Monday, December 9, 2013

GeoGuessr + Google Searching = World Traveling Researchers!!

Oak Hills students LOVE the new online game GeoGuessr!!  It works great on an iPad and computer!!

This week students traveled the world with a new online game called GeoGuessr.  GeoGuessr uses Google Maps to give each player a random image from somewhere in the world.  Students are asked to look at the clues using the interactive tools in Google Maps and to make an educated guess on where the image was taken.  The students became investigators, gathering clues so they could make their best guess.  They could move up and down roads to try and find road signs, they zoomed in on cars to see which side of the road the driver was on, they noticed style of road signs (US or international), vegetation (palm trees vs. pine trees), and billboards.


To amp up the educational value to the game, I encouraged students to open a second tab in the browser so they could research the clues gathered in the pictures.  This may not be what the creator of GeoGuessr intended, but it made for a great research opportunity for students!  As a result of their ability to do additional research, student received HUGE scores because they were able to pinpoint locations on the map rather than make general guesses.  I like the fact that it gave students a great reason to research!






Just a few of our World Travelers!!