If I Were a Kid in Ancient Rome… in 2009

Reprinted from the March 2009 from Cooney Center Bits Newsletter:

The Roman Forum on Google Earth

Last week, Google announced the winners of their first-ever nationwide curriculum contest using Google Earth. The Ancient Rome 3D Curriculum Competition challenged educators to create a K-12 lesson plan about Ancient Rome using the Ancient Rome layer in Google Earth. Truly versatile and integrated lesson plans were submitted, and the Cooney Center’s own Executive Director Michael H. Levine helped identify the work that rose above the rest!

Using the tool that rebuilt history virtually and in unbelievable detail, educators had the chance to highlight their creativity and technical know-how by combining this brand new Google Earth content with classic classroom curricula. The finalists didn’t just dance around the new Google Earth technology, but created bona fide integrated lesson plans.

Here’s to mobilis in mobili  — “changing through the changing medium” — to inspire children’s learning in our digital age.

Learn about the competition and check out the winning lessons:

Explore Ancient Rome (video)

Google LatLong Blog: features links to the winning lesson plans

Google’s suite of geospatial tools: Earth, Maps, SketchUp, and Sky