Children observe the Digital Earth from above: How they read aerial and satellite images

Digital aerial and satellite images depicting the Earth surface are not secret anymore and they are easily available for general public. Publishing of aerial and satellite images provoke the questions how the non-experts or the amateur groups can interpret these images, how they are able to cope with vertical or oblique images, with their colour, missing lettering, etc. The paper presents the results of the research of the above mentioned questions where the respondents were the Czech pupils and student at the age of about eleven, fifteen and nineteen years. These results are aimed at the effective exploitation of aerial and satellite images in teaching, they represent also information for imagery producers and distributors. A non-traditional view on the Earth surface from above using aerial or satellite images is one of the opportunities to discover the beauty of the Earth