Google Earth, Moon & Mars

This has really changed since my kids first started playing around with it a few years ago. Finding the house in Vermont was kind of difficult as the satellite imagery was not so great. I'd never been to the educator background portion of the site and that really opened my eyes to all sorts of neat investigative tools. It still seems like a really cool site just to noodle around on, but yes, it does have applications for the classroom. I love the plans by teachers, for teachers. Historic maps, creating maps, math, science, physics, geography. The map maker looked realy interesting, but I didn't try it. As a librarian, I would suggest using this to actively engage students in the daily lessons, but also create an anchor activity for kids who just want to explore. Putting Google Moon up on the Smart board would give kids a glimpse into what many of us grew up watching. I remember getting almost uninterested in the moon shots. "Oh , it's splashing down, today? Great. No, I don't need to watch it, again." Now when I watch the movie, Apollo 13, it gives me chills. I wonder if the youth of today is getting the same feeling I once had about the space station and the Shuttle. Maybe taking them back 40 years to the moon walks accessible through Google Moon would give them a greater sense of what pioneers the astronauts of the 1960's and 70's really were, and why today, the space station is being utilized for so many experiments. I wonder where the next 40 years will take us?
Melissa