Google Maps

I use Google Maps a lot when I'm trying to figure out where I'm going.  Unfortunately, I use only the basic tools.  Until tonight, I had not explored the advanced tools now offered.

Google maps has taken finding directions to a whole new level. I didn't realize how detailed they had become.  When I was little, we vacationed to lots of places around the United States.  Anytime we wanted to eat somewhere local in the city we were visiting, we would have to ask the hotel staff or someone my Mom befriended.  Nowadays, I would just look online at Google maps to find the restaurant that I wanted.  An example of how detailed Google Maps are, I typed in "Pizza in Knoxville, TN."  I was given listings A-J and then many more pages as well.  It listed some of the great local pizza places in town.  Along with the location and titles of the restaurants, I was also given the reviews of the restaurants.  I really like this ability to search out fantastic restaurants.  I will use this tool here in Knoxville and when traveling.  They have also increased their mapping abilities.  I could make a custom map with icons that stood for different places, such as universities, hospitals, restaurants, and much more.  I like having the ability to specifically map out my directions by choosing the roads I want to travel.  This tool would make giving someone directions extremely nice and easy.

LESSON PLANS:

The first lesson plan I looked at was in the middle school section.  "World War II Battle Areas" was extremely informative.  I loved having the actual locations to look at while reading and studying the details of each attack or battleground.  I think as a teacher, one could really capture the students attention by incorporating this into the lesson plan.  I think if I did this one I would tag each site with a letter or number instead of a thumbstack, just because I had to click on each tack to figure out what was located at that location. What a great teaching tool!

The second lesson I looked at was "Mostly Weather."  I really liked that these students found the cities that were the most of different weather events, such as "the windiest city" and "the city with the most snowfall."  What great knowledge the students would gain while doing such a fun activity.