Imagine visiting the bottom of the sea or surface of Mars in an afternoon. With Google Expeditions Pioneer Program, teachers can take their classes on immersive virtual journeys to bring their lessons to life. Expedition teams are visiting selected schools around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada, Singapore, Denmark, the United States and the Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.
On Jan. 6, a Google team brought a complete Expeditions kit with everything teachers need to take their students on a journey anywhere. Expeditions are guided tours of places school buses can’t go using Google Cardboard. Google Cardboard is a virtual reality viewer made almost entirely of actual cardboard. Cardboard allows anyone with a modern smartphone to experience virtual reality.
The Expeditions are comprised of virtual reality panoramas– 360° photo spheres, 3D images and video, ambient sounds — annotated with details, points of interest, and questions that make them easy to integrate into curriculum already used in schools–led by a guide or teacher. There was no cost to the district for students and teachers to participate.
The seventh grade science classes saw various biomes across the world and compared the conditions and biodiversity in each. The eighth grade science classes discovered volcanoes. The AP Environmental Science high school journeyed through an ancient rainforest that once covered all of Borneo. They started by virtually climbing up into a canopy viewing station that overlooked the horizon of this virgin rainforest. Finally, the US History high school students experienced an up close look at the battleships of World War II and the modern-day sites of this historical war, bringing students into museums and giving them a look not only state side but on the European side as well.
On Jan. 25, Google Expedition team will visit the students at Chagrin Falls Intermediate School.
