Google Maps Google Slides Interactive World Geography Project

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OBJECTIVE: Create an interactive map of a country of your choice using google Maps and Google Slides

Requirements: Find landmarks and travel destinations of your country then create an interactive map that will link to a slide for each landmark.

Step

Directions

Open Google Slides

Click New then Slides

Image

Click Theme to change the theme of all your slides

Open Google Maps

find your country https://maps.google.com/

Tips for exploring Google Maps:

Zoom roll your mouse roller up to Zoom In down to Zoom Out

Drag the map to explore to the North, East, West or South

Double Click will Zoom in as well

You an also use the Search Box in the top left to type in the name of your country

You can toggle between map view and Satellite view in the bottom left corner

You can "Show Imagery" this will reveal photos of the region in your map this can also be a great way to discover travel destinations

The Little man in the bottom right corner allows you to browse the streets in 3D view

You can also click on any name you see on your map to focus on that country or area

The Menu icon in the top left corner allows you to add to your map. You can add terrain, traffic etc. I usually only have terrain on.

Try out these features before you pick your country.

Explore many parts of the world as you are making your decision for what country to choose.

Get Map of your Country

Find your country in Google Maps by Clicking or typing in your country's name

Once the Map of your country is focused take a screen shot of it using your snipping tool you can use Map or Satellite I like Map view

Copy the snip into slide one of your Google slides App

Resize the Map to make it fit into the slide the best you can

Use Crop tool in google slides to cut away unwanted regions of the map to make it fit better

Research Landmarks

We need to find 10 landmarks or points of interest in your country

For every land mark you will create a slide with a picture of it taken from Google Maps in 3D view

You will also place a Map Pin Icon on your first Map slide, this "Pin" will be able to link the main map to the landmarks making it interactive

Go to https://www.google.com/destination

Type in the name of your country

It will have areas for Top Sights and at the bottom of the Page France destinations

Pick one of these as your first Landmark

You can also google travel sight web pages which offer great information on many landmarks

My first landmark is the Eiffel Tower

First Landmark Page

Click the + button or press Ctrl+M to create a new slide. On this second slide you will place the 3D pic of your first landmark

Go back to Google Maps and expand the side panel by clicking the arrow in the top left corner

Type in the name of your landmark

It should automatically focus and zoom to that location if it doesn't you need to find it your self by zooming in on map

After landmark is on map click on Sattlelite then the 3D button and pan around to get a good picture of your landmark

Now use Snipping Tool to create a picture of the landmark try to make the picture square so you have room to add facts about your landmark

Paste this into your landmark slide

Info for Landmark

Type the name of your landmark into the Title Text box

Find 3 facts about your landmark and type them into the text box

You may need to resize the text box so the info does not spill over onto the picture

Find Map Pin Icon

Now we need to add a Pin Icon to your Map on Slide one

This Pin will link to the slide we just created with the 3D picture and the 3 facts

Search Google images for Eiffel tower

You want to find a transparent clip art image so choose tools > then clip art and transparent for color

Copy this image into your map resize and place it nears its actual location

Link Map Pic to Landmark Page

Now select the Map Pin then click Insert Link Ctrl + K

Options now appear next to the Map Pin Select your destination slide and click Apply

Try the Map

Click the Present Button

Click the Map pin it should go to the slide

The problem is that if you miss the Map Pin you will automatically advance to the next slide in your presentation

We also want to go back to the interactive map slide when you click anywhere in your landmark slide

Link Interactive Map to itself

Go to Slide One Select your Map picture

Click Insert Link Ctrl + K

Options now appear next to your big Map Select slide One and click Apply

This will fix the problem of auto advancing your presentation to the next slide

Link Landmark Page back to Interactive Map

Go to your Landmark slide Select the 3D picture

Click Insert Link Ctrl + K

Options now appear next to your Picture Select First Slide and click Apply

Link both text boxes using same technique make sure you click on one of the blue handles of the text box to select the entire text box area

Try it again now you should be able to link back and forth between you interactive map and your info slides

Second Landmark

You need to find a second landmark and repeat the previous steps

This time we will try to find a physical landmark\

Like a mountain, lake, beach, park etc.

I found French Alps home of many ski resorts using google.com/destinations

For this landmark I will use a picture instead of a 3D map try to find pictures that best show your destination you decide but try the 3D map first

I also used a generic mountain icon to place on the map

Link Map Pin to second Landmark

Now repeat the process of linking the mountain Map pin to the correct page

Repeat the process and research until you have found 10 total landmarks and have them all linked to the correct pages

Map Icons

As you can see the map icons can be for lots of different things

Most will be generic with only a few being specific to the landmark for your country

Try to find landmarks that are spread out throughout your entire country

Don't forget about the oceans and beaches these are great destinations

Extended Work

To make your interactive map better you can also add famous cities to your map in the same fashion

You can also create a tour route and map out costs and travel time for your ultimate trip to your favorite country

Maybe someday you can travel to your country and see some of these sights

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