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Measuring The Percent of Forests: Using Google Earth
The first step in finding out how fragmented the forests are in any area is to find and measure aerial or satellite images of the area. The tool you will use for this is Google Earth. Step 1: Create an account in Google Earth Google Earth is a free website you can use to view satellite images of any part of our planet. The first step is to go to the Google Earth site and create an account. If your teacher has a group account, you can use that login. Go to Google Earth |
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Step 2: Create a "project"
Use your new account info to login to Google Earth. In your account, you can create a "Project" to save maps and data you save. Create a "New Project" and name it "Forest Mapping." You can add your name in the project name if you like. (See image at right) |
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Step 3: Select an area near your home
Now click on the "Explore Earth" button at the top of your dashboard. This takes you to a view of the Earth. Click and drag to rotate the globe to see where you are now! Then use the + button to zoom in to see a closer picture. (See the image at right to get an idea of how far to zoom in!) Note: This entire image can be considered "Area #1" for your data analysis. The red arrow points to a patch of forest. 
Step 4: Use the "polygon" tool to measure the area and forests
Select the "polygon" tool from the bar at the lower left. This tool will let you select an area and find its perimeter length and area. To measure the entire Area #1 site, click in one corner of the window to begin creating the polygon, then click in each corner. Make sure you click back on the spot where you started to complete the polygon. This will create a yellow line marking the entire area. This will become the first bit of data you will record later. Step 5: Save the measurement in your project to view the data
When you complete the polygon, you will see window showing the length of the perimeter (see image to right). Click on "Save to project." When you see your list of project, click on "Forest Mapping" (or whatever you named this project!) You will then NAME this data - this is important! Call it "Area #1" - or whatever Area number you need next. Then close the window. After you name the data and save it, you will see a list of the data you saved. If you click on "Area #1," you will see both the perimeter AND the "Area." The area may be listed in acres or some other unit. Use the drop-down arrow to the right of the area (see red arrow in image below" to change this to "square kilometers." |
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Step 6: Find the area of a section of forest
Use the polygon tool again to mark the area around a section of forest. You can choose just one area for now. You'll do the same for others. Click on one edge of the forest, then move to place another dot, and continue clicking to mark the entire border of the forest. When you have the area marked, click "Save to project," and repeat what you did for "Area #1." This time, call this data "Forest 1," or "Forest 2," or so on. Mark all the sections of forest. Save each one to the "Forest Mapping" project. You will eventually end up with a list of Forests and Area 1 in your Project data set. See image below for an example. 
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NEXT STEPS: Now you can begin recording data in a spreadsheet! Use the Navigation Links to go to the Analysis page for instructions and an Excel template you can use.
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