Maps has been one of my favorite Google Apps to use in fourth and fifth grade. Students conduct research on a topic, create placemarks, and add descriptions, images, and sometimes links. The collaboration feature allows the class to quickly create a visual guide to any topic, for example the agricultural products of Oregon. The work environment is media-rich, collaborative, and fast. The mapping skills are very transferable to other subjects.
View Map Of Oregon in a larger map
In the following map, each student designed a fruit salad from a list of ingredients and then mapped the distance to the place of origin of each fruit.
View Fruit Salad in a larger map
Thanks for the reminder that Google Maps can be so useful. Your post reminds me of a cool Google Earth project from Middlebury {http://geography.middlebury.edu/applications/Food_Mapping/} that we used last year. It brought about many ‘oooooh’ and ‘ah ha’ moments for our 5th graders…
Thanks so much, Jason. I will share this with the fifth grade team. I think the students will be excited to see a college doing the same work that they have been doing.
Wow! Trip planning meets global trade. Very cool introduction to Google Maps. Do the students record the map to illustrate a virtual salad being created?
cheers,
Paul
Can you do that in Maps, or only in Earth? I like how the homeroom teacher and students figured out the custom map icons on their own.