Google Earth is a fun way to explore the world from your computer. It allows you to zoom around the world in 3-D and see famous landmarks and unexpected things around the world. It is like an advanced version of the maps that you find embedded in many web pages.
I put together a Google Earth scavenger hunt for my kids last night and thought I would share it with the Internet. The idea is to hunt for the following items in Google Earth and get a screen shot of the item.
There are a couple different ways to run it. One is to set a time limit and see how many points the player can get in 30 – 60 – 90 minutes. The other is to see how long it takes to get all of the items.
One other rule that has to be clarified before starting is whether or not you are allowed to use the “search” function in Google Earth to find things. Doing that makes it much much easier, but makes the hunt less valuable as a geography or general learning task.
So here are the items that I came up with. (Leave other good ideas in the comments!)
Easy (1 point each):
| white car | freeway exit sign | American flag |
| Eiffel Tower | Seattle Space Needle | Washington Monument |
| a sign with Japanese characters | your grandparent’s house | a McDonalds |
| a Starbucks | snow | a palm tree |
| a movie theater | a bicycle | your house |
Medium (10 points each):
| a firetruck | a flying plane | a can of Coke |
| a waterfall | a roller coaster | a statue of Jesus |
| two people holding hands | someone mowing the grass | a bulldozer |
| a car carrier with cars | a horse | a bike with a trailer |
| Cornell University | somewhere you’ve gone on vacation | a neon sign |
Hard (50 points each):
| a live bunny | a FedEx truck | a person dressed like a clown |
| a submarine | a parachute | a penguin |
| an olympics ring sign | a helicopter flying | a reflection of the Google van that took the pictures |
| a tandem bicycle | a picture of the president | a policeman giving someone a ticket |
