Session+1+iLearn+Science+6

TITLE: 6.1 – Understanding the basic science concepts of the weather unit and Installing and Exploring Google Earth

SETTING THE STAGE Facilitators should first find out who are participants who already have Google Earth installed on their computers.

Session In this session, participants will learn what are the key science concepts necessary for sixth grade students to comprehend the weather unit. Facilitator will refer to the new scope and sequence for the sixth grade. Facilitators will show how to install Google Earth and participants will have time to explore Google Earth independently. Those participants who already have Google Earth will use this time to explore Google Earth. The majority of the session will focus on Google Earth, understanding the task panes and on the use of the basic tools of Google Earth. We will record any findings in our Google Notebook.

Focusing Questions What are the key science concepts needed by sixth grade students to understand the weather unit? What is Google Earth and how do you think it will be useful in enhancing teaching Weather Unit? How can I download Google Earth and install it? How do I use the task panes and the navigation tools? How do I zoom in and out? What is the importance of using the placemark?

Materials The following materials are used in this session: - Laptops - Projector - Smartboard - Google Earth (Free Download)

Resources The following resources are available on the iTeach/iLearn web site: Science 6_1 Presentation.ppt Weather Unit Science Scope and sequence word document Science Scope and Sequence for Grades 6, 7 and 8 http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html http://earth.google.com/userguide/v4/index.html http://www.gearthblog.com/basics.html http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2007/01/important_basics_for.html http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2006/08/google_earth_4_1.html MS Word template for observations/ideas for lesson plans

Attach PowerPoint here using this PowerPoint Template.

INSTRUCTION (Typically lasts about 20% of session.)

Framing the Session

“This is the first session of our workshop on the 6th grade iTeach/iLearn Science Curriculum. Over the course of this session we will understand what are the fundamental science concepts and skills needed for students to understand the weather unit. We will also understand how to download Google Earth and use its basic tools. We will show you how to use, for example, the navigation tools, the zoom functions and the various task panes.”

Teaching

“Before we step into the technology part of this session, we need a basic understanding of what students need to know before they can understand phenomena such as rain, storms, hurricanes, blizzards, etc. Properties of matter, heating and cooling events and the different layers of the earth are all essential basics that our students need to know. In addition to these core concepts, students need to understand how to conduct specific laboratory weather-related skills. For example, students need to know how to read the latitude and longitude coordinates of a location. They also need to know how to generate and interpret topographic and weather maps. Our students become meteorologists themselves in that they learn to predict the characteristics of an air mass based upon the origin of that air mass. They also need to know how to measure variables such as wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity and barometric pressure. They also learn how to determine the density of liquids as well as regular/irregular shaped solids.

Now, watch me as I show you how to download Google Earth. The process is very similar for both the PC and the Mac platforms. When there is a difference that needs to be shown, I will make sure to let you know the difference.

First, for MAC users let’s go to Firefox and open it up. For PC users, let’s go to Internet Explorer and open it up. Type in google.com in the url box. Once you are there, click on “more” and then click on “even more”. You’ll see a list of Google applications, one of which has a white and blue striped globe. That’s Google Earth. Click on “Earth” and this should open up to earth.google.com Now click on “Downloads” and click on the appropriate operating system that you have. Now you just need to click on “Download Google Earth”. Both the link for the list of Google applications and the link for downloading Google Earth can be found under “Resources”.

For everyone, go back to Google.com and click on “more” and then click on “even more”. Double click on Google Notebook. You’ll need to create an account if you don’t have one. If you have a gmail account you can use your user name and password. Open up Google notebook and if you face any problems with any of the Google applications,write them down and give them to us. As we proceed with our lesson, write down in Google Notebook any possible ideas that you may have on the use of Google Earth for lesson plans on the weather unit. (Facilitators, use the Word template in the event that Google notebook does not work.)

For MAC users who already have Google Earth, check your dock and see if there’s a blue and white striped ball. This is Google Earth; click on the ball to open it up. If it’s not on the dock, then check your hard drive under “Applications”. Double click on “Google Earth”. You can also drag it to your dock.

For PC users who already have Google Earth, check your desktop for the icon or check under “All Programs”. Open up the Google Earth application. For both MAC and PC users who already have Google Earth, we would like you to explore some of the features as we wait for our colleagues to download and install Google Earth and Google Notebook.

(Facilitators wait for all participants to have downloaded and installed Google Earth and Google Notebook.)

Now that we are all on the same page, let’s begin using Google Earth and have some fun! Watch me as I go over the task panes and the tools. Let me explain briefly the tools located at the bottom of the main view. At the bottom the envelope icon represents “Email”. The next “computer” icon is for those who want to print information that you have retrieved from GE. The thumbtack icon is for you to add a placemark for a place of interest. The scale from “-“ to “+” is for you to zoom in and and out of the globe. The curvy arrows enable you to rotate the globe to the right or left. If you want to move your view to the left, right or up or down, you can either use the arrows located in the center of the curvy arrows. You can also place the cursor on the view and drag it to the right. Want fine dining? Check out restaurants in the area by using “Dining”. At the top of GE, you’ll find 6 different menus. Under “View”, you can change your view to show the longitude and latitude. The “Overview Map” shows the larger picture. You can also click on “Compass” for the directions.

The top left pane has 3 tabs – type in where you want to go under “Fly to”, type in the type of business under “what” and where you would like to find the business under “where”. For example, Italian restaurants in Portland, Oregon. I’m going to type in “Taj Mahal, Agra, India” under the tab “Fly To” box. Okay, see what happens to the globe after I’ve hit “enter”. The globe rotates and zooms into your place of interest. Let’s all try to locate the “Empire State Building”. Everyone, type in “Empire State Building” under “Fly To” tab. Everyone there? What happened? Now, I want Google Earth to remember Taj Mahal location. How do I do this? I place the cursor on the point of interest, in this case “Taj Mahal” and then I go to “Add” which is on your taskbar for Google Earth. Then click on “Placemark”. Now you will see a new window opened. It’s asking you how you want to describe this location. I’m going to write “Taj Mahal, India”. Then click “OK”. This will automatically appear in the middle task pane under “Places”.

If you want to locate Indian restaurants in Rome, Italy. Now, I’ll open up “Find Businesses” and type in “Indian restaurants”. Then under “where” type in “Rome, Italy”. See what happened.

If you want to find out how to get car directions from New York, New York to San Francisco, California, type them in. It will show you the path that your car will take as well as give specific directions. Go under “Directions” and type under “From”, “New York, New York”. Then under “To”, type in “San Francisco, California”. A purple line with some cute looking yellow cars appear. If you look at the top left task pane, you’ll see a list of written directions.

Now, let me show you how to calculate the distance between two places. Under “Fly To”, I’ll type “Empire State Building”. Once GE has located it, I want GE to remember it. As you may recall, all I need to is to add a placemark. Now, I want to know the distance from the Empire State Building to the Statue of Liberty. Now do the same thing for the Statue of Liberty and add a placemark. You now have your two places of interest tagged. Now, you’ll need to zoom out in order to see both of your placemarks in the main view window. We have to click “-“ at the bottom of your main view. Now, go to “Tools” on the task bar, and then click on “Measure”. A new window opens up. Make sure that the Line tab is highlighted in blue. Your cursor has changed into a tiny box. Place this box on “Empire State Building” placemark. Now, your cursor has changed to a hand. You’ll need to drag the line from the Empire State Building to the Statue of Liberty placemark. Look at the distance which is provided in different units.

For any of you who would like more extensive information about the use of GE, please use the link http://earth.google.com/userguide/v4/index.html under “Resources”.

Guided Practice

“Now it is your turn to try it. Follow the directions that we just went over and add a placemark to your school address. Name it as “school”. Find the directions to drive from your school to Miami, Florida. Find also the distance in kilometers. Copy and paste the directions into the Google Notebook. Find a place of interest and write down its longitude and latitude in your Google Notebook. Also write down the nearby restaurants. Write down at least 3 ways that you can see Google Earth being used in Science class for the weather unit. (Facilitators ask participants to use Word template in the event that Google notebook is not working.)

WORK TIME (Typically lasts about 60–70% of session.)

Getting Started

“Take the next 30 minutes to locate a specific place of interest using Google Earth. Try to find the distance from your school in Manhattan to your place of interest. Note all your findings in your Google Notebook. Make sure you include details such as distance, directions, latitude, longitude and cardinal points. Include your ideas for lesson plans for the Weather Unit. At the end of the session we will come back together and share.”

Participant Activity Participants will...

Step 1 – Understand the basic science concepts for the weather unit. They will refer to the scope and sequence document dated January 17, 2007.

Step 2 – Download Google Earth, if they do not have it already installed on their computers.

Step 3 – Understand the different task panes. Learn how to use “Fly To”, “Businesses”, “Directions” tabs on the top left task pane.

Step 4 – Learn how to navigate the globe and zoom in and out.

Step 5 –Learn how to find a place, place a placemark for future use and find its longitude and latitude.

Step 6 – Learn how to measure distances between two places.

Step 7 – Record their observations and ideas for lesson plans in Google Notebook. (If notebook is not working, Microsoft Word template will be used.)

Facilitator Conferring Circulate around the room and confer with participants. Make sure that all participants have GE properly installed. Check to see if participants encounter any technical problems that need to be addressed. Try to guide participants to use the tools effectively. Suggest that they try more than one location, if they finish early. , Take note of particularly good ideas for lesson plans that can be presented during the Share.

SHARE (Typically lasts about 10–20% of session.)

Share

Ask selected participants to share different thoughts on how they would use the basic tools of Google Earth in their science/weather unit in their classes. Lead a discussion about how these ideas tie into and bridge back to the focusing questions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Author: Rajeshwari C. Menon and Nalini Shyam Email: RMeno@schools.nyc.gov School/Employer: IS 195, New York City Department of Education Title: 6th, 7th, 8th Grade Science Teacher Email: NShyam@schools.nyc.gov School/Employer: MS 217, New York City Department of Education Title: 7th Grade Science Teacher