Tip O’Neil, former speaker of the US House of Representatives, is credited with adage that all politics is local and the same could be said for news and current events.
It seems like almost all social studies teachers give some sort of current events assignment at some point in their career. I have struggled with this type of assignment because it is often given as homework and becomes irrelevant to the students. While tearing out sod from the front yard this morning, I had an idea about how to use google earth as a platform for current events. The way I have it here is envisioned as part of a Washington state history course (Seattle Neighborhood Blogs), but this concept could be applied to any collection of online news sources.
The basic idea is that students will download a google map file like this to access a series of sources. Students would then complete some documentation and analysis using these sources. The application of google earth could allow students to build understading of some of the 5 themes of geography in the process of doing their current event work.
Students would access this work through a class webpage or wiki. Check out the demo I set up on my class blog.
