Awesome!

This article was simply amazing! I have always had an interest in the solar system and ways to build models of the solar system. The idea of using google earth to help students understand sc... See More

This article was simply amazing! I have always had an interest in the solar system and ways to build models of the solar system. The idea of using google earth to help students understand scale and proportions is very unique! As the article stated, traditional scale models so not allow for deep student understanding of the scaling of the solar system. By using google earth, students get a more realistic understanding of the scale of the solar system. I would love to try this activity with students! Great article!

Unique application of Google Earth

Even my freshmen Earth Science students still struggle with scale and proportion when studying the dimensions of our solar system. This ingenious resource uses features in Google Earth to he... See More

Even my freshmen Earth Science students still struggle with scale and proportion when studying the dimensions of our solar system. This ingenious resource uses features in Google Earth to help clear up problems that traditional models have when comparing both the size of celestial bodies and their distance from each other. By using several of the features found in Google Earth and an gif overlay of both the inner and outer solar system, students better understand the Earth’s place in the solar system. As an extension, making and placing a model of the sun and inner planets relative to each other throughout the school campus will help students appreciate both size and scale. I would use this activity in conjunction with building the NASA-developed traditional model that uses everyday items to represent objects in the solar system and the Powers of Ten video so they would understand the immense size of the universe.