(every link in this blog is different and will help you navigate through the activities...if you right click and open each on in a new tab or window it will be easier to come back to this page)
Do you recognize it the logo? Of course you do. If you go to the site and type define: google you will find that it is actually a verb. Go ahead, do it. Then, when you are done looking up random words, because I know you will, come back because there is so much more I have to show you!
Do you recognize it the logo? Of course you do. If you go to the site and type define: google you will find that it is actually a verb. Go ahead, do it. Then, when you are done looking up random words, because I know you will, come back because there is so much more I have to show you!
Ready? So, now you know that Google is much more than a verb. You know that it is a dictionary. Did you also know that it is a calculator? That's right. Type in Square root of and then pick any random number and you will have an answer...and if you look above the answer in gray letters, you will see just about how long it took to get that answer.
square root(876878) = 936.417642
It took 0.25 seconds for GOOGLE to calculate...much quicker than I could! That works with any math problem...go ahead, try it...again, you can come back and learn more.
You can get stock quotes, sports scores, sunrise and sunset times, currency conversion, flight tracking and so much more without going off of the Google site!
One of my favorite features is weather! You just type in weather your town, your state and without having to wait for any maps to load, you have a five day forecast for your area right there on the google site. Fast. Easy. FAST! For so long I have been waiting for my local news channel to load then I'd click on weekend outlook or five day or something...I'd have half my make-up on before it was up and running. Today? 0.24 seconds...Google said so!
Want to know the time in London? time London ...Google tells you! Need to know the population in Connecticut? Okay. Population CT ...Google tells you!
There are a lot more things that Google can do, but if I told you everything you'd be here all day reading.
Google also has products that people can use to make life easier. I'm going to tell you a few of my favorites and let you explore the rest on your own.
First there is Google Maps. I use Google maps often. I own a GPS, but I still like to go to Google Maps first to check out the routes and the street views if it's unfamiliar territory. If you've never used Google Maps before, you should check it out. You can get directions to just about anywhere in the world. I have a fun assignment if you'd like to do some hands on Google Mapping:
Head over to Google Maps and click on "get directions." Then in the A field type in Japan and in the B field type in China. Now scroll down to direction #42...make sure you bring one of THOSE along or you'll never get to China from where you are!
Seriously, though, if you zoom way in on the map by clicking on the plus sign, you will see real pictures of buildings and streets. Sometimes you can see cars and people if you get close enough, which is street view. Play around. Google maps can be very helpful!
Another favorite in my house is Google Earth. This is actually satellite images as opposed to street pictures. I'm not going to go into detail about it, but you should know that you need to download it onto your computer and it takes up a bit of space. BUT if you have a child who is into Geography at all, they will LOVE this! We discovered it years ago at the Boston Museum of Science and my son still looks at it...and it's ever changing which makes it stay interesting. I just found out that it now goes down into the ocean and explores shipwrecks...I wonder if my son knows that yet?
The last thing I'm going to tell you about is actually related to my line of work. I figure I should talk about at least ONE book related thing. Google Books. You can search books just like you search the web. Whether you're doing research for a term paper or simply searching for a new book that may interest you, you can put in the topic that you're looking for and do a book search. Once upon a time, most books were available to read fully on Google Books. Now most books only have a few pages available to view, but some still can be read in full. This is usually a copyright issue. However, these books are usually available for purchase through Amazon.com or your local library...which Google will tell you all of that information right there as you are viewing the book. Google actually goes one step further and tells you if the book is available in YOUR local library or where the closest library is. You can always get books through Interlibrary Loan if your library provides that service...ask your librarian about ILL. (shameless plug)
Google really has so much more that I would have to spend an entire week talking about every product they own and everything you could do and I still couldn't tell you everything. I'm sure I don't know everything nor could I possibly utilize everything that Google has to offer. However, Google, the verb, the search engine, the dictionary, and so much more, sure has made my life easier. I hope you find something here that helps...or that at least made it a little more fun!
