Utah	Read brief description. Determine what ecosystem Provo is part of. You never know what might be considered a Wonder in a thousand years-even Provo.	Find your elementary school (for this we will use BYU.) Places/Terrain/Borders and labels layers.