VIRTUAL FIELDTRIP

starring:

GOOGLE EARTH

While I really enjoyed working with Google Earth, and this project, I must say that it did not enjoy working with me...  I have had nothing but bad luck since I started it, between my school district blocking it from use in the general class (something about it taking up too much memory on the network) to my home modem getting fried when a gas truck hit a power line near our house.  Nothing like working from McDonald's (free wi-fi) on my wife's tablet to try and get this done!

Anyhow, here it is.

I set this up originally as a field trip to look at architectural styles around the world.  I then realized that was too big of a scope, and tried to narrow it down.  I worked with ancient civilizations and their architecture instead, choosing four major sites: two in Africa, one in Mesopotamia, and one in Greece.  Each pre-BC by anywhere from 500 to 3,000 years, yet each clearly marked with Google Earth, and with a large quantity of extras to look at.

Primary instructional goal?  How did ancient civilizations build these massive structures, and why?

How does this fit into the five mind parameters?

The Disciplined Mind:

This one is easy, and faily obvious.  "The facts, ma'am, just the facts".  It is easy enough just to send people out to determine where something is located, how big it is, and when it was built.  Also, how it was constructed would fit into this genre.

The Synthesizing Mind:

Look at the structural design, and what made them unique.  What has made them last for millennia and still be a major part of many cultures?

The Creating Mind:

Why were they built?  What that specific design?  Not just what is found in a textbook, but put  yourself in the proverbial shoes of the people of that time.  If you were the ruler or architect of that time, how would you, with the design and construction knowledge that you have, create and build such a monument?

The Resepectful and Ethical Minds:

What motivates a society to construct an artifact that is as large as a mountain and lasts for thousands of years?  No mockery here.  Explore the cultures beliefs and come to terms with how they thought and what they believed.  Compare it to today's society... other than technological advancements, are they really that different?

My plan for this originally also included using Glogster to set the theme, so I am including both projects.  I would like to note, however, that when I checked this out after loading it through Google Docs, my bullets and information did not always appear in the GE program.  I don't know what I did wrong, but here it is...

Direct open through Google Docs:
Ancient Architecture

Open in Glogster:
Glogster: Ancient Architecture