…If I had seen the Earth Guide in high school. This Webby-nominated, Japanese-designed, interactive media presentation would have saved me from Earth science jadedness developed over a full year of blankly taking notes from transparencies. If the Earth Guide had existed back then, I would have been unexpectedly over-excited to learn the answers to my most burning Earth questions.
For example, I’ve always wanted to know, “Where does sky become space?” The Earth Guide allows you to scroll up to 100 km above sea level, cruising past the peak of Mt. Everest, high-altitude balloons, red-hot space shuttles, and meteors, where we learn that there really does not exist a border between space and sky (but what about the border between Earth and sky?). Above 100 km, you can see auroras, the International Space Station, and the Hubble telescope, all cruising around together. Click on any one of them, and you can learn more.
Other questions, such as “How big are the Earth’s oceans?” allow you to explore the answers from every perspective, using a menu at the bottom of the screen. Strips of the Earth circle by latitude and give you individual percentages, and you hear keyboard sounds as you step down to the greatest depths of the oceans.
Just try it out, and you’ll wish you could go back to seventh period all over again. You’ll need Flash 8.
WOW! What a great little tool to gather facts and expand knowledge. Thanks for finding this location.
Dear Lindsay,
Thanks for the Earth Guide. I would like every Master of the Universe in my not-so-great generation of ME-centered elders to see it. Such a guide might lead us away from the idolatry of power and wealth accumulation in favor of a recognition of what you see to be more vital to human wellbeing.
Sincerely,
Steve
Wow! Thanks Linday! I would have stayed awake in science class had I had this.
This is a really neat program. I think it’s great that the public has access to things like this.