U & D

If you are like me, you might feel a little bit weird about GoogleEarth. This powerful application on the MLTI laptops (and freely available for download) allows you – anyone – to zoom in to look closely at just about anywhere on Earth. If you haven’t already, zoom in to find your own school or house. That’s what feels weird – you can be located.

But here is the cool thing. This tool, alone or used with other free tools, adds a reality dimension to Wabanaki studies and can support the type of collaboration efforts that we need in our schools. A classroom with an LCD projector can make these mapping tools the center of dynamic visual lessons. Here are some ideas for using GoogleEarth:

1. Explore canoe routes. Using the map in The Wabanakis of Maine & the Maritimes as a guide, explore Maine by water. The joystick-like controls in GoogleEarth make it easy to scroll upriver on the Penobscot, for example. Students will gain a new understanding of the use of waterways for trade as well as travel.
2. Attach a GoogleEarth map to history. The Land Transfer of 1833 (my lesson is online – scroll down) is more clearly understood if students can actually see where the negotiations took place (how far the Agent had to travel – no wonder he was feisty at the get go), and the lands, islands and rivers involved in the negotiations and in the subsequent transfer.
3. Locate Native reserved lands, and land purchases, on the Maine map. It won’t take much more than the image, zoomed out and in again, to deliver a powerful message about how much land has been taken. By combining this technique with treaty studies (I hope to provide a detailed timeline of land transfer by the end of the summer – or maybe someone else can do that and let me link to it), students can gain a very visual understanding of the havoc of history.

GoogleEarth is even more powerful when combined with other tools. Digital cameras, Flickr, and Trippermap are three key tools that work together seamlessly.

Flickr is a photo storing and sharing space – free and online. You will want a classroom account for Flickr – it is hugely useful in many ways (as a source of copyright free images, to store and manage photo collections, etc.) And it is not blocked. Once uploaded to a Flickr account, your photos can be given titles, annotations and “map definitions.” They can be organized into folders. They can be kept private or shared with other Flickr users (be forewarned: this is a huge community).

Trippermap combines with GoogleEarth to create interactive maps that are labeled with photographs of specific places!! You can get an overview of this by accessing this video tutorial (I had to watch it three times – don’t send middle school kids to do this on their own – HS students can probably handle it).

Here are some ideas I have for using this combination of tools:

• Native place names map – imagine if every school in Maine contributed images to an interactive Maine map of places, businesses, geographical features, roads, etc. that had Native names (with meanings, if possible). What a powerful message!
• Stereotypes still standing – same, but map negative stereotypical signs, etc. The more we see, the more we understand how the message continues. And where are these places (remote? on well-traveled roads? by cities or schools?)
• What is it like in your town? Students all over Maine could record (a limited number) of key places and/or events that sent a message about U & D – and also about culture and worldview. Image the kid-to-kid dialogue that could happen between communities that would not otherwise dream of communicating.
• Economy is a large part of the SS learning results. Map pictures of where visitors can find Native arts, crafts and other products (in museums, businesses, galleries), map Native businesses. Look for trends in your class. Are you surprised by what you find?
• Where do the members of Maine’s Nations live? This information is not available anywhere else. One at a time, students in Maine’s schools can map Native populations as of NOW. All you would need is a picture of a “Welcome to…” sign – or even a manufactured photo of a place name. Photos of individuals would not be a good idea, unless they were self-supplied.
• Map Resources – chert (needs a big map), marine and land species, sweetgrass (we really do wonder about that), other??  This would be really valuable to me.

I’ll be setting up accounts and exploring the interrelationship of these tools over the next week. Hopefully, I will have a sample map to share with you before the end of the month. If you make one – or want to spearhead a project – let me know! Do you need a digital camera for your classroom? Send the HELP call out and we’ll see what we can do.