Round Rock Tech Guy

This weeks Tech Tip is for the Social Studies Teacher.  You will find that Google has partnered with the NARA to digitize 104 films of history.  You will find them on the Google page http://video.google.com/nara.html . 

I took a look at one of the news reels from D-Day and it was amazing looking at this time in history as it happened.Teachers can use this public domain data by allowing students to view the content as it was in history.  How powerful could this be?! 

You will find clips from NASA, War News Reels, and the Department of Interior.  The Department of Interior video about the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1936 was awesome!  I loved seeing the old machinery working as I gained a new appreciation for the advancement of Technology today. 

I think you will find this a great tool for teaching history and giving students an opportunity to view history through the eyes of the people that lived it.  

Note: I do advise; preview each clip before you show it to your students.  Some things just shouldn’t be seen by certain age groups. 

Weekly Tech Tip

This weeks tech tip is can be used in Social Studies, LA, and Math.

The site is http://www.visualgeography.com/ . 

Social Studies:

Visualgeography.com has pictures of interesting things from most if not all countries of the world.  Such as this dish from the country of Haiti, in North America.

 Students can learn about other cultures by studying the pictures and notes that are on the page.  Each countries map and flag is shown as well. 

Would you have ever guessed that this picture 

could have been taken on the continent of Africa in the country of Ethiopia.  How awesome is that!!  I know I need to get out more.  But I can’t, and neither can many of our students.  That’s why this type of thing is so important.

LA:

I would have my students write compare contrast papers, express their surprise at commonalities, or even use the pictures as writing prompts.  The writing assignments are endless when you begin to look at these pictures from around the world. 

Math:

The site even gives statistics about each country.  The students can do calculations comparing the countries, and charts showing different data.  When I compared the US to Brazil I didn’t know how much alike in size we are. 

U.S.A. is 1.1 times bigger than Brazil
U.S.A. has 1.6 times more inhabitants than BrazilU.S.A.Size: 9,631,418 sq km
Population: 298,444,215 inhabitantsBrazilSize: 8,511,965 sq km
Population: 188,078,227 inhabitants 

I’m learning lots from this site and I’m sure your students can also!  Leave a post and let me know how you use this in your classroom.  Enjoy your Technology!