Where in the World Are We? Loving the GeoGuessr Geography Game!

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What an honor it is to be guest blogging this week on Rachel Lynette's Minds in Bloom blog!

I'm always on the lookout for engaging and authentic learning activities to encourage students' interest in social studies and to help them understand its relevance in their lives. This time, though, it was my husband who introduced to me a fantastic opportunity for students to use technology, map skills, and their knowledge of regions, topography, language & other cultural elements to identify different world locations. GeoGuessr is a free, Web-based geography game that challenges players to identify real-life locations from around the world using Google Street View. 

Each game includes five different Street View locations. One image at a time, you can explore the locations and the surrounding areas. When you think you know a location, you place a red pin on the map by clicking once on the spot. (You can move your pin before submitting a final guess.)

Not the same image as above, but I wanted to show you the red pin.

Once you've submitted your guess, the true location will be revealed as well as how far away your guess was from it. You are awarded points based on the the proximity of your guess. You can play individually, or you can create a challenge and invite others to identify the same locations by sending them a unique link. You can also create a time limit on the challenges, and the screen will go dark once time is up.

One set of tools you can use to narrow down the location are the Google map tools. You can zoom in and out. You can view 360 degrees around you. You can even "travel" away from the original location by clicking the "forward" and "back" arrows. You can also "travel" to a specific spot in the distance by placing the white oval on the location and double-clicking. This helps if you see something in the distance that could provide a clue to your location.

Clues are provided in many ways, which requires the players to integrate knowledge from many different subject areas. It is also a wonderful way for players to connect prior knowledge and experiences. Here are some examples of the information that can be found in the images to help you identify where you're at:

• Topography
• Natural resources
• Road signs and road markers (For example: How are lanes divided?)
• Language on signs and buildings
• Conditions of the buildings, roadways, and bridges
• Types of vehicles
• Architecture
• Plant life
• Climate
• Culture (For example: What side of the road are people driving on? What are the ethnic backgrounds of the people in view? How are people dressed?)

The game can easily be used in a classroom either in a whole-class, small-group, or individual setting. Here's how I would model my thinking about how I analyzed the above image aloud to students:

Looking at this image, from my own knowledge and experiences, I recognized the wooden church architecture as something older (pioneer times? early 1900s?) than today's churches. What really caught my eye is the white sign on the middle left. I recognized that sign as a type of historical marker that I have seen in other parts of the United States. I did a 360 view of the site and saw large hills and many types of trees (evergreens and leafy trees) surrounding this area. I also zoomed in on cars that were in a parking lot across the street from the church. They looked similar those in the United States. I did not see any English-language signs in the image, but I did recognize American-style street sign shapes.  I took a guess that this site was somewhere in Tennessee based on these ideas (also because I had seen a very similar-style church on a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains). The site was actually in West Virginia, so I wasn't too far off!

Not too shabby! At least I'm on the right continent.

There's a lot of critical thinking and attention to detail involved in this game. In the United States, for example, this would be fabulous opportunity to teach students about the subtle differences between us and other English-speaking countries, such as Great Britain, Canada, and Australia. Places may look alike, but there are slight cultural differences that help us tell where we would be. For example, What do they call certain places? (car park v. parking lot); Are distances given in kilometers or miles? How do spellings of words compare?

If used in the classroom, I suggest giving students some tips for how to play the game most effectively, including how to look for clues in the image. Allowing students to keep an atlas on hand would also provide them an additional reference tool they play. It's also important to let students know that the places in this game will only be where Street View is possible. That means that the game will only include locations where vehicles can be driven on established roads. For example, when I first started to play the game, several locations appeared, at first glance, as if they could be in the wilderness of Africa based on the geography. However, in considering this, I had to ask myself if Google Street View would be available in the location I had in mind, which it wouldn't. 

The number of Web-based geography games is on the rise. In addition to GeoGuessr, I have also come across a similar version of the game called Earth-Picker, which uses the same Street View technology but varies slightly in that your guesses are shown in comparison with all other players' guesses from around the world. Map Race is another similar geography game using Google maps. Instead of Street View, players determine North American or worldwide city locations based on aerial views. To help players identify the cities, multiple choice answers are given. Similar to GeoGuessr, you can also time your game. Map Race also offers the option to track your progress by creating a log in, although it's not required to play the game. GeoGuessr and Earth-Picker do not require or offer the option to log in as a specific player. However, Earth-Picker does allow you to enter your name in the rankings if you choose. 

Social Studies can sometimes be a difficult subject to get students excited about. However, students need to be educated about where they've come from as well as the world around them. Using challenging and engaging learning games such as GeoGuessr is one way to spice up Social Studies for students and get them to explore the world!

I am an upper elementary/middle school language arts and social studies teacher who most recently taught fifth grade. I took the scenic route to teaching with prior jobs in insurance, nonprofit workforce development, and children's book publishing.  However, teaching, training, and sharing were my favorite parts of all of those jobs. While I'm currently taking time away from classroom teaching to care for my young daughter, I can't quite get away from the classroom altogether. I'm aspiring to inspire while the baby is napping with my Aspire to Inspire blog, Teachers Pay Teachers store, and as a contributor to the Ohio Historical Society's on-line textbooks.

Rocket Day: Having a Blast with Math, Science, and Reading

Pin It Now! Pin It Now! Wow! This looked like it was a blast...literally. A fellow 5th grade teacher at my school held the first annual Rocket Days in which students applied math, science, and reading skills to send off a rocket and keep it within 150 feet after the launch. Students studied the physics of rocketry, rocketry safety, and related math. Using a rocketry packet she created, she asked students to calculate wind speed, direction, and the angle of the rocket launching point. Every student shot off his or her own rocket and rotated as a participant in a launch, recovery, altitude tracking, rocket safety and refueling, and photo journalism team. Technology and engaging students is something that is very important to her, so I think this idea was a fantastic way to show students how learning is useful and fun! Click on the photo to see the news story! (Sorry, I tried to resize the video so I could embed it in the blog, but it couldn't be done.)

Vote on Google Doodles!

Pin It Now! Pin It Now! I Google things...A LOT. Today I noticed a little link below the search bar to vote on "Google Doodles." There's a competition for students in which they "doodle for Google," creating their takes on the famous "Google" logo. According to the Web site, "Doodle 4 Google is an annual program that invites K-12 students in the United States to use their artistic talents to think big and redesign our homepage logo for millions to see." This year, the theme is "My Best Day Ever...." The winner gets their artwork on the Google homepage, plus a $30,000 scholarship, and a $50,000 technology grant for their school. WOW! What a prize!

Definitely take a second to click on the Google Doodle link if you go to Google. It goes on for the next 8 days. There are some very cool designs to vote on, and you can vote in several different grade bands. There's a link here for more information about holding a "Doodle" session in your classroom. Pretty neat!

Now Playing at a Classroom Near You...End-of-the-Year Movie

Pin It Now! Pin It Now! When a certain time hits at the end of the year, does it seem like the remaining days just avalanche and all you can do is hold on for dear life till it stops? I always think it would be great to create a year-in-review gift for my students using the tons of photos I've taken during the year, but more often than not, once the end-of-the-year activities roll around, the idea parks itself in Stephen Covey's time management quadrant 3 (important, but not urgent).

I finally got around to doing something with the idea when my colleague introduced me to Windows Movie Maker. (On Macs, it's counterpart is iMovie.) I'm not a pioneer in the field of integrating technology into the classroom, but I do my best to investigate and experiment when I can (quadrant 3). So, yes, this little movie studio program has been around for a while. It's not new thing, and I'm sure there are some similar programs out there, too. Still, it's something I discovered in the past couple of years that was just the thing I needed to put something special together for my students. These free little movie studios on your computer are pretty simple to use. I was self-taught using YouTube videos and search engine results. You basically upload your digital photos, images, and videos into the program, then insert them into movie frames. You arrange them in any order you like. You can also upload music or record narration to accompany your movie. Add some frame transitions, title screen, credits, and necessary text, and voila! You have a little movie for all to enjoy.

This would be a great place to insert an example movie I made for my students, but out of respect for student privacy, it's not possible. I can tell you what's included in mine, though. I started the movie with photos of each student I took from the first day of school, then organized the rest of film according to event or topic. I used photos from field trips, class parties, regular classroom activities, Science Fair, Track & Field Day, and other occasions. Then came one of my favorite parts: choosing the music! My music tastes are frozen in time at around 2003, and I don't think I've tuned into a "today's hits" radio station since that year so I went back to the grooveyard to find some good ones to use. I definitely did a once-over with lyrics to make sure there was nothing inappropriate. The nice part of these movie making programs is that you can edit the length of the music, as well as splice the music if you want to include certain parts of a song. My favorite song I used was "Weird Science" by Oingo Boingo, which corresponded with Science photos! (I know music can be a touchy topic with copyright so you may want to look into legal uses, especially if you plan to do something other than view it in your classroom with your students.) I finished the movie with a "credits" frame that looked just like the credits of a movie with a producer, director, writer, music by, etc. Under "Starring," I listed all my students names.

The students really enjoyed seeing themselves on the big screen. It was a fun way to reflect on the year, and I enjoyed putting it together for them. You don't have to be a particularly tech-savvy teacher, but if you are willing to put in a little effort to learn how, this is a fantastic way to put your digital photos from the year to use.