Giant globe shows pupils wonders of planet Earth
BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

Jules Verne, step aside, because the 435 pupils at the St. Aloysius School have set a new record for going around the world.

In less than 30 minutes per class, youngsters recently had a chance to take a trip around the world using a giant globe that measured 19 feet high and 22 feet wide to tour the Earth and learn a bit of good old geography. The globe has a scale of 1 inch to 30 miles, so the children can get the big picture and understand what the Earth looks like.

"This is an added educational journey for our students," Principal Elizabeth O'Connor said. "It's something outside of the classroom."

Mobile Ed Productions, Redford, Mich., offers the program.

Presenter Tom Barry was on hand to deliver a lesson about the students' home planet. Topics can include time zones, latitude and longitude, plate tectonics, and other geography lessons.

During a presentation for second- and third-graders, Barry pointed out that there were no lines on the globe to separate countries.

"You can't tell where one country starts and one country ends," Barry said, as if he were looking down from space. "From space you do not see countries. You never see lines. You do see huge pieces of land called continents."

Students explored oceans, rivers, rain forests and deserts, as Barry offered facts and figures.

Pointing to a desert, he said, "That desert went without water for 73 years. That's more than three times older than your teachers, who are both 23."

Barry also explored hills and mountains and pointed out various mountain ranges to the children.

Leaving South America, he moved across the Atlantic Ocean as the students moved their viewing positions to see and compare the deserts, rivers and land features of Africa.

He told the youngsters the temperature in the Sahara Desert can be as high as 136 degrees during the day and freezing cold at night. He also related several of the geographic features to the film "The Lion King," noting that the film was very accurate, except for the animals talking to each other in English.

PHOTOS BY DAVE BENJAMIN Pupils at the St. Aloysius School, Jackson, took a trip around the world recently - and even had some class time inside the globe - when Tom Barry (photo at top left) presented a lesson on the planet's geography and physical characteristics.

Across the Indian Ocean and over to the land down under, Australia, Barry explored scales of miles, the equator, and animals that inhabit various regions of the Earth.

Passing through a hole in Antarctica, the students had a chance to go inside the globe and hear about Europe, the Pacific Ocean and North America.

Barry told them they could find the world's smallest country in Europe.

"The Vatican is where Pope Benedict XV lives," Barry said. "The Vatican is 0.17 square miles. That's less than two-tenths of a square mile, and the entire country is in the one city."

Pointing to a spot in North America, Barry said, "And right there is the most important spot in all of North America, Jackson, New Jersey. If you look closely you can see your house."

Barry also showed the students Greenland, which is covered by ice; Iceland, which is mostly green all the time; Russia, which crosses several time zones; and India, which is home to more than 1 billion people.