Google Earth

One of - if not the - coolest pieces of software I have ever seen is Google Earth. It was originally called Keyhole and I saw a demo of it a couple of years ago at a technology conference. Google bought the company that created Keyhole and greatly improved the program. It's very easy to use, has an intuitive interface, and best of all - it's free. It's a program that you will have to install on your computer - they just released a Mac version also.

The programming geniuses who put this together have stitched together a set of satellite and other high altitude pictures into one, seamless 3-D program. You will be blown away by the images you see, and how effortlessly you can navigate around the world. To the left is a screen snapshot of the Grand Canyon - you can click on it to see a larger version.

Several websites have cropped up that can show you a number of interesting sites they have discovered in Google Earth - my two favorites are GoogleSightseeing.com and GoogleEarthHacks.com. Those sites also point to GoogleMaps.com - which is a two-dimensional version that appears in your web browser.

The abilities of this program are really too numerous to list here. You can zoom in and out, set placemarks, plan routes, view 3-D buildings, and fly through terrain. It's truly an amazing implementation of technology and would be a great help in teaching History, Geology, Political Science, Geography and really any topic where you need to show maps.

This is a great example of the intelligent application of technology. Check it out - you'll have a blast with it!