Google Streetview/Google Maps in Math

Most people have heard of Google Streetview and Google Maps.  Its easy to find a way to use it in Social Studies or  even English but Math can be a bit harder.

The easiest way to use Google Maps is for calculating Rate x Time = Distance because you can find the distance and the time it takes but what if you had the students look at the route using Google Streetview and asked them if the rate you calculated is reasonable?  For some of us, it wouldn't be because you'd want to stop at various stores along the way.

But what are some other ways to use these in your classroom.  If you check out Maths Maps, the author has created several activities that could easily be used in the classroom.  There are six different activities that focus on six different places and each map focuses on a set of skills.  For instance, the Madrid map works on measurement while the Adelaide map is geared for addition.

Most of these maps are created for the elementary grades but most of the things created for 5th and 6th grades could be easily used in middle school and some lower performing high school math classes.

There are quite a few ways to use these two programs in your high school classroom.

1.  Create a video of the Eiffel Tower using maps and street view to show the tower and the spot the picture is taken from.  Have students find the height of the tower and the distance to the camera.  They can use this information to calculate the hypotenuse from the photographers feet to the top of the tower.

2. Use the same information from suggestion 1 to calculate the angle of the hypotenuse line from your feet.  With that information, they can calculate the other angle from the top. If you want, they can calculate the trig ratios.

3.  Take a picture of the Roman Coliseum.  Draw the length and width on it so students can calculate the basic equation for its ellipse shape.

4. Find the huge wheel at Canary Wharf in England.  Research to find the radius of the wheel and calculate the area, or equation of the wheel which is a circle.

5. Find the slope between two places in Switzerland on the Matterhorn using the information from google maps and the internet.

These are some beginning suggestions.  I am going to present on this topic at the Kamehameha Schools Educational Technology Conference the beginning of June.

Have a good day everyone.