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If you aren't regularly using Google Maps in your classroom, you're really missing out. Google Maps is such a valuable tool for sneakily teaching geography & fostering a global world view. Students are curious, love Google Maps, and will remember what they explored. To help you get started, and to give you a few ideas on how you might use this in your classroom, here's my list of...
25 Ways to Use Google Maps in Your Classroom
Morning station/work - students choose a location or have a set list of locations
Students learn their address and look up their home
Find the distance between two places you are studying in science or social studies
Look up the directions to a field experience/trip you will be going on
Study which types of transportation can be used to travel to different parts of the world
Investigate where the author of a book is from
Investigate the home lands of any famous people you discuss
Look at one state per day
Look at one Continent per day
Play "Continent, Country or City" with a partner - One calls the location, the other says whether it's a Continent/Country/City
Study distances and time needed to travel to different places in math class.
Study miles vs. kilometers by changing the options in the directions section
Compare how long it would take to drive/walk/bike to locations
Let students drop "Pegman" to see locations at street view
Look up the locations of the settings of books being read. Mark a spot on a class map for each location
Early finishers - explore on Google Maps
Complete a scavenger hunt of relative locations for what is being studied at the time in science or social studies
Investigate land forms
Drop "Pegman" into different ecosystems around the world
Practice spelling continents, countries, cities & states by typing them in the Google Maps search
Write a compare/contrast paragraph about two different places using Google Maps to view them in street view
Map out historical places and the distances or directions between each
Look at the different regions of your state by dropping "Pegman" in each location to look around
Find the names of different types of bodies of water around the world. (oceans, lakes, rivers)
Visit famous cities around the world
As you can see, there are plenty of ways you can incorporate Google Maps into your day. Whether learning in school, in a blended classroom, or remotely, Google Maps is sure to drive your students' engagement and curiosity about the world around them.
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You can check out how I sneak in some work with Google Maps in my "Where in the World Are We?" Digital Interactive Notebook. Also, check out my "Compass Rose" Digital Interactive Notebook and my fun Build Your Own Compass Rose activity in 10 different languages!
