• If you highlight the folder you downloaded and then click on the sideways triangle next to the square at the bottom of "Places", you will get the entire fly-over tour (bouncing from one stop to the next).
• However, if you open up the downloaded folder and click on a push pin, the program will zoom in to that location. Then, if you click on the push pin, any student-entered description and/or a link to a webpage with pictures and additional information will be displayed. Just click on the next push pin when you are ready to move on to the next stop in the tour and you will fly there.
  

2. Click on "My Places". Then up in the menu bar, drag down "Add" and let go on "Folder". Give your folder the name of your tour. (If you need to change the name of your folder later on, you have to go to "Edit" in the menu bar and then down to "Rename").

3. Navigate to the exact spot where you want your pushpin to be. Not only will Google Earth record the location of the push pin, but it will record your elevation and angle. Zoom in and out, move around the compass, etc. until your picture is just right. Make sure you have your tour folder highlighted, then click on the pushpin icon above the picture. You can move the pushpin around until it points to whatever you want your audience to focus on (like a town). It does NOT need to be in the center of the picture. Replace "Untitled Placemark" with a good, descriptive name (like the name of the town, or the confluence of two named rivers) (AND, ideally, write a description in the big "Description" box). Click on "OK". The location should show up inside your tour folder.

Consistency: It can be hard to get the same "look and feel" to each place you are highlighting in your tour. You might want to experiment with manually setting the view on your pushpin. After you have entered everything else, click on the "View" tab. Manually enter the "Range" (try 500 or 1,000 feet), and the "Tilt" (try 45 to 75 degrees). Only when everything is the way you want it, click on the "OK" button (because you can't go back to edit after you click on "OK".

Basic: If you don't have any information for the description box yet, you can come back later and replace the pushpin with a pushpin with more complete information. Just double click on the icon, have it navigate the the exact spot you selected earlier (or an even better one nearby), "Copy" anything in the description you want to keep, delete the old pushpin by clicking on it and pressing the "Delete" key on your keyboard, and creating a new pushpin (and "Pasting" in anything you copied from the old pushpin. Save!

Standard: To measure the distance from one place to another, select the "Ruler" icon above the map in Goggle Earth. Click on "Path" and then follow the river or what ever path your tour is taking, clicking along the curves so you're sure to get the full distance. (You might want to measure and list the distance "as the crow flys" as well- the contrast is amazing). You need this information BEFORE you create your final push pin for a location.

A great companion reference for this project is the Alaska Atlas and Gazetteer by Delorme. It does a better job of labeling rivers, trails, mountain peaks and ranges, and tiny inhabited locations on the map than Google Earth, plus you still get all the details and an overview of the region at the same time!

4. Navigate to the next spot you want to highlight on the tour. Remember to keep your orientation in line with the direction of travel. Repeat step three. Google Earth will put your newest pushpin first on your list, so you will need to manually move it to the last spot in your tour folder. You may need to add some intermediate pushpins along the way if your route has big curves, you have a huge gap between villages, or you want to have a really-near-the-water fly-by experience for your audience. Save after each pushpin you add.

5. Try out your tour from time to time. Is the flight smooth, or does it spin around randomly? Look at the following rubric and decide if there is anything you need to improve upon.

(In-Depth and Deluxe Tours)

Using iWeb (or whatever web editing application you have available), create a new webpage. The instructions below are assuming you are using iWeb.

1. Open the application (either clicking the icon in the Dock at the bottom of your screen or in your applications folder). Select whichever template suits your fancy, but don't spend all day picking it out!!! Once you have selected your template, you will need to select the type of webpage you want to make. You might think about making a blog, with daily entries for each stop along your tour route. Or maybe you want a photo page for each stop (especially if you have a lot of pictures to share.

2. You are going to need some pictures! And you are going to need to get them into your computer. First, where to get the pictures:

Tentative Scoring Guide for webpages.

If you had e-mail, you could attach this file to an e-mail to your grandma, or whomever. However, you are probably at school and have to choose another option. If you can navigate to your teacher's drop box, you could put it there, and s/he could post it for you. You could burn your document onto a CD, or move it onto a thumb drive. Or you could drop it into your webpage (but you are still going to need your teacher to help post your webpage to the Internet). So check with your teacher to see what will work best for you.