I love the colourful and personal world-view that Google Maps and Street View have brought to my classroom.
I’ve now added 360Cities to my teaching toolkit as they take Street View and turn it into an immersive (you guessed it!) 360 degree panorama.
I’m writing a children’s musical set on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and was alerted to a 360cities panorama of the Ran Raraku quarry, where the famous heads were carved:
Inside Rano Raraku : The Moai Quarry in Rapa Nui – Easter Island
This one shows the Ahu Akivi moai, the only ones to actually face the ocean.
Ahu Akivi (Front Left) in Rapa Nui – Easter Island
This one shows the Ahu Tongariki, the largest moai on the island.
Another Day At Tongariki (Front Center) in Rapa Nui – Easter Island
The 360Cities site requires Flash, so there’s no visiting on your iPad! Fortunately, there is an app, and since it allows you to make your own panoramas, it’s excellent value.
Panoramas are user uploaded, so popular tourist sites are over-represented and some places have none at all. That aside, my quick sampling (birth place in UK, recent trip to New Zealand, Canada and interest in Easter Island) all turned up useful views.
And of course, your students could make their own too!
Tags: 360Cities, Easter Island, Geography, Musicals, panoramas, Rapa Nui