They got to go to Washington, DC this week, so we ....

... went to Japan, Canada, Bahamas, Egypt, Los Angeles, Brazil, and the Galapagos Islands!

Shelby, Tre, and Lorelei went to Washington, DC as part of our school's Close Up program. The rest of us had to stay home.

Or so we thought....

This week featured a five-day hands-on activity called Explore Tour 360.

Our classroom is too small for all this learning! (So, we took over the hallway, too!)

First, we learned how to use the "satellite view" on Google Maps to survey an area from above. We were amazed at how far the satellite cameras could "zoom" in! 

Sisseton- Intersection of Hwy 10 and Veterans Ave via Satellite view

We found our homes and our school and worked out what season and time of day the satellite photo was taken by studying the shadows, foliage (that means trees and other growing things), and cars. 

Street view at Hwy 10 and Veterans, Sisseton SD

Then, by combining Google Maps with Google Street View, we toured a variety of cities and geographic locations using 360 degree, panorama photos. We also toured Washington, DC virtually, and saw the Washington Monument, the Reflecting Pools, and many other locations that our colleagues Shelby, Lorelei, and Tre were probably also seeing.

It was an amazing immersive experience to go to dogsledding in Canada, climbing in Japan, and even diving with dolphins in Bermuda. Each of us explored a location in 360 and wrote a short descriptive paragraph about what we viewed. If you want to try this yourself, go to these links: Visit the Amazing Galapagos Islands, including underwater! Go to Japan! Dog Sledding in Canada

We also selected additional places we, personally, would enjoy going to and virtually visited those as well. Some of our choices included: London, Egypt, Canada, Bahamas, Compton, CA, Minneapolis, and even Sister Patrice's old neighborhood in Milwaukee, WI. Most of our 360 degree touring was with still photos, but we also tried several immersive 360 videos. We looked at the expensive cameras used for producing these videos. 

On Friday, we actually created our own 360 photos! We used an iPad and an Android smartphone. 

Viewing the 360 panorama taken by Tyrone.

We did interior shots (inside the building) and exterior shots (outside.) We did not post them to public view yet, but if you download and install the Street View App for free, you can pan around to see the 360 degree view from outside our school's front door. It's pretty cool.

Link to Exterior View (needs Street View app or it is distorted.)

The sharks crept up behind Tyrone.

Finally, we used a pair of virtual reality goggles to experience several professionally made immersive scenes. One was a swim among hammerhead sharks! We gasped when we looked behind us and the shark was right there! Another was a really scary roller coaster ride. Viewing it in 3D through the goggles made us "feel" the drops in our stomach. We also tried being virtually part of a 1776 battle with the Redcoats in an US Revolutionary War simulation. Luckily, none of us were wounded. All of these were really excellent!

Viewing the roller coaster in immersive 3d.
No screaming allowed!

This was a fun way to use tech to learn about geography, cultures, nature, satellites, cameras, and how Google Maps can offer us a new way to "visit" many places across the entire world!

The blue shows where Google has already traveled in their special car with a 360 camera on top.