Blog Topic #2

Google Earth is an excellent tool for viewing the Earth from different spatial perspectives and scales. We are trained from an early age to veiw the world from flat maps showing north at the top and south at the bottom. Many maps also center the U.S. in the middle of the map. Viewing the Earth from different perspectives changes our views and makes us think about how people living in other areas "view" the United States.

In this blog I want you to show Latin America from two different perspectives and/or scales. For example, the perspective shown at right makes you realize how narrow the isthmus connecting South America and Middle America actually is.

Go to Google Earth and "fly around" until you find a unique perspective. Feel free to add or remove layers of information available on Google Earth. When you have the image you want positioned on the screen go to File, Save, Save Image..., and save the image as a .jpeg and then upload it into your blog. Describe how each image makes you think differently about Latin America.

If you don't have Google Earth on your computer, go to http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html to download a free version.