google twelve: about 113,000,000 results

if you read Jonathan Safron Foer's extremely loud and incredibly close, you will find an excerpt about google.  Really it's more about Googolplex, and how google got its name.  This is all in a fiction book, but the facts are pretty accurate from the perspective of a nine year old boy.  It is also a fantastic read.

But onto google tools- I love google earth and google alerts.

Google earth really helps me explain distance to my daughter.  She doesn't really understand why she can't see Grandma right way.  So we look at pictures of grandma's house and how far we have to scroll (I explain) is how far we have to drive or fly to see grandma.  Sometimes we pretend we can see my mom in her backyard with the dogs.  It's really become a comfort object for her since her dad deployed.  We zoom in as much as we can on our friends in Ghazni and Bagram and tell them all good night, or she talks to her dad when she is bummed.  He doesn't have internet and he usually calls after she is asleep, so this is the best way for her to get a geographical idea, and to keep a relationship (even an imaginary one) with her dad.

I know I could use google earth with my students.  For example, when we cover Shakespeare, to give my students a frame of reference I can show them England and keep zooming in as close as possible to places like Stratford Upon Avon or The Globe Theatre.  It will definitely make everything a more concrete idea, and help them see how things have physically changed over time.

I also looked at google alerts.  This would make research papers 80 million times easier!  My kids can set up alerts on their topic, and won't have to struggle as much to find very current and up to date topics.  It also can help them keep up with current events that they may want to bring to class for brownie points.