Google Earth is a powerful free tool for quantitative analysis of geological features by students

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This study reflects my long-standing interest in making geoscience education more accessible, quantitative and connected to real-world observations. In many universities, especially in resource-constrained contexts, students have limited access to advanced GIS software, remote sensing platforms or extensive laboratory infrastructure. However, free tools such as Google Earth Pro can still provide meaningful opportunities for spatial analysis and scientific reasoning. What motivated this work was the perception that Google Earth is often used only for descriptive visualization in teaching, despite its strong potential for quantitative investigation. In this article, I wanted to demonstrate that students can move beyond passive observation and engage in geoscientific analysis using real datasets, including plate tectonic reconstructions, earthquake and volcanic distributions, river longitudinal profiles measurements. Another important aspect of this work is the emphasis on self-learning. The activities were designed so that students could independently explore geological processes step-by-step, developing spatial reasoning and analytical autonomy rather than only following traditional lecture-based instruction.

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