Journal 5 - Extra Credit - A Bird's Eye View of the Middle East

"A Bird's Eye View of the Middle East" by Bill Edgington, Bobby R. Ezell, Daphne D. Johnson, and Marilyn P. Rice.
Learning and Leading with Technology, November 2007, Vol. 35, No. 3

The educators who wrote this article saw the importance of not only learning to use Google Earth as an educational tool, but also teaching kids about how geography affects the hostile situations in the Middle East.

Their idea is as such: As junior high and high school students are studying units on the Middle East in school, teachers can give the subject more relevance and meaning by showing the students the relationship between the countries. One way of doing this is by using Google Earth. The first step is to identify the key players in the Middle East, which the authors have decided are Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon. Students are then divided into 9 groups and must collect the following information on these countries: Capital city, Population, Religion (breakdown), Ethnic makeup, Language(s), Oil reserves, Recipients of Oil Exports, and Number of troops in active military.

Then the students use Google Earth to map the countries, determine how many miles of border they share with their neighbors, and the distance between major cities. Finally, they use all of this data to answer questions about the impact of a Sunni majority in Iraq on relations with Sunni-dominated Iran, or how long-range missiles in Iran can threaten Israel. Google Earth has enormous potential as a learning tool about the world and current events.

Although this would take some inspection and practice on the part of the teacher to pull this one off, it is a very cool idea for teaching geography, international relations, and current events. Kids love Google Earth because they can look up their house from space, but this channels their knowledge of this tool into deeper learning about an important part of the world. It may also develop their curiosity about the relationships between other countries and how geopgraphy can play a part, such as North and South Korea, or China and Japan, or the U.S. and Mexico.

Now if only they can find a way of making myspace more educational...

1. Have you ever used Google Earth for any other reason than to look up your house?

I have to say, I did do that, but I also like to look up major landmarks in San Diego, such as Balboa Park, and quiz myself on which canyon this is or which interstate highway that is. I do use it primarily for fun, but I think it could definitely be educational - such as showing kids where the Colosseum is in Rome, or the Champs Elysee in Paris. Kids need to see that the world is accessible, and they can learn about it anytime they want.

2. Do you think this assignment is do-able for a junior high or high school classroom?

I think it is very do-able, and kids would probably have a lot of fun pretending to be satellite geography scientists and researchers. In fact, it might help if the teacher doesn't have all the information - the students might be more motivated to know that they are the first ones collecting the facts, and that they'll be collaborating with each other to dicuss their findings.