WARNING! This website is no longer actively maintained. It is an archive of 2 years work by Doug Belshaw who now blogs at dougbelshaw.com...
Seeing as everyone seems to love my previous entry on using Google Earth in the classroom, I thought I’d add more information on how to use it effectively…. 
The potential of Google Earth is being recognised more and more, not least by teachers such as Noel Jenkins over at DigitalGeography.co.uk. There are loads of websites dedicated to Google Earth now - just have a look at the ones I link to at the bottom of this post!
Being a History teacher, one of my favourite uses is shown below: an overlay of a map of London in 1690 (KMZ file):
Whether the map is actually from 1690 or not is up for debate, as pointed out by a commentator:
…I think the map dates from somewhat after 1690 as the first Blackfriars Bridge was not built until 1769 and the first Westminster Bridge in 1750. Additionally, the covering of the River Fleet only began in the 1730s.
Either way, it’s a great resource! 
Add-ons are being produced for Google Earth, a good free one of which is Globe Glider, which allows you to view both Google Earth and Google Maps at the same time:
In fact, there’s so many amazing things you can do with Google Earth that I’m going to have to resort to bullet points…
Quick tips:
- Hold down the middle mouse button and you can pan and tilt around any view. If you hold down the Shift key whilst doing this you can make circular motions to pan at a fixed tilt. (thanks Frank!)
- If you haven’t got Google Earth installed on a particular machine you’re using, go to Flash Earth and you can view both Google Earth and Windows Live Local (formerly MSN Virtual Earth) in your web browser!
- You can adjust the speed, viewing angle, and height by going to the menu item “Tools->Options” and selecting the “Control” tab. Click on “Advanced” to adjust the Camera Tilt and Range. (thanks again Frank!)
- KMZ/KML files can be opened directly from your browser or by going to File/Open in Google Earth. They allow you to view other people’s overlays and flyovers…
Useful resources:
- KML creator (creates placemarks to use in GE)
- Google Earth Plus ($20 - enhanced features)
KMZ Files:
- mrbelshaw.co.uk/shareforum - Google Earth Resources (History teaching-related files for Google Earth)
- Castles in hi-res (KMZ file)
- Seven Wonders of the World (KMZ file)
- ‘Documentary’ on Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expedition (KMZ file)
- World Heritage Sites (KMZ file)
- Hurricane Katrina damage (KMZ file)
- Real-time world weather conditions
- All the places in Shakespeare’s plays (KMZ file)
- Angel of the North (KMZ file)
Related Links:
- Guides on how to use Google Earth
- Google Earth community
- Digitally Distributed Environments
- Ogle Earth
- Google Earth Blog
- Google Earth Hacks
- JuicyGeography.co.uk
- GeographyPages.co.uk
- FlickrMap (’geotag’ Flickr photos with Google Earth)
- Google Globetrotting
- Geograph (an attempt to photograph every grid square in the UK)
- ZNO (download 3D buildings for use with GE)
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