It’s been quite a year. You and your students deserve some fun! The Activities and Investigations focus of this issue of Science and Children presents a great opportunity to look at ways amazing (and free) augmented reality technologies can complement tried-and-true inquiry learning to create fun and engaging science experiences for students. In this Tech Talk, we’ll take a look at two apps that are a great fit for inquiry learning and bring a real “wow” factor to the classroom.

Augmented Reality

Technology has the potential to extend students’ reach into the world around them, increase their access to concepts and resources, and help to make learning fun and memorable. Augmented reality (AR) is just such a technology. AR works by overlaying 3D digital image files onto the real-world background visible through your mobile device’s camera app. Once the AR image has been “placed” in your space, use the device to view the digital image at all angles. Zoom in/out for a better look. Go ahead, get up out of your seat!

The student-centered inquiry method is a terrific instructional strategy to use with AR experiences. In inquiry learning, students are tasked with collecting relevant data from lesson resources/experiences and making sense of it to formulate answers to an inquiry question. The scale of the inquiry can vary, ranging from large system conceptual questions to small-scale single observation-based questions. Inquiry questions can guide learning in a single lesson, a whole unit, and beyond. Teachers and students can play different roles in inquiry learning. Though students are charged with answering the inquiry question with data collected through their learning experiences, the driving question and investigation methods can come from different sources. In more structured or guided inquiry, they come from the teacher, while in more open-inquiry experiences, they come from students. With no resources needed beyond an internet-connected computer/tablet, highly engaging technologies such as augmented reality apps offer low stress opportunities to give students more power over what and how they investigate the world around them. So if you’ve been thinking about empowering your students to take more control over their science learning, AR apps are a great place to start.

The two apps described below feature AR technology with remarkably good graphics for no-cost, non-gamified educational resources. Get ready for delighted laughter and exclamations as your students work in these apps. They will be up, talking, sharing, and moving around the room holding the tablet in front of them as a lens to examine each AR image from all angles.

Group students in pairs or small groups for discussion, exploration, and peer troubleshooting while interacting with the technology. However, try to keep devices 1:1, even if limitations on resources mean you keep this experience as a small-group station. If you go the station route, just be sure you have dynamite resources at the other stations to balance the AR. Note that AR technologies tend to be battery intensive, so you’ll need to plan for this if students are cycling through a station with the same devices.

When it comes to AR, place matters. While you can certainly use AR apps inside your classroom, you might want to give students more space by using the auditorium, gym, or cafeteria (during off-hours). These apps do best with some clear floor space. Be sure to try these apps out in places you could use with students with school devices in advance. Ample light is required for the AR technology to function so keep the overheads on. Another option to consider is taking students with their devices outside to the playground/hardtop for learning with AR if your school’s wireless signal reaches; just be aware bright sunlight can make it challenging to see details on a tablet screen.

Google Arts and Culture AR

What’s Google Arts and Culture AR all about?

In 2021 the Google Expeditions app was shuttered and its modified content became available through the Google Arts and Culture (GAC) app. This was disappointing because the exciting Expeditions were disbanded, making them difficult to find. Today many former virtual reality (VR) Expeditions are now available in GAC as static 360° images, navigable via panning with mouse or touchscreen. While the migration to GAC has rendered the VR resources less than inspiring, the small but growing body of AR resources is doing well. The library includes AR science images of modern and ancient animals and space travel. It’s worth taking a look to see how this fun, free, and widely accessible technology can support your instruction.

What’s good about GAC AR?

AR images can have an incredible wow factor. GAC has some well-chosen resources that maximize the wow. There is nothing like having children study a five-foot tall 3D virtual rhinoceros beetle in the middle of their story time rug through AR technology on tablets. However, if your students do not have access to mobile devices, they can still enjoy the GAC’s AR resources on the website, where AR resources have been adapted for non-mobile devices (e.g., laptops). Non-mobile devices have access to the “Object” view, a feature that allows users to interact with the digital AR images. Object view offers many of the features available in the full AR experience. Mobile devices (e.g., tablets) have the option of Object or AR view. Both views offer access to 3D content with incredible zoom capabilities. The GAC search tool is solid, which helps because the library of resources is large and not organized for ease of K–12 use. Don’t be daunted. GAC resources are broad enough that your efforts will be rewarded with content relevant to your learners in multiple academic domains.

How can you use Google Arts and Culture AR?

The detailed and interactive 3D imagery of GAC’s AR resources allow users to closely examine external features of organisms at their own pace and in their own ways. This time, access, and ability to interact with the imagery aligns with the learning needs of our young students. When accessing the GAC app or site, be specific in your instructions for students to ensure they navigate to the correct resource. If they are the using the website, consider providing them with direct links to the site to support their ability to access the resource in your LMS. To access 3D images of animals in the AR themes in the GAC app/site, type “AR” into the search bar. Choose the AR Theme to get to “Reality Check” where users can scroll to find animals, space, history, and other GAC AR resources. If working on laptops/desktops/chrome books, children will be limited to “Object” view, which allows for highly detailed inspection of features. With mobile devices, students can use the Object or full AR view, the latter of which creates a truly exciting and dynamic learning experience. Here are ideas for engaging learners in NGSS science and engineering practices. Find links to apps, resources, and NGSS@NSTA Performance Expectations for engineering practices under Online Resources.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data: Use a guided inquiry approach to target 1-LS1-1 with your first graders by engaging them in the analysis and interpretation of GAC AR resources to build their background knowledge of the external structures animals have to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs. Students will likely know basic information about fish having fins, but they may not have had the opportunity to closely examine the intact fins of a range of finfish species. This is also a great time for children with fishing experience to share their expertise. Over the course of multiple lessons/stations, provide students with a series of inquiry questions that help them tune in to specific animal structures, such as “What structures do animals who swim in the sea have?” “How do these structures compare to animals that live on the seafloor?” “How do fish fins compare?” “Are all fish fins the same?” Time spent analyzing the GAC AR resources via inquiry investigation will help prepare children for the engineering component of 1-LS1-1 standard.

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions: After guided inquiry investigations of animals in the GAC AR app/site, it is a great time to set a design challenge for students that builds upon their investigations. For example, have students use lessons learned from fish fins to design a solution that will help us swim faster than we do with our arms and legs. Help students to use the Object view of the GAC site or the app to support planning in groups; this view will let them make careful observations. Whenever possible, provide time and resources for students to implement their design plans to create, test, and refine their solutions—it helps to build their engineering skills and they will love it!

Heather Pacheco-Guffrey (HPACHECOGUFFREY@bridgew.edu) is an associate professor and researcher of science / engineering methods and technology applications in STEM for elementary and early childhood teachers at Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.