Area Above!

Topic:
Math (area and estimation)

Type of Web activity:
Getting Information online

Materials / Software needed:
Web browser

Grade Level:
8 - 12

Time involved:
1 period

Created on:
7/26/00

The Web Science Workshop lessons were created in cooperation with the Exploratorium Teacher Institute .

This site developed and maintained by Deborah Hunt and Eric Muller .

3601 Lyon St.
San Francisco, CA 94123

©2000 The Exploratorium

Find out the length and width of any structure by looking at it from above.
By using aerial pictures of your home, school, building, park, or yard estimate its surface dimensions.

1) If possible, you may want to measure the length and width of your structure. You can use this information to compare your actual "ground" measurement to your aerial estimation. You can make this measurement with meter or yard sticks or by pacing-off distances.

2) Go to TerraServer by clicking the link below.

TerraServer is the world's largest image database. Images are gathered from the United States Geologic Survey and from NASA .

3) Use the various search techniques to find your structure. Use aerial images to do this activity and zoom-in. The best resolution or smallest unit of area you can estimate with these images is about 1m x 1m.

4) At the bottom of your image, you will see a scale. Use this scale to figure out the dimensions of your structure.

Big League Option: Figure out if it is easier to hit a homerun at one baseball stadium vs. another. Compare the size of one baseball field with another by finding the dimensions of various major league ball fields on TerraServer.

Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles,CA