Dimensions is an experimental project from the BBC that allows you to compare the scale of different types of events with something that we can all recognise. There are two parts of the project “How many really?” and “How big really?“

“How many really?” is all about the numbers of people that were involved in a whole range of different events throughout history. The tool allows you to either add in your own numbers, for example 30, the number of children in your class, connect with Facebook or Twitter and compare your networks or even the number of people who can board a double decker bus or a Boeing 747.

You are then shown a visual comparison with the number of people involved in the event that you have chosen. The events fall into the following categories:

• Battles
• Civilisations
• Current Affairs
• Disasters
• Diseases
• Entertainment
• Modern Society
• Religion
• Slavery
• War

The Dimensions tools would be interesting to use within a history class but also within maths to help children and classes get a better appreciation of different sizes. It will eventually be integrated into the online history resources at the BBC depending on user feedback.

Google Earth was one of the very first pieces of software that I began to create educational resources with. As I put it in one of my first ever blog posts 5 years ago: ”This app won me over straight away.” The engaging environment really struck a chord with me and I remember fondly my first forays into using it to support learning.

It has developed so much over the years – I remember using it for a Geotweets lesson, when we had to track down people replying to us on Twitter and find their exact location in Google Earth.

It feels like a true Autumnal day today in England – despite the temperature anomaly we had just recently – which again reminds me of one of the first resources that I thought was truly magical from the Forestry Commission here in the UK. It was a network link in Google Earth that showed the colour of leaves at different sites around the UK and the icons would change colour accordingly. I loved how the information was live and changing constantly.

Nowadays the Forestry Commission has moved the Autumn Leaf colour project to the Google Maps platform which is similar to what I did with Maths Maps in the end.

I found this old image of Google Earth which was the starting point for Maths Maps years ago – a car park in Las Vegas. The original resource in Google Earth explored the rudimentary 3D shapes layer as well as webcams that could be viewed to count the frequency of cars on Las Vegas highways!

Google Maps in the end added the collaboration that I was seeking, that made it much easier for people to add resources and ideas – and to share amongst a class. Google Earth kmz files were much more complicated to work with. And so I moved the Maths Maps idea across – you can see them all here or use the link at the top of the page.

One of the most fun uses of Google Earth is the Monster Milktruck. I used as a starter to a maths lesson exploring different types of 3D shapes which we spotted as we drove around San Francisco.

Another memorable use of Google Earth and a successful writing project in my class was creating an escape story based on James and Giant Peach (make sure you follow the links to the other 4 posts). I found that so many children found it much easier to write about what they could see as they navigated around our story location in Google Earth. The engaging visual imagery helped them make a start in their story and seeing the progress or journey of our character reinforced the story structure.

Before the Roald Dahl inspired piece, I was using it to plot the course of diary entries we wrote with a Year 6 class as they took on the role of Mina Harker from Dracula who set sail from England to track down her stricken husband Jonathan in the depths of Transylvania. I later used the story maps idea in my session at the Google Teacher Academy in London.

One of the most impressive resources I have seen was the Ancient Rome 3D model that you could download and explore in Google Earth – allowing you to explore the ancient streets and buildings. I recall one morning starting the day by exploring the 3D model of the Collosseum and drawing lots of wows from the class. A stunning resource that brings the ancient city life for students.

I also really enjoyed the 3D Google Earth model of the tomb of Tutankhamun, which was the first time I think I saw the textures being rendered on the shapes – again such a rich resource for helping children better understand the topic. We of course used the models of pyramids well in our lessons on shape properties in maths too!

It is great to hear that Google Earth has been downloaded over 1 billion times – amazing.

Designed By JESS3 from visual.ly

You can explore all of my archived posts I have written about using Google Earth use in the classroom here. And don’t forget to explore more ideas for using Google Earth in the classroom in the Interesting Ways presentation – as well as the Google Maps version too.

The snow in the UK has really kicked in this week and many, many schools are closed – I thought we could take the opportunity to create some learning resources related to the conditions.

I discovered this list of snow depths but then thought perhaps we could simply crowd-source some accurate data from colleagues across the UK adding their own personal measurements. Collaborating on a map would also provide us the location too.

Here is the map so far – use the link below the map to add your own measurements.

View #UKSnowDepth in a larger map

I expect there are a great many different ways we could use this data (and this snowy experience) when we get back to classes. Here are a few thoughts of mine:

• Create simple graphs and chart to represent the data. Answer questions to interpret the information.
• Develop your own map for the snow depth on your school site, taking measurements in different locations. Explore the conditions that might have brought about the highest depth.
• Gather information from other countries in Europe that have been effected.
• Make comparisons to countries that have a constant or more regular snowfall.
• Cross reference the snow depths to the temperatures – repeat for other countries.
• Design a snow depth instrument.
• Learn about the depth of snow during expeditions to Everest or the Poles.
• Read historic accounts of expeditions and references to snow depth.
• Learn about different types of snow and how it changes under different temperatures and conditions.
• Explore freezing and melting.
• Look at insulation and conduct an investigation about keeping something cold or hot.

What ideas do you have for back-to-school-after-the-snow days – leave a comment with your thoughts.

At the London offices of Google they have a Google Earth tour displayed on a wall of the reception area. I happened to spot this quirky use of space by an Amsterdam based newspaper printing company.

View Larger Map

According to James Turnbull and the Google Sightseeing blog the translations include:

• “Entree” = “Entrance”
• “Afhalen kranten” = “Pick-up newspapers”
• “Parkeren vrachtwagens tot 5m” = “Parking trucks up to 5 metres”
• “Papier” = “Paper”
• “Aanvoer goederen” = “Supply Goods”
• “Uitgang” = “Exit”

I have begun a new Maths Map in Adelaide focusing on addition ideas that can be seen or referred to on the map. It would be great to have your contributions it is very easy to do:

How can you contribute?

1. Explore the maps below for the ideas already added, follow the links to open them in a new window.
2. Click on EDIT in the left panel.
3. Zoom close to the city and it’s surroundings. (Don’t forget Streetview)
4. Find some TOPIC ideas you can see.
5. Add a placemark (use the right colour for the age group it is best for – see purple pin)
6. Explain the activity in the description.
7. Change the title to show how many ideas there are.
8. Send out a Tweet or write a blog post to highlight this resource and encourage others to contribute.

View 6 Addition Activities in Adelaide in a larger map
Make sure you explore the other maps in Nottingham, Madrid and Paris that are currently running, you can see all 4 on the Maths Maps page.

Today I suddenly spotted the little ruler icon for the Distance Measurement Tool in Google Maps – click on the image to take a closer look at how to switch it on.

What is a Smoot?

During the Google Teacher Academy UK I ran a 30 minute session on Google Maps. It was a bit of a whirlwind of a training session but hopefully allowed the participants the chance to briefly play with Maps and also to think about how we could use Maps in a different way.

Here are some of the highlights:

Overview

10 minutes

• San Francisco map from 1915 – mapping has come a long way. 95 years of progress.
• Classroom ideas – Google Streetview, seeing Tom teaching PE, exploring Whitby Harbour and Abbey during work on Dracula with Year 6.
• Classroom ideas – James and the Giant Peach, using the map to tell a story.

10 minutes

• Activity time – add a placemark and continue the story in the Story Map

10 minutes

• Practical thoughts about classroom use
• Mashup Magic – some examples of the API use

Presentation

Google Maps GTAUK Page

One of the strongest elements of the Google Teacher Academy is the huge resource that has been accumulated on the GTAUK wiki. Each presenter has had a page that they have populated with a vast amount of links and all sorts of resources for people to explore further. Here are a few of mine and be sure to explore the rest on my Google Maps page.

Mashup Magic:

• Geotag your Pictures - http://www.panoramio.com
• Geotag your old Pictures - History Pin
• Over 120 historical maps in the Google Maps Rumsey Historical Maps
• Scribbling + Maps = ScribbleMaps
• RadarVirtuel – real time European air traffic

Google Maps in Other Languages:

• Chinese Maps - http://ditu.google.cn/
• French Maps - http://maps.google.fr/
• German Maps - http://maps.google.de/
• Spanish Maps - http://maps.google.es/
• Italian Maps - http://maps.google.it/
• Russian Maps - http://maps.google.ru/

Google Maps beyond Earth:

• Planet Mars
• The Moon
• Google Sky

Activity: Story Maps

On the wiki I have outlined two different activities for the participants to look at but with little time to explain them we used the Story Map idea. I gave a simple story starter in a placemark on Westminster Bridge in London:

It was exactly where they said it would be. The Thames swirled below me from a passing barge as I lifted it too my chest.

The bridge seemed quieter than usual, and yet I could feel eyes watching. Which way now? I needed to get moving. I had already spent too long.

I turned and pressed on.

The participants would then choose from a number of story paths I had drawn on the map using the line tool, adding placemarks and continuing the story. It was a simple idea that showed the collaborative potential of maps that is often overlooked. You can see our efforts below.

View GTAUK – Story Map in a larger map

Mashups

One of the last things that I showed was the amazing Kinomap that allows users the ability to map a video route such as a bike ride or a run. I showed a cyclist doing a tour of the Googleplex – well worth a look. (It also has a mobile app you can download)

An amusing diversion

If I could do it again?

There are a couple of features of Google Maps I wanted to emphasise and demonstrate more clearly, time was a little tight and I probably didn’t do them justice.

Distance Measurement Tool – can be added from the Labs link at the top and appears in your maps “Created by Others”. It is really useful as a comparison of units of measurement. It even has Smoots, which the GTAUK planning team spent a bit of time talking about the day before the event.

URL Shortener – the links provided for Maps is always really long. Again from Labs there is the URL Shortener. But the trade off is that you lose the option to grab the embed code.

Place Pages – recently added to the mobile version of Maps, it is really handy to have a single page of information about landmarks and search results. From a search result placemark look for the More Info link – it is a single web page summary about that place pulling in photos and information from other sources. Useful for classes when they are doing any type of research.

Collaborate - each map gives you options to collaborate with others. From the top of your map find the Collaborate button on the left, opposite the Edit button.

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I hope that those of you who were with me in the sessions enjoyed them and took away something you could use in the classroom – and for those who weren’t, that there is something in this blog post or in the wiki to instigate some ideas. Please let me know.

I thought I should bring things a little closer to home with the latest resource in the Maths Maps series. Please take a look at this set of learning outcomes or objectives from the Primary Strategy that might help you figure out what placemark icon you need.

View 7 Data Handling Activities in Nottingham in a larger map

As with the other resources they are all available on the Maths Maps page.

Please consider taking a minute to add a placemark with an activity on something you spot in the city. There has been some great additions already – I look forward to seeing this develop and I hope you find it useful.

I am excited to introduce you to my new project idea that I hope will result in some engaging content for our classes. It is collaborative in the same way the Interesting Ways resources are and I will need your help to make it a success.

Elevator Pitch

• Using Google Maps.
• Maths activities in different places around the world.
• One location, one maths topic, one map.
• Activities explained in placemarks in Google Maps.
• Placemarks geotagged to the maths it refers to. “How wide is this swimming pool?”
• Teachers to contribute and share ideas.
• Maps can be used as independent tasks or group activities in class.
• Maps can be embedded on websites, blogs or wikis.
• Tasks to be completed by students and recorded online or offline.

Some background

Four years ago I created Google Earth resources for the classroom and posted them to the GE Community Forum. Two of them were called Maths in Madrid and Maths in Las Vegas. These were based on the fact that there is maths all around us, every day, everywhere we look. Google Earth (and Maps) gives us a great perspective on it all. It also provides easy access for our students to see rich visual content that depicts everyday maths. I have always loved the idea of children seeing the maths they are working on.

The only issue with Google Earth is that it is restrictive in two ways. It is not browser based and it is impossible for me to create a resource for others to collaborate on.

Luckily Google Maps has caught up and using the collaborative features I can now invite other teachers and educators to help build on these resources. It is exciting to return to these old ideas and work on them with you all.

First Attempts

Earlier today I invited some people on Twitter to help me make a start and it was great to see loads of ideas added to the Maths in Madrid map I had generated, based on my original work. There were questions about shape, time, money, rotational symmetry, you name it! (Thanks to all those who helped!)

View Maths in Madrid in a larger map
Please don’t add to this map any more – see the Measures in Madrid map below.

The problem here is that although the ideas were organised under maths topics (see map) with different coloured pins, there was no distinction between age appropriateness. There would be too much to filter out for the teacher or student.

With help and direction from those collaborating, I took a simpler approach and created a Measures in Madrid map that collates maths ideas about the one topic. This time the placemark icons are used to distinguish which age group it is best for. See below.

I think this is much easier to use because the map is about one topic, but shows the grade/age level too. Many different maps can be created to cover lots of different maths topics.

Measures in Madrid – How can you contribute?

1. Explore the map below for the ideas already added, follow the link to open it in a new window.
2. Make sure you are signed in to your Google account.
3. Click on EDIT in the left panel.
4. Zoom close to the city and it’s surroundings. (Don’t forget Streetview)
5. Find some MEASURES ideas you can see.
6. Add a placemark (use the right colour for the age group it is best for – see purple pin)
7. Explain the activity in the description.
8. Change the title to show how many ideas there are.
9. Send out a Tweet or write a blog post to highlight this resource and encourage others to contribute.

View 7 Measures Activities in Madrid in a larger map
There are endless amounts of maps we could make and once this one is up and running I will be highlighting some more. I will be embedding them all on the MATHS MAPS page of this blog too.

Please help by contributing just one placemark – let others know about the maps so we can gather lots of ideas.