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Like most people I have lost many hours to Google Earth. As a geographer and teacher I have been trying to find ways to incorporate this tool into the social studies classroom. Over a year ago I started making my own Google Earth files. Throughout the past year, my father and I have spent countless hours working through technical issues creating what you see today. There are a few more improvements that still need to be made (when in doubt refresh the browser), but it works and is there for you to enjoy. I offer this tool to all teachers who want to create cool and engaging lessons for their students. In return I would appreciate feedback on how you use this site and potential improvements. Required Resources: This site looks best with IE7 and higher, Firefox 3 ((FF4-FF7 Fix), and Google Chrome. You must install the Google Earth Plug-in (Free, but you might need your IT administrator to install) and have broadband access.

"Today Google launched a new experimental feature for crafting and sharing stories using Google Earth. Released in honor of Veteran's Day, Tour Builder-which requires both the Google Earth plug-in and a Google account-allows users to create a virtual tour using photos, descriptions and mapped points (or pinned locations). "

"Teachers, share with your students one of the greatest stories of all time - how did animal life evolve on planet earth? Download or stream these short videos to help students learn about this dramatic rise of the animal kingdom and how those first animals lead to the astonishing diversity we see on earth today"

via @rmbyrne

resources on google earth and google map

Our Little Earth is a nice site that provides bi-weekly summaries of the world's biggest news stories. The summaries are written for students. Each edition includes video clips along with the stories. In each edition you'll find stories appropriate for use in social studies, math, and science lessons. You may also find stories about the arts, entertainment, and popular culture. A few "did you know" questions appear in each issue as well. An archive containing every edition going back to 2007 is available too.

"NASA invites you -- and everyone else on the planet -- to take part in a worldwide celebration of Earth Day this year with the agency's #GlobalSelfie event."

This looks fantastic. Use Google Earth to teach maths concepts in new and unfamiliar ways.

This looks fantastic. Use Google Earth to teach maths concepts in new and unfamiliar ways.

Pressure cookers can actually make the earth become greener. It prepares food quickly and thus saves fuel. Pressure cooker manufacturers have taken several safety features to ensure that users get the maximum benefit.

Interactive visualisation showing wind speeds around the world

Great info on map.

Superb video simulation pulling out from Earth to the limits of the universe - uses real data

(via @rmbyrne)

Nice interactive for teaching Earth science.

"We believe that it might actually be possible to build a ring of balloons, flying around the globe on the stratospheric winds, that provides Internet access to the earth below. It's very early days, but we've built a system that uses balloons, carried by the wind at altitudes twice as high as commercial planes, to beam Internet access to the ground at speeds similar to today's 3G networks or faster. As a result, we hope balloons could become an option for connecting rural, remote, and underserved areas, and for helping with communications after natural disasters. The idea may sound a bit crazy-and that's part of the reason we're calling it Project Loon-but there's solid science behind it. "

"We believe that it might actually be possible to build a ring of balloons, flying around the globe on the stratospheric winds, that provides Internet access to the earth below. It's very early days, but we've built a system that uses balloons, carried by the wind at altitudes twice as high as commercial planes, to beam Internet access to the ground at speeds similar to today's 3G networks or faster. As a result, we hope balloons could become an option for connecting rural, remote, and underserved areas, and for helping with communications after natural disasters. The idea may sound a bit crazy-and that's part of the reason we're calling it Project Loon-but there's solid science behind it. "

"...an interactive HTML5 site illustrating the scale of time on Earth"

"Presented by well known science educator, Sean M Elliott, Rough Science is a digital learning environment that explores three exciting Australian Curriculum Year 5 & 6 science topics: Layers of the Earth; Solid, Liquid & Gas; and Adaptation & Evolution. Each unit is comprised of a short video and a creative challenge. The App is accompanied by a free Rough Science Teacher Handbook, available from the iTunes store. "

FORGET about postcodes and street numbers. A new mapping system called 'what3words' can find any searchable spot on the globe with a three-word code. The London-based start-up has divided Earth into 57 trillion squares, each of them three square metres large. Every individual square has been assigned a unique three-word code. With a simple, map-based search, you can pinpoint any location and find its code in a matter of seconds. It sure beats writing down a full address.

"The Puzzle Maker (also known as Puzzle Creator or Editor) is an in-game puzzle editor that allows the creation, testing, and publishing (to Steam Workshop) of custom single-player and co-op test chambers. The Editor also adds new lines from Cave Johnson which, altogether, adds a story to downloaded test chambers. The DLC introduces the player to "The Multiverse" which contains an infinite number of Earths, an infinite number of Apertures, and therefore, an infinite number of test chambers. Puzzle Maker is not intended as a replacement of Hammer, which while more powerful and generalized in nature, is significantly more difficult and time consuming to use. It is possible to export a VMF from Puzzle Maker and open it in Hammer; many mappers do this to add polish or features that are not currently possible using the Puzzle Maker. Some mappers use the Puzzle Maker to quickly iterate through (and test) puzzle designs before building a chamber from scratch with Hammer. It is not possible to load a Hammer VMF file in Puzzle Maker."

"Once launched, the ArduSat (Arduino - satellite) will be the first open platform allowing the general public to design and run their own space-based applications, games and experiments, steer the onboard cameras to take pictures on-demand, and even broadcast personalized messages back to Earth."