ICT teacher handbook/The globe on your table with Marble

Introduction

While KGeography is a mapping software focusing on political geography, Marble is a mapping software focusing on physical geography. You can open maps of the earth (and also of some other planets in our Solar System, Moon etc) and see the physical features of different regions of the earth. Since it is a digital map, you can zoom in/out, move the earth in different directions etc.

Marble Software

Building of subject related learning competencies

Marble can help students appreciate physical geography, the maps use a rich set of colours for identifying different elements of physical features. Students can even select the physical features that they want to see, or all. The class 8 chapters on reading and making maps, seasons can be facilitated using the activities discussed in this section.

Marble can be used to move the discussions from content (just facts) like 'What is the 0 degree longitude", 'What is Tropic of Cancer?', to more conceptual aspects like 'Why are summers and winters more extreme in the northern hemisphere (as is seen from the darker and bigger shades of red in summer and blue in winter, in the northern hemisphere) than the southern hemisphere? Why is large part of North Africa a desert? Why is the international date line not falling fully on a longitude but is somewhat crooked? This makes students to look at Geography not as a collection of facts to memorise, but a method of exploring and understanding natural phenomena.

Chapter Objectives

1. Understanding how to read a digital globe model of the earth
2. Explore physical features of different regions in different maps, including temperature/climate, rainfall etc
3. Understanding how the different physical features influence one another and human life

Digital learning resources

1. Handout for Marble. The version of Marble (screen shots) used in this activity pertains to the 14.04 distribution of Ubuntu. The Marble in the Ubuntu 16.04 distribution looks different, though it has the same functionality

Additional Resources

1. Map
2. Digital Maps

Level 3 -> 3 weeks

1. This activity requires three weeks : 3 periods for demonstration and 6 periods for the hands-on work.
2. In the first demonstration period, you can show the physical map of the world. You can show the 3-D model of the earth and explore different maps provided. You can open the "Atlas" map to see the different continents and oceans. You can freely rotate the Earth, using the movement as well as drill functions of Marble and show the entire globe. For instance, you could simulate the rotation of the Earth by moving the Globe from left (west) to right (east). You can also use the mouse to increase the zoom to see a place in more detail.
3. In the subsequent two student hands-on periods, you can guide the students to explore the digital globe, through the activities relating to rainfall. Ask students to pick up any country of their choice and try to move the Atlas to locate that region (though they will not see the country name, you can locate the cities and towns, rivers and mountains of that region). Students can move the atlas to see India and increase the zoom to see the cities and towns in Telangana. Encourage students to open the different maps available and suggest possible uses of these maps, in their learning. You can encourage students to ask questions from any doubts they may have.
4. In the second demonstration period, you could relate the activities in chapter 2 of your class 6 text book 'Globe - a model of the Earth' to the Marble globe. You can also relate the maps on temperature to the chapter 3 and 4 of your class 8 text book, to the seasons.
5. In the subsequent two student hands-on periods, you can guide the students to explore the climate in different parts of the Earth and correlate it with the physical factors of that location. You can discuss the land masses and water masses. Are they equal? Are they equally distributed in the northern and southern hemispheres? You can have a discussion on what factors (such as distance from oceans, altitude, distance from equator, forest coverage etc) would influence the climate, by looking at the climate in different parts of the earth.
6. In the third demonstration period, you can demonstrate the temperature/climate maps in Marble and connect it to the chapters on seasons and polar zones. You can have a discussion on what factors (such as distance from oceans, altitude, distance from equator, forest coverage etc) would influence the rainfall, by looking at the rainfall in different parts of the Earth.
7. Students can, in the subsequent 2 hands-on periods explore the rainfall maps. They can also explore the other maps in Marble. As a project activity, you can ask students to map the school and their homes and other institutions in your location, using the OpenStreetMap tracker app, which can be downloaded on mobile phones.