Using Google Earth as a teaching aid in Politics lessons

The revelation that protestors who climbed to the top of the House of Commons used Google Earth to plan their protest has got me thinking. Could you use Google Earth to help in the teaching of politics?

As The Times describes today:

Demonstrators revealed yesterday that they had used Google Earth to plot their protest on the roof of the Houses of Parliament last week against the expansion of Heathrow. The website, which allows users to zoom in on satellite photographs of Earth, “showed us all the walkways, steps and other details we needed to make our way across the roof from the door to the far side where the public could see us”, said Leo Murray, one of the five protesters.

So what does the Commons look like from Google Earth’s perspective?

I loaded it up to find out.

You certainly get a bird’s eye view of the Houses of Parliament, and using the 3D layer, it is indeed possible to zoom close-up to the Commons building to get a feel for the layout and terrain.

So where else could we take Politics students on a Google Earth journey of discovery?