5th grade Project using Google Earth and Google Sketchup

1. 5th Grade 2012 - 2013

2. In this project you will learn how to
design a simple building using Google
Sketch Up
To do this you will need to use some of
the skills you should have already
acquired and develop some new ones.

3. The Brief :
The school would like to receive proposals for new buildings that will help
us improve what we offer

4. • You will design a building that will be situated on a
piece of available land within the school
• You need to define what will be its purpose and
how it will look - inside and out.
The Brief :

5. Step1
 Use Google Earth to locate the new land
 Measure its area in square meters
 Take a screen shot ( using the ‘Snipping Tool)
 Open a Word Document and paste in the screen shot.
 Underneath the screenshot:
• Write down the area of the land and the perimeter.
• Write down what sort of building you propose for the school .Make sure
you include:
o what the building will be used for
o why you think the school needs a building like that.
o how you imagine your building will look and feel
Nb Save your work here:

6. Some
Examples . . .

7. Step 2
Establish:
• the size of your proposed building ,
• its location in the new site
• its orientation
• Find out the dimensions, in metres, of the old
gym building to have as a point of reference
• Look at the new site in relation to the rest of
the school
• Make sure you maintain a good balance
between built and unbuilt space
• Consider sources of light
To do this you will need to:

8. Step 2
Use the Add Polygon Tool

9. Zoom in so that the plot of land appears large
in your screen
Make sure that you are looking directly down at it

10. Use the Polygon Tool to draw the shape
of your building

11. Label the shape that you have created
You can change the
colour, ouline and
opacity of the shape if
you like

12. Your shape will appear in the Places menu to the
right of the screen

13. Take a screenshot of your building‘s site
Insert it in to your word document
below step 1
Underneath the screenshot write down the
building’s :
• Width
• Length
• Area
• Perimeter

14. Step 3
• As an introduction to how to design a
building in step 3 you will create a simple
two floor building using Google Sketchup
In Step 3 using Google SketchUp you will:
• Create a space which has the same
dimensions as the one you drew in
Google Earth
• Choose the shape of your building
• Use the Offset tool to create walls
• Create a 2 floor building
• Add a roof
• Remove one wall to reveal the interior

15. Before you begin make sure you
choose the Google Earth Template (
in meters).

16. Using the Rectangle tool draw a
rectangle starting from the center
where the axes meet ( The Origin)

17. In the bottom right hand corner of the screen
in the box labelled ‘dimensions’ write the
dimensions you require and push enter
Remember:
• we are working with
Metres
• For metres simply put
‘m’
• Enter each dimension
seperated by a
comma
Base the size of your
rectangle on the
dimensions of the shape
you created in
Step 2

18. Alter the rectangle to create the shape you
require . But keep it simple….
N.B.
This is a quick example
Create your own design
Go ahead and experiment you
can always change things later

19. Insert a human in to your diagram to help you decide
on the height of your walls
By inserting a
human figure we
are getting a
sense of the
scale

20. Draw the walls
using the Offset
Tool
Start from the centre of the shape and
drag outwards
Stop when
you see the
width of
wall you
require

21. Use the ‘Push/Pull’ tool to create the walls by pulling them up

22. Make a second floor by selecting and copying the
original floor
Place it on top of the
building

23. Then pull up the walls to the required height
Add another person to give a sense of scale

24. Make a roof by copying the floor placing it as
roof and pulling it up

25. Shape the roof
NB This is an example
Make your own design

26. Select 1 wall and delete it so that the interior of
your building is visible

27. Step 4
In Step 4 using Google SketchUp you will:
• Add windows and doors to your building
• Put glass in the windows
• Add texture to the walls and the roof
• Import the building site from Google Earth
• Place your building in to the correct
position within the building site

28. To Insert Your Building in to Google Earth
Click on the
Add Location
Button
Use the
Search
function to
get to our
school

29. Click on
Select Region
Select the
area of the
image you
want and click
On Grab

30. How To Move Your Building To Its Correct Location