Discover: Make a map using a satellite
By NINA WEISENHORN, Missourian staffDecember 3, 2001
With all the technology floating around today, nearly
anyone can see anything from anywhere. So hop online, and look at your
house in a way you have never seen before.
If you go to www.terrafly.com, you can see your house not from the road or the back yard, but from the sky. This Web site has a direct link to a satellite rotating around the earth that can take pictures of earth close enough to see city streets and parks.
Once you get to the Web site, just type in your address and wait for the picture of your house and the area around it to pop up. Then, download the picture and print it off so you can enjoy a fun activity.
You will need:
n a computer
n a printer
n markers
n a ruler
1. Print off an aerial photo of your home from www.terrafly.com
2. Find your house and put a star on it so you won’t get lost trying to find other places in your area.
3. Find other landmarks in your area and mark them in a different color:
school
parks
friends’ houses
grocery store
4. Plot out a route to these other destinations around your house.
5. Time how long it takes you to walk down the block
6. Multiply how long it took you to walk down the block by the number of blocks between your house and any of the places you found earlier.
Example: If it took you one minute to walk from one end of your block to the other, and school is 12 blocks away, then it will take you 12 minutes to walk there.
Now you are ready to explore your area. When you go to your friend’s house, you will know about how long it will take you to get there.