Google Maps

Let's map our memories!
Many of us have places vivid in our minds. Name a particular place, and a wave of memories may flood your mind. Think of the beach, and you may see little feet pattering in the sand, taste salty sweat mixed with Coppertone, hear waves caressing the beach, feel your lobstered flesh burning.

Your Task Today:
Tune your mind now to Independence County. What memories do you have tied to Independence County?

• Think of a particular memory you can share with your colleagues--an interesting, unusual, funny, or sappy moment--an appropriate moment you don't mind sharing with the world.
  
• Help us map our memories by adding your memory to our Google Map.

Here's How:

• You should have received an email inviting you to collaborate on our BJS Memories map. Click the link in the email.
• To edit the map, you'll have to Sign In (top right-hand corner of page) with your gmail username and password.
  
• In the left-hand column, click the Edit button.
• Locate the location of your memory on the map. In the search box at the top of the page, type in an address (street name, city and state) , or use the hand and the zoom (the + or -) tools to locate the street.
  
• Add a placemark. Click the placemark tool (the blue tear-shaped tool) at the top of the map. Move your cursor to the appropriate location on the map and click to place your marker.
• A white pop-up box will appear. Type a title for your story and in the description box, tell us about your memory. You can switch to Rich Text (inside the pop-up box) to format your text or add images or links.
• When you're finished, click OK at the bottom of the pop-up box.

View BJS Memories in a larger map

Resources:

• Using Google Maps Video Tutorial (3:52) or 2-page PDF Tutorial
  
• Collaborating on a Gooogle Map Video Tutorial (:57) Learn how to allow multiple people to edit the map--add their own place markers.
• My delicious bookmarks of GoogleMaps. I'm constantly adding bookmarks to interesting online content I find: these links give you access to all my bookmarks related to Google Maps.

Extend the Learning:
Several online applications that use Google Maps technology are being developed. One just released is UMapper. This free site lets you upload any image and add placemarkers with text, images, links, even video. Imagine what image maps you and your students might create! Students could snap a shot of a science lab and explain an experiment, or present their research--on any topic--in this new format, or write a story in a new way, or upload an image of a text and annotate it. Check out the one I created below just for fun. Click on the white placemarkers to read the information in the pop-up window.