Jan. 23, 2020 -- Boulevard 4th graders recently visited a wind farm and an energy plant as part of their science unit on energy transformation. A few months before that, they went inside both a Haudensosaunee longhouse and a Great Plains teepee to compare which Native American dwelling they’d rather live in. 

Does Boulevard suddenly have an enormous expense account for field trips? No. But they do have access to Google Expedition goggles.

The entire district shares one set of 30 Google goggles, while three after school programs have purchased additional sets with federal grant funds, which they share with their buildings, Noble, Roxboro Middle, and Heights High.

This new technology, which uses images and videos, many taken from satellites, allows students to visit places they’d never otherwise be able to see. Roxboro’s 7th graders recently saw the phases of the moon as if they were in space. They also plopped themselves down in the middle of an ancient battle in the War of Mesopotamia.  

Fairfax’s 1st graders explored landforms in Africa as part of an International Baccalaureate unit, while Canterbury’s 3rd graders visited the White House when studying the branches of government. They will soon head to the Great Wall of China as they culminate a unit about other cultures.

Noble’s kindergartners got to travel deep into the ocean while learning about living things, and looked at the use of three-dimensional buildings in the cities of ancient civilizations.

Google Expeditions provides lessons and prompts for teachers who follow along on an iPad while guiding their students around new locations. They may say something as simple as, “Turn your head to the right so you can see the soldiers on horseback approaching the battlefield” or “Look up to follow the path of the earth as it revolves around the sun.”

The district’s K-8 Science Fusion curriculum recommends specific Expeditions for each unit to support learning objectives. According to District Coordinator of Technology Christine Bauer, Google is constantly expanding their selection of Expeditions and now offers over 1000 options.  

Julie Walker, 4th grade teacher at Boulevard who regularly uses the goggles with her colleague Laura Preston, said their students “are just in awe. They can’t get enough of it. It’s like going on a field trip to places we’d never get to visit in real life.”