The Learning Cafe

Features of the South Island High Country

7 05 2008

Today we will begin looking at our second Natural Landscape - The South Island High Country. This is basically the land above 1000m in the South Island. Its a pretty big area, in fact it covers 70% of the South Island (this fact surprises many residents of the largely flat North Island)

Your first task is to do a little mapping. We will create a layer of SIHC features in Google Earth. Your job is to:

Create a new Google Earth layer called ‘SIHC’ with seven folders
Locate and label the following with appropriate icons and organise into folders:

Settlements Queenstown Alexandra Twizel Cromwell Roxburgh Dunedin Christchurch	Rivers Clutha Waitaki Ashburton Rakaia Rangitata Waimakariri	Lakes Wakatipu Tekapo Te Anau	Roads Haast Pass Lewis Pass
		Glaciers Franz Josef Fox Tasman	Mountians Cook Mt AspiringFiords Milford Fiordland

Once you have finished, I would like you to leave a comment about how mapping this way is better or worse than using paper and an atlas

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Date : 7 May 2008
Categories : student work, south island high country, Year 12, geography

14 responses to “Features of the South Island High Country”

8 05 2008: JoAnna (10:33:56) :

Mapping Places Using Google Earth Is More Efficient As It Saves Time.
You Can Have A More Accutrate View On The Location.
It Seems To Be More Interesting Due To; Zooming In And Out Enables You To View Specific Roads Or Places.
You Can See The Places In True Colour And In 3D (Terrain)
You Can Save Places In Folders For Quick Reference In The Future, Thus
SAVING TIME.
8 05 2008: Breeana (10:41:53) :

I think that mapping is better this way than using and atlas on paper. Google Earth provides more interaction and is more fun to do. It’s also a lot easier to do as the computer can find all the places for you and you can take off certain layers if you only want to look at a certain folder. =)
8 05 2008: Kaitlyn (10:42:11) :

This way of mapping is better than using paper and an atlas because it is more precise and easier to find places. there is also the option of having only certain types of place marks so that the map is not crammed =)
8 05 2008: torran (10:43:20) :

i found this to be effective. i’m not the fastest person on a pc…but i still enjoyed this task although i wouldn’t normally have done it this way
8 05 2008: Britt (10:43:35) :

It’s loads easier but would help if i knew how to use it better.
I’m a computer dyslexic.
8 05 2008: Katy (10:46:24) :

its ok. not easy for someone stupid.
(like me. lol)
if you are traveling, it might be better to do it on paper…. or just read a map.
but we are not traveling so its ok…
yer…
go to my deviantart.
8 05 2008: mike (10:46:50) :

I think that mapping is better this way than using and atlas on paper. Google Earth provides more interaction and is more fun to do. Itâ€™s also a lot easier to do as the computer can find all the places for you and you can take off certain layers if you only want to look at a certain folder. =)
8 05 2008: Jordan (10:47:18) :

I didn’t find this that good because computers hate my presence. It makes it easier but for people that are not computer challenged.
8 05 2008: bevanlambert (10:48:01) :

I found this easier and more exciting as I am a computer freak-sometimes.
Although sometimes I would prefer doing mapping skills on paper as I like to get a better view on where exactly a location is.
8 05 2008: Toby (10:49:21) :

I think that mapping is better on the comp than using and atlas and paper. with google earth because you don’t need to use a index and you can also zoom in and out, peace and love
8 05 2008: Brina (10:49:55) :

I think that using google earth to map places is more interesting.
We can see the different features of the land and don’t have to draw in lakes and rivers.
It’s FUN! Yay!
8 05 2008: Tessa (10:50:24) :

I think this way of mapping is good because its fun, and because the placemarks are different it is easy to recognize the different groups. It also saves time.
Here is my example: click here
8 05 2008: Rebecca (10:51:25) :

It saves time looking in an index in an atlas and trying to find places with the reference points. It also gives an idea of what a place looks like and its terrain.
It saves paper.
8 05 2008: Cranstonator (12:50:17) :

Thanks for your messages guys. It seems pretty positive for Google Earth on the whole. When I was coming around and talking to you individually a couple of other issues cropped up.

Some of you found it difficult to decide where to show the locations of rivers, as you were adding placemarks to a specific point. Rivers are linear features, so how can you ‘pin’ it down to one location.

Nobody mentioned that these icons and layers can be saved as a single computer file. Of course this means it can be stored and shared easily - even around the world!