When it comes to science education, Google Arts & Culture is brimming with possibilities. Previously known as the Google Art Project, this vast, interactive archive contains high-quality images, videos, and 360-degree views of artworks from around the world and across a huge array of partner institutions. You can even find fun virtual experiments and games to try.
The Artist’s Perspective
Visual art can be a great tool for engaging students of all ages, and can help build context and understanding across a range of subject areas, from history to language arts to the natural sciences and math.
With such a broad set of tools, however, it’s helpful to have a guide. Below, you’ll find several links to activities and resources for using Google Arts & Culture with your students. Then we’ll outline a few exciting experiments and digital tools on the platform that you can use to design your own lessons and activities.
- You can check out reviews from educators, a list of pros and cons for the platform, and more on this page from Common Sense Education.
- Pick up 15 quick ideas for history teachers looking to integrate tech into their lessons using Google Arts & Culture in this post from Peacefield History.
- Find suggestions for immersive learning on the platform (including AR/VR) from EdTech magazine here.
Experiments and More
Here are a few examples of tours, games, collections, and interactive activities in tech, math, science, and engineering — all conveyed through the arts.
| Page | Topic(s) | Type | Description |
| Seven Science Museums Around the World | space exploration, engineering, natural history, robotics | video, audio, Street View | This page collects mini virtual tours of inventive science museums around the world. |
| Blob Opera | AI, machine learning, music | audio, video | Drag and pull these singing blobs to create harmonies, songs, and more. |
| Giraffatitan Dinosaur: Back to Life in 360 VR | natural history, biology, geology, dinosaurs | AR/VR, video | Watch a dinosaur come to life in this video. |
| Museum of Engineering Innovation | engineering, medicine, biology | interactive, virtual exhibits | London’s Royal Academy of Engineering shares 20 online exhibits and more. |
Learning Art with Science
On the flip side, tech can give us tremendous insights into the arts and humanities, from hearing a painting to filling crossword puzzles with images.
| Page | Topic(s) | Type | Description |
| Play a Kandinsky Painting | art, art history, biology, psychology | audio, music, painting | What if you could hear color? This interactive uses machine learning to attempt to convey artist Vassily Kandinsky’s synesthesia. |
| Color Explorer | color theory, visual art | painting | Dive into the massive trove of art, searching by color. |
| Puzzle Party | art, art history, collaborative learning | painting, puzzle | Work together digitally to create great artworks as a virtual puzzle. |
| Visual Crosswords | art, history, visual reasoning and thinking | video, interactive | Learn about art history, movements, and more by moving images in these visual crossword puzzles. |
How do you use Google Arts & Culture in your teaching and learning? Sound off in the comments!
1 comment
This article, as so many do via this BLOG, resonates deeply with me! As a retired early childhood/elementary teacher to full time teaching professor in a School of Education, the need for connectivity across the curriculum is vital to the growth of all students!! Thank you for your ongoing leadership in education as well as being forward thinking as you share articles that I share forward as well…YAY! Have a BEAUTIFUL Day! Kathleen Bauer, Ed D.