science

PlaceSpotting

PlaceSpotting is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand PlaceSpotting rather than just read about it. In short: PlaceSpotting was an online game, based on Google Maps, developed by Swiss programmer Martin Fussen. Its server is based in Switzerland and has English- and German-language versions.

Key takeaways

PlaceSpotting belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect PlaceSpotting to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of PlaceSpotting from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

PlaceSpotting was an online game, based on Google Maps, developed by Swiss programmer Martin Fussen. Its server is based in Switzerland and has English- and German-language versions. In international Media, PlaceSpotting is recommended as a "challenging amusement" and an "educational way of wasting time on the internet".

Overview The way PlaceSpotting works is simple:

To create a new quiz, move and zoom the map until it shows an interesting place. Provide some hints for the person who will try to solve it and a message one will see if the riddle is solved. After saving the quiz you can send it by mail to a friend or embed it in your homepage as a picture. If someone wants to solve the quiz their task is to find the place shown in your picture on a second google map. The site additionally has a blog to share questions or hints, a search function, and the possibility to rate quizzes. Players are scoring an approximate 11% success rate. In the first 30 months after going live approximately 3.3 Million quizzes were opened and 20,000 created. PlaceSpotting is free and can be played without registration. A registration is possible and allows to use special functions like "my quizeees" or "quizzes I solved" There are some Google Adwords on the page.

Development PlaceSpotting was developed for people who used email communication to send their friends screen shots of interesting places and wanted them to guess what place was shown in the picture.

Different platforms

Beside the web page PlaceSpotting can be played as a Facebook Application or as an iPhone App The iPhone Application was released 4 October 2009. A free version is planned. The application received the award App of the week in December 2009 in Switzerland.

Community PlaceSpotting is present on Facebook and StudiVZ and on YouTube is a short Video about how to play PlaceSpotting.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with PlaceSpotting

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what PlaceSpotting claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to PlaceSpotting before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about PlaceSpotting ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of PlaceSpotting

In research: PlaceSpotting appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses PlaceSpotting in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: PlaceSpotting is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2009 video games, Browser games, Geography educational video games, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for PlaceSpotting outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study PlaceSpotting in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what PlaceSpotting means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain PlaceSpotting out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is PlaceSpotting in simple terms?

PlaceSpotting was an online game, based on Google Maps, developed by Swiss programmer Martin Fussen. Its server is based in Switzerland and has English- and German-language versions.

Why does PlaceSpotting matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study PlaceSpotting?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on PlaceSpotting.