What could Phileas Fogg have done if he had had Google Earth?

Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days” was inspired by 19th century technological breakthroughs. Three technological breakthroughs occurred in 1869-70 that made a tourist-like around-the-world journey possible for the first time:

• 1. The completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in America (1869),

• 2. The linking of the Indian railways across the sub-continent (1870)

• 3. The opening of the Suez Canal (1869).

It was the end of an age of exploration when travelling was reserved for only the most heroic and hard adventurers. It was the start of an age of fully global tourism. People could sit down, draw up a schedule, buy tickets and travel around the world in relative comfort and safety.

>>What 20th/21st century technological breakthroughs could Phileas Fogg have used for their journey?
>>Can you imagine that it took us seven days to travel from Zaragoza to Cádiz (two Spanish cities that are 962 kilometers far from each other)?
>>What could Phileas Fogg have done if he had had Google Earth?

These are some of the questions that students will think about and discuss, but the project could go even further and we could even draw up a "real" schedule for a journey around the world, around Europe, around our countries... Students between 12 to 15 years old and ITC, English, French and Mathematics teachers will be involved in this fascinating "journey".

 - Would you like to join us? Send me a message