I’m taking the week off to do a bunch of fun things with my kids. While I’m away the most popular posts of the year so far will reappear.

Last week I shared directions for measuring perimeter and area in Google Earth. Doing that is one of many ways to incorporate Google Earth into mathematics lessons. Making that video prompted me to make a list of ways to use Google Earth and Maps (which has similar measuring tools) in mathematics lessons. 

Here’s my list of ideas for using Google Earth and Maps in mathematics lessons. The list is in no particular order other than how the ideas came into my mind. 

• Measuring perimeter of square, rectangular, and triangular pieces of land or buildings.
• Measuring and calculating area.
• Calculating land use for farming activities.
• Calculating the area of a crop circle.
• Identifying landing strips where airplanes of various sizes can safely land.
• Planning a hiking trail and calculating elevation gain over the trail.
• Planning a mountain biking trail.
• Calculating the difference in walking time in real life versus what Google Maps calculates.
• Mapping fire hydrant placement for a city.
• Designing the spacing of houses in a sub development.