Personally, I do not use this control scheme, as it’s more natural to simply grab and rotate the globe itself, which works in the same way. The middle controller (with a hand on it) controls the rotation as well. You can also drag the “N” to change the overall orientation if you get confused.
Use the top control (with the eyeball) to rotate your view. The main screen has three primary controls on it. You can zoom all the way down to your street and look at your house! (More on street view in a moment.) While navigating in the main window, you can press the middle mouse button to change your rotation. If you have a wheel on your mouse, you can use it to zoom closer or farther away. When you start the program, you’ll see the earth in a large central panel. It’s great to explore these features with your family, as you will all be amazed at what you can do together.īasic usage of Google Earth is relatively simple. You will need an active Internet connection, as the image data is pulled from the Internet as needed.Īs I describe Google Earth throughout this article, you should really get in front of your computer and play along. You do not need an exceptionally powerful computer to run Google Earth, but some features (3D buildings and the flight simulator, for example) take advantage of powerful newer machines when they are available.
(There is a professional version you can purchase, but everything I describe in this article refers to the free version.) As of this writing, Google Earth 6.0 is the most recent version please get that version to enjoy all the examples. The application is available for all major operating systems and is absolutely free. Google Earth is a free application available at. Learn how you can use this powerful free tool to explore shipwrecks, follow weather patterns in real time, watch wild animals in Africa, explore ancient Rome, and fly over your neighborhood in a jet aircraft. Google Earth is a very interesting atlas, but it is capable of much more than basic geography. Every once in a while, a tool with remarkable potential comes along. Homeschool families are constantly looking for great tools to help make learning come alive.