Virtual Tour

Here is my virtual tour assignment! I created a tour utilizing 4th grade science core curriculum, examining the differences between rocks and minerals, the types of rocks, erosion and weathering, and how soil is made. As students view my tour, they will become more familiar with this topic. To download the file, click here







The tours I viewed were:
1. Kate- ecosystems
2. Adrianne- Clocks
3. Caroline- Cultures Around the World

I really enjoyed this activity and thought it could be used in so many ways in my future classroom. Some of the upsides would be that it is a way of exposing children to he world without having to actually visit those places. By utilizing tours and Google earth, you could enrich your lessons. Instead of discussing the pyramids in Egypt, the kids could actually "go" there with good earth. This would also be a great resource if you were going to be out of town and a substitute would be with your class. You could plan ahead and preapre an activity that would ensure your students were still engaging in meaningful and productive activities.

A few downsides I could see with using Google earth is that it takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of planning to gather the materials, connect ideas to content standards, and create the tour. I could see some teachers getting so caught up in the production of the tour that the content and meaning towards the standards are lost. It becomes a fun activity instead of one that utilizes technology to enhance a topic and learning.