Through Tekzilla I’ve learned about a neat use of Google Maps to display real-time information about emergency events around the world. RSOE is a service based in Hungary that is using publicly available data sets to create a continuously updating Google Map of emergency events. Click on any icon on the map to learn about the event. The types of things you’re likely to find on the map are car, rail, and airplane accidents, seismic activities, outbreaks of illnesses, fires, and nuclear energy events. Learn more about RSOE in the Tekzilla video below.
RSOE could be a good resource for social studies students to use to locate and investigate emergency events around the globe. RSOE doesn’t offer a lot of details on each event. I would probably use it to have students find an event then do some investigation and develop a news story about that event.
