Practising directions with Google Maps

Overview of technology

Google Maps is a free mapping service accessed at http://maps.google.com/. As well as zooming in on any corner of the world it allows users to create directions between any two locations.

Lesson plan Choose an area of your town and print off a map from Google maps that contains two landmarks. In class give students this map and read aloud directions from point A to point B. Students must follow your instructions and say where they are. Ask students to choose two points on the same map and decide how they would provide these directions. Ask students to locate this route on Google Maps and check against the directions provided by Google. Ask students to revise their directions accordingly, then work in pairs giving their partner directions from A to B without showing their partner their map. Their partner must follow the directions on their own map.

Example

An example route, from Trafalgar Square to Piccadilly Circus in London can be seen below:
You can get a handout on using Google Maps by clicking here or on the pdf icon to the left.