Google Earth- Data Sets for Bio

The following data sets could be used when incorporating Google Earth into the Biology classroom:

From Google Earth Gallery
World Population Density Could be used when teaching Ecology/ Population Dynamics. This data set shows the distribution of the world population, from the sparsely inhabited Australian Outback to densely populated areas like the Eastern Coast of the US
Coral Reef Monitoring Explore the state of coral reefs around the world, their distribution, major threats to their like global warming and conservation efforts to protect them.
California's Marine Protected Areas Explore the coastline and marine biodiversity of California through its ocean conservation legacy (a network of 29 marine protected areas from Santa Barbara to San Francisco). Fact sheets for each protected area include: ecological value of the site, aerial and underwater photos and video of wildlife and ecosystems.
From the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation:

• Ecological Zone Shows the areas in New York state that have ecological value. Includes attributes of each zone such as topography, type of vegetation and what the land is currently being used for.
• Bird Conservation Areas Tours the areas established by the NY State Bird Conservation Area Program as being important bird habitats. This type of information is valuable to research projects and conservation efforts currently under way.

From Pedagogy in Action, the SERC (Science Education Resource Center) portal for educators- These include lesson plans

• Energy Consumption Rate Across the US and the World Students use Google Earth and information from other web sites to investigate total and per capita rates of oil and total energy consumption in countries around the world.

• Salt Marsh Ecology Students use Google Earth, GPS, aerial photos and an online plant ID guide to identify and map out plant species and other ecological characteristics of a salt marsh.
  
• Renewable Energy Study Students will investigate case studies involving the use of renewable energy.
• US Carbon Dioxide Emission Shows carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, you can select for total CO2 emissions, emissions by aircraft, commercial, industrial, residential, etc.
  
• Northwest Passage Explore climate change in polar regions (eg. shrinking ice cap, melting of ice shelves, shipping routes, effects of polar bears, rising oceans, secondary effects of climate change in other regions.)