Exploring the Google Cultural Institute: Simple Ways to Bring Virtual Field Trips, Beautiful Art, Historic Images & More To Your Students.

The Google Cultural Institute is full of incredible images including beautiful images of famous artwork and artist. I stumbled upon this resource this morning and was blown away by the endless possibilities of using this in the classroom. There are three Featured Projects; Historic Moments, World Wonders, and Art Projects. I know that I have barely scratched the surface of what this site has to offer but here is a quick overview of each.

Historic Moments

What really took my breath away was exploring the Historic Moments Collections. Here you can "Explore online exhibitions detailing the stories behind significant moments in human history. Each exhibition tells a story using documents, photos, videos and in some cases personal accounts of events." "Historic Moments - Google Cultural Institute." Historic Moments - Google Cultural Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

Google Cultural Institute is INCREDIBLE! Amazing images AND you can share directly to Google Classroom! #gci #GAFE https://t.co/pTuPC2FnDy

— Karly Moura (@KarlyMoura) April 10, 2016

Powerful images bring history to life, making us FEEL and allow us to be transported back in time as we explore history in a way that goes way beyond just reading about it in a textbook. 

In the short period of time I was exploring I found some amazing resources that will get your students hooked on history.

• Studying the Civil War? Check out these Symbols of Battle: Civil War Flags.
• Ready to begin a unit Women's Suffrage? Check out Suffragettes: Make More Noise.
• Frederick Douglass From Slavery to Freedom: The Journey to New York City tells the story of one of the bravest men in history as he fought to end slavery.

World Wonders

Angkor Wat, Street View. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. <https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nWyKgZc78Mo/maxresdefault.jpg>.

In World Wonders you and your students can explore the world the way it is today and in ancient times. Historic images, an embedded map of the location and Google Street view transports your students to historic sites around the globe! So many more to choose from but here is a look at a few that caught my eye.

• Take your students to Egypt with a virtual field trip to the Pyramids of Giza!
• Transport your students way back in time as they discover the wonder of Stonehenge, Avebury.
• Explore the beauty and be awed by the incredible Grand Canyon! Four street views and over 1,000 images make this a fantastic virtual field trip.

Art Project

Diving into Art History? Check out the immense Art Project section. You can search by artist, medium and more! The compare feature allows you to see two images side by side for a comparison. This would be a very useful tool if you are studying specific artist, medium, time period or other attribute. To compare click the compare icon in the lower left hand corner.

Then click on the image you want to compare and finally click on the compare icon in the upper left hand corner next to the + sign to add it. 

Repeat with the next image you want to compare.

Share to Google Classroom!

The best part is that that you can share directly to Google Classroom! Just click the Google Classroom icon and choose the class you want to share them with.

Go Mobile

Want to take the Google Cultural Institute with you on the go? Check out the Arts and Culture App available for Android and IOS. 

There are so many possibilities for using this amazing resource in the classroom. I would love to hear how others are using it to bring history to life with your students.