The Islamic Religion

I am addressing the 6th grade curriculum for Social studies,

Standard 1
Students will understand how ancient civilizations developed and how they contributed to the current state of the world.

Objective 2
Objective 2: Evaluate how religion has played a central role in human history from ancient times to today.

b Identify key tenets of the major world religions (i.e. Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism).

I am doing a virtual tour on the holy cities of Islam. I chose this topic because the Muslim religion is so very foreign to me, so interesting, that it was something I would enjoy researching. I love the study of different cultures and there are so many rich and deep beliefs and traditions held in these cities--I wanted to do a tour this topic so I could see pictures, watch youtube videos, and "travel" to the places I have heard so much about, but never been able to see.

Google Earth is the best vehicle for teaching this curriculum because it is multimodal. Students can see, hear, and interact with the knowledge they are needing to learn. Students get to use technology and see the world, and where in the world these places are, and they can see pictures of buildings and people and watch videos and do fun activities like measuring distance, seeing the time and temperature differences, watching the sun rise---they get to do so many different activities in one spot that I couldn't offer them if I were to stand up in front of the class and lecture. Google Earth will keep students engaged. Google Earth is more efficient.

Location	Activity Description	Google Earth Content
1. Mecca	Click on "wikipedia" in layers to find out what the qibla is. Take the ruler and see how many miles it is from your house to Mecca.	Picture Information Page
2. Medina	Check "YouTube" in layers and watch at least 2 videos. write a brief description of what you learned.	Picture 1 Picture 2 Info page
3.Jerusalem	check "Panoramio" in layers and look at at least 5 pictures and write three questions you have after seeing these pictures.	YouTube Dome YouTube Mosque Info page
4. Kabala	check "terrain" in layers and click on the sun on the toolbar to get the temperature.	Picture YouTube Info Page