I
n our Year 10 Unit “The Geography of Wellbeing”, we are using Botswana as a case study to investigate responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Since many of my students initially had no idea of where Botswana is (could you point it out on a map right now?) and because none of them had been to Africa, I decided to take them on a virtual visit:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zZnlNr1kPUd0.k9bomEFHAuo8
This activity allows students to have a free look around. There are no tasks or requirements, simply have a click and drive around using Google Streetview.
My students responded very well to this activity. They seemed very engaged and spent far longer “driving” around than I had expected. Below are some screenshots of the activity.
How to make maps like this yourself:
- Create and edit your custom maps: https://support.google.com/maps/answer/3045850?hl=en
- How to customise your maps: https://support.google.com/mymaps/#topic=3024924
- Your “My Maps”: https://www.google.com/maps/d/