Google Earth and the Universe - Space Travel Fun

by Lauri Griffin | More from this Blogger

03 Sep 2007 07:01 PM

A few months ago, Jeff talked about Google Earth and how much fun it was to explore the program in one of his blogs. Now, with their latest version, Google Earth has gone into space. Now, not only can you type in San Francisco, you can type in Andromeda, Horsehead Nebula, or Orion. Google and NASA have compiled over a million Hubble Space Telescope and satellite images into a map of space. The project is mind boggling. And so is traveling through the universe! It's so fun!

You can type in an address and view the night sky from that location. I've always wished I knew the different constellations. Now it will be easy to pick them out from our sky. The program also gives information on the starts that make up the constellations. It will be so fun to teach the kids about the stars.

You can also view the trajectory of planets across the sky. Or you explore even further away. Take virtual tours of different types of galaxies. Images from the Hubble are overlaid on the screen. If you click on them a pop-up balloon will tell you more information. If you haven't seen the Hubble pictures yet, prepare to be amazed. If you are familiar with them, it's still amazing to see nebulas, the birth of stars in the actual locations, the swirls of galaxies. You can learn all about the life cycle of stars. Explore the moon and the planets. You can even zoom in for close ups. I find it humbling and fascinating.

I can't even begin to think of all the uses this application will have for teaching science. In fact, you can even take the "Sally Ride" tour, an educational tour of our solar system and the universe beyond. It's designed to encourage science, math, and technology interest. I also think it encourages the imagination. The universe is truly amazing.

Also See:

A Unit Study Starter on Backyard Astronomy

Planets & Stars

Baby Galileo: Discovering the Sky

Learn more about Lauri Griffin

Lauri lives in Colorado with her husband and three sons. Amidst all the laundry and packing of lunches, she tries to keep parenting fun.

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