virtual field trips google arts and culture

  • January 22, 2024
  • Shanna Martin

Virtual Field Trips with Google Arts & Culture Expeditions

This week there is no need for permission slips! With Google Arts & Culture Expeditions, teachers can take students on exciting virtual field trips right from the classroom. These immersive 360-degree experiences allow learners to explore new places and topics in visually stunning ways.

Arts & Culture Expeditions

With Expeditions, students can tour famous museums, dive underwater to see coral reefs, go back in time to experience historic events, and so much more. The visually stunning 360-degree environments are filled with intriguing details to discover. From science and nature to arts and culture, Expeditions cover a diverse range of subjects to engage any class.

One of my favorites is the Literary Tour of London. It stops all over city from the Globe Theater to Westminster Abbey. There are so many cool places to see and easy ways to engage in conversations with your students.

Expeditions provide the educational benefits of field trips without the hassle and expense of travel. They can be used by one student independently or displayed for the whole class. The content is thoughtfully presented in short chunks, perfect for learners’ attention spans.

With Expeditions in your teacher toolbox, your students can travel the world and through time without leaving their seats. Let their curiosity run wild with these fascinating virtual expeditions!

Shanna Martin 0:19 Thanks for listening to the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast, where each week we talk about a free piece of technology that you can use in your classroom. I’m your host, Shanna Martin. I’m a middle school teacher Technology and Instructional Coach for my district.

Fuzz Martin 0:31 And I’m a producer and husband Fuzz Martin. And each week I just explore different ways to make this show some better. And it’s not through great puns. Nice. I’d like it to be, you know, Expedition explorer. Boring. Works.

Shanna Martin 0:50 Spelunking.

Fuzz Martin 0:51 Spelunking? Isn’t that going through caves? Yeah, yeah.

Shanna Martin 0:56 You know, I never I mean, the only reasons why I know that word is because back in the day when Carmen Sandiego Yeah, go on the adventures like spelunking was one of the

Fuzz Martin 1:04 options. I remember that. And I remember, this studio is kind of like a cave, you know, it’s a little dark.

Shanna Martin 1:12 And there’s only one way on and one way out.

Fuzz Martin 1:15 I mean, there’s a window, we could go out through the window, I suppose we needed to. But

Shanna Martin 1:19 there’s little lanterns of light. We have little lanterns

Fuzz Martin 1:23 of light. And my hair is crazy right now from wearing a knit hat. Because it’s winter, as it’s cold. I want to see ice sculptures after this. Oh, 13 degree weather. So it’s 13 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a negative 11 Celsius, negative 10 and a half Celsius. So yeah,

Shanna Martin 1:43 so we are gonna take a field trip to a warmer place. Yes.

Fuzz Martin 1:48 Please take us similar ways where we can warm up.

Shanna Martin 1:52 Yes. So we have a quick win this week. And I was really excited because I was digging around and finding additional resources for some teachers I was working with. And I love to play around and Google Arts and Culture because it was so much that it offers, but they’re always changing it as well. So it’s not just like when you go to the site, you may find something really cool. And then the next time it might be gone. But a lot of times are also upgrading and adding things and you can find the different pieces you’re looking at beforehand, you so to dig a little deeper.

Well, they’ve changed up kind of how they do their virtual field trips, and it’s arts and culture.google.com/project/expeditions. If you just type in Google Expeditions, you’ll find it. So what they have done is they have totally made virtual field trips amazing. And the reorganized in a different format. You don’t always have to go you they have the museum, things like that, but they’ve changed it up. Okay, so first, when you’re scrolling through the page, there’s lots and lots of choices, but you’re going to want to pick a subject. So it’s like pick a subject to science, technology, arts, geography, natural history. So I started with science, because that’s what I was looking for resources for, and oh my gosh, there’s so many cool things. I was in a visiting and other school. And it was in a chemistry classroom this week. And so I was like, Oh, let’s see what they have for the periodic table.

Well, you click on the periodic table gives you the background of it. And as you’re scrolling through, then it basically is a mini lesson. And these are meant like these are created for teachers and students in the classroom, or individually for students to explore the world. So they are very much meant for education. And it walks you through how the periodic table was built. And then as you scroll it, like cruises around, you feel like you’re standing in a space with the periodic table in giant form in front of you. And it like cruises around the screen so you can see the different pieces. And as you’re doing so it gives you information about like the history and the background of the periodic table, the different sections of the periodic table. As you scroll talk, like here’s the elements explains what they are and how it works, table numbers, how it works, and it goes through. And it’s not just like five or six slides. It is like lessons and discussion. And it poses questions like where did they come from the first five elements were created during the Big Bang, it goes through all of the explanations like it is a really cool website where you tour through it. And then they have like noble gases, and then they go through and make it look like a carnival. Like go through and explain each piece of it. And this is just keep going and going. It’s all these lessons and then it goes through. Like it’s just a really cool explanation of the periodic table along with being really entertaining at the same time as it’s explaining it to you so that you can if you’ve gone through the periodic table or you’re not teaching something about that you go right back into science.

They have rocks, minerals and gems molecules science, superheroes, astronomy, optics and the behavior of lights and Color, that as you scroll through science, they have great minds, you can click on female scientists. And like I have little stem explorers group that I do that I will be showing for sure, yeah, this, this with my little belly. Yep. STEM explores and explains the different female scientists and how they have gone through and explained things and different people and what they’ve accomplished. And then to infinity and beyond, they have all like the space tours, which they’ve built in, they kind of had a few of those before. So they’ve just organized it, cracking the code, the evolution of computers, how, what, where and why, like forms of energy, magnetism, simple machines. So it doesn’t really matter what you’re teaching, they have something to tour for it, which is really cool. And that’s just the science section. So if you go back, you want the arts, you want geography, I can click on geography, it’ll take me through different parts of the world.

If I want to do a trip to the North Pole, I can scroll through there. And it’s really cool, because it shows then trips to the North Pole, you’re finally here, temperatures between 25 and 35, Fahrenheit heights, the wind conditions make it seem colder, and then explains it. There’s like scientists there and explains the ship and how they got there. And the tools and all kinds of is very cool. And then you can scroll down, like through the geography section. And it talks about people and their party also talks about different celebrations with different cultures. And then our extreme planet talks about the different parts of our planet, from the sea, to the desert to Mount Everest, which I took you I think to take you to Mount Everest. When I was like you gotta see this!

Fuzz Martin 6:39 It was a long journey.

Shanna Martin 6:43 But I took it about Everest, we took a field trip. So then like Mount Everest has its own section, and it goes through and it’s cool. Because they’re more like moving panoramic pictures. Yeah. So it gives you some information. And it cruises through the area, and it teaches you about it. And again, it’s not just like, five slides like it’s a whole, like lesson, learning about Mount Everest and base camp and getting there. What are you currently exploring? You’re touring things?

Fuzz Martin 7:11 Mount Everest? Yeah, yeah.

Just looking to see how tall Mount Everest was?

Shanna Martin 7:15 Have you gotten there yet?

Fuzz Martin 7:16 Not not a reading. Yeah, I went to Wikipedia for that one real quick.

Shanna Martin 7:23 But you can explore specific places that like Rio de Janeiro and Greece and Madagascar and Antarctica, and Mexico City and Istanbul, there’s just so many different places to go. And then that’s the geography section, you can go in the Art section, you go natural history. But wait, there’s more than they have just a history a specific section, they can go throwback in time, and it will take you through ancient ruins throughout history, meaning historical figures, goes through black history, how we used to live memorable moments. So then they have all these different pieces or recent history rewind. And you can pick different things going on in the world, and then tour through those. So the organization of it is really easy to follow. It’s not just to wearing museums, you were there, and you are learning about whatever subject or topic it is. And then you could even start this as a class lesson like, Hey, we’re talking about this today and these places, and then you can send students off on their own to kind of do their own investigation as well.

They could build this as like a as a base to create their own. But there’s just so many different ways to use these in the classroom. And they’re fascinating, like, it’s not an overwhelming amount of information, because it’s given to you in small pieces. But it teaches you a lot in small pieces. Yeah, that makes sense. Like it’s easy, easy to digest, as we say, with our kids. So I’m really excited, because I shared some of these with my teachers. But now, as I’m doing three more, I’m like, Oh, well, the teachers gonna get an email. Just getting this one, just because there’s so many cool things to explore and learn from in a really quick way, and get out there to your students and just engage them. And when you need something warm and a warm place to visit. You can find one real quick and feel like it’s warm and cozy and not freezing cold.

Fuzz Martin 9:12 Yes. Perfect, though. I am looking at a picture of snow right now. So I should go look for something warmer. By the way, I could have just went to the the main page about Mount Everest on here and the height was right there. First first sentence. So you just need to read I just needed to read. Yes. And then I did and now and

Shanna Martin 9:32 now you know No, no, you know, do tu tu tu? Yeah. Anybody knows that? My reference to that? No. What

Fuzz Martin 9:39 was the more you Oh, that was like the rainbow shoot across NBC. Yeah, I think it was NBC the more you know, yeah. Boom, boom, boom. Yeah, that’s pretty good. Yeah, I guess. We’re there with this Saturday morning cartoons. Very good.

Shanna Martin 9:55 Well, on that note, go do some exploring and have some fun. Yes.

Fuzz Martin 9:58 And enjoy. To explore someplace warm for us, please go on an expedition

Shanna Martin 10:02 someplace warm. Yeah. Thanks for tuning in. This has been the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast. If you ever have any questions you can find me on the app formerly known as Twitter “X” that’s @smartinWI or on threads. And if you wanna get more information on the links to the technology discussed in this episode, you can visit smartinwi.com. If you like the show, please consider buying me a coffee or to buymeacoffee.com/smartinwi or visit smartinwi.com and click on that cute little purple coffee cup. Your donations help keep the show going new episodes each week. Thanks for listing. Go educate and innovate.

Fuzz Martin 10:38 The ideas and opinions expressed in this podcast in the smart in WI website. Are those of the authors Shanna Martin and not of her employer. Prior to using any of the technologies discussed on this podcast? Please consult with your employer regulations. This podcast offers no guarantee that these tools will work for you as we’ve described, but we sure hope they do. And we’ll talk to you next time here on the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast.

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Expanding Google Arts & Culture with Expeditions

Nov 13, 2020

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When I first joined Google 13 years ago, I was most excited by the company's sense of exploration and possibility. Search allowed you to look up nearly any fact in the world and Maps helped you find even the most remote destination. That spirit of possibility also led to the launch of Google Expeditions, a virtual reality (VR) tool designed to bring the world into every classroom. With this product, educators took students on new adventures to experience far-away places, travel back in time or learn about cultures unlike their own. It has been truly magical to see how educators and students alike incorporated our VR tours into their imaginative curriculums.

Engaging students in the classroom has taken on an entirely different meaning this year. As schools around the world reimagine education from the ground up for a hybrid world, we’ve also been thinking deeply about how to adjust our tools to meet the moment and simultaneously build for the future. We’ve heard and recognize that immersive experiences with VR headsets are not always accessible to all learners and even more so this year, as the transition to hybrid learning has presented challenges for schools to effectively use Expeditions.

Virtual field trips on Google Arts & Culture

Virtual field trips on Google Arts & Culture

Many schools and families use Google Arts & Culture , Google’s free initiative to bring the world’s art and culture online, to experience museums, heritage sites and wonders of the world from their classrooms and homes. To continue to add to the collection, and make Expeditions 360 tours available to everyone, we're migrating most of them to Google Arts & Culture, accessible from the free site as well as the app on iOS or Android, where users can view the tours in 360 or on the web from any device. As Arts & Culture will offer many of the Expeditions tours, we'll no longer support the Expeditions app, and the app will no longer be available to download after June 30, 2021.

With the transition to the Google Arts & Culture platform, educators and students will find a vast array of culturally enriching content from around the world with collections on Natural History , Black History and Culture , the road to equality for women’s rights, and other topics like invention and discovery or fashion . Google Arts & Culture is continuing to expand its augmented reality (AR) content using interactive camera features, such as Art Filter and Art Transfer , that help you learn about cultural artifacts in new and engaging ways that would otherwise not be possible to create in the physical world.

We hope this product evolution to Google Arts & Culture will provide educators with a bridge to continue to use immersive content to transform their classrooms and enrich the learning experience for their students. As always, we’ll continue to share updates, user tips and gather feedback, and we look forward to continuing our support for the educational journeys of people around the world.

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Home › Blog Topics › Google Arts and Culture with Google Expeditions

Google Arts and Culture with Google Expeditions

By Becca Munson on 03/29/2022 • ( 0 )

I was very sad when the Google Expeditions app was no longer available. I utilized the app with classes to virtually visit different countries, colleges and historical places.

Good news! Many (not all) expeditions can now be found in Google Arts and Culture.  Google Arts and Culture is a website and app with virtual tours of art museums around the world, artist features and much more!

The site includes virtual fields trips that students can access through a mobile device or a laptop. Students do not need to log into the site to access. Click here to view information about virtual fields trip in Google Arts and Culture .

Get Started

To get started, click here for a list of virtual field trips organized by subject. Visit Mars or Mount Everest.  Learn more about photosynthesis or a historical figure like Leonardo Da Vinci.

Search Google Arts and Culture by clicking on the magnify glass in the top, right corner.

How to Search

If you are looking for a previous expedition, use the search feature to locate what you need. I was able to find a previous Tenement Museum virtual tour in Google Arts and Culture.  I also found the college virtual tours as well.

Additional Virtual Field Trips Sites

Discovery Education: Sign up to take part in a variety of activities.

360 Cities: View 360 images from places all over the world.

Additional Information

Five Ways to Use Virtual Field Trips

How to Make the Most of Virtual Field Trips

Three Tips for Teachers, Google Arts and Culture

Virtual Field Trips: Benefits and Resources for Schools

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Author: Becca Munson

Becca Munson, Librarian, is a National Board Certified Teacher with over 24 years of experience in education. Becca is the Coordinator for Library Systems in the Blue Valley School District. Previously, she was school librarian at Blue Valley West High School. She opened two buildings in Blue Valley and spent some time as an Ed Tech Specialist before returning to libraries. Becca supports over 45 librarians and support staff as they work to fulfill the mission of flexible scheduling, collaboration, and literacy.

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Google Arts & Culture Virtual Field Trips

A virtual field trip can be a way for students to explore new places in your community or all over the world. In this class, we will explore resources for a virtual field trip in the Google Arts & Culture App & Website.

View the syllabus for more information on prerequisites, completion hours, and course requirements.

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virtual field trips google arts and culture

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  • 0.5 hours of video content
  • Grades 6-12
  • School Leaders

Celebrate Women's History Month with 37 inspiring activities!

40 Amazing Educational Virtual Field Trips

No permission slips needed.

Amazing Educational Virtual Field Trips

Virtual field trips are a game changer. Not only do they fill in for real field trips when budgets and other roadblocks prevent in-person options, but virtual field trips also open doors to educational experiences all over the country and the world, both past and present. No fundraising or permission slips required!

(Note: For anyone who needs it, YouTube offers a closed-captioning option. Just click the CC button in the bottom right-hand corner.)

1. Amazon Career Tours

Amazon career tours

Amazon Career Tours are free virtual field trips that inspire students to pursue careers of the future. Tour whenever, wherever on Kahoot! Each tour comes with a Teacher Toolkit that includes a facilitation guide and student worksheets.

  • Amazon Fulfillment Center Tour : Explore how packages get delivered at lightning speed and how computer science, engineering, and real people work together to make the magic happen. 
  • (New!) Data Center Tour 1: Uncovering Cloud Computing : Do students know what “the cloud” actually is? Find out how we went from renting movies at the store to streaming them from anywhere at any time.
  • (New!) Data Center Tour 2: Keeping Data Safe and Sustainable : Discover the infrastructure that keeps your information safe and sustainable while diving into data careers of the future.
  • Space Innovation Tour : Students will learn about the amazing technology on board the Orion spacecraft in NASA’s Artemis I flight test and hear from the engineers who made it all possible. 

There are so many amazing online options when it comes to zoos that we couldn’t narrow it down to just one. Most zoos have live webcams in some of their most popular exhibits, such as the KC Zoo Polar Bear Cam and the Giant Panda Cam at Smithsonian’s National Zoo . However, some zoos offer a more in-depth look. You’ll definitely want to check out the San Diego Zoo as their site for kids includes behind-the-scenes videos and stories, as well as a variety of printable activities and online games. Check out our full list of virtual zoo goodness.

3. The Aquarium

It’s a similar story with aquariums. You have your pick of live webcams, but our favorites are the Georgia Aquarium’s Ocean Voyager webcam (wait for the whale shark!) and the “Jelly Cam” at Monterey Bay Aquarium (so soothing). The Seattle Aquarium even has a 30-minute video tour . Want more under-the-sea fun? Here’s our ultimate list of virtual aquarium field trips.

4. The Farm

The classic preschool field trip goes online! You can have your pick of dairy farm field trips, but we like this one from the Dairy Alliance  and this one from Stonyfield Organic . Farm Food 360 gives students the opportunity to immerse themselves in Canadian farm and food tours—from raising pigs to making milk and cheese. We’re also loving these virtual egg farm field trips from the American Egg Board.

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5. An Art Museum

Metropolitan Museum of Art's #MetKids

We found 20 art museums with virtual tours , including the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s # MetKids and its awesome Where’s Waldo? setup. And you can’t miss the world-famous Louvre in Paris (no passport needed!). Check out the current virtual tours: Traveling Materials and Objects, the Advent of the Artist, the Body in Movement, and Founding Myths: From Hercules to Darth Vader!

6. A National Park

From webcams at Hawaii volcanoes to a virtual run along the rim of the Grand Canyon , you have tons of options here. Our top pick would have to be Yellowstone. The interactive maps are a great way to see the Mammoth Hot Springs and Mud Volcano, but we think kids will be psyched about the Old Faithful Geyser livestream and the opportunity to make their own predictions for its next eruption . Check out everything the National Park Service has to offer virtually.

7. A Planetarium

Through Stellarium Web , kids can explore over 60,000 stars, locate planets, and watch sunrises and solar eclipses. If you enter your location, you can see all the constellations that are visible in the night sky in your corner of the world.

8. A Recycling Center

Take your students on a virtual field trip of a recycling center and a modern landfill . Plus, there’s a full-on curriculum that includes lesson plans, take-home handouts, and more.

9. Slime in Space

Nickelodeon teamed up with two astronauts on the International Space Station to demonstrate how slime reacts to microgravity and had kids reproduce those same demonstrations back here on Earth. It makes for an amazing 15-minute virtual field trip .

10. Nature Lab

The Nature Conservancy has a brand-new virtual field trip entitled “You’re the Scientist! Citizen Science, Frogs & Cicadas.” Check out their full library of videos on topics like climate change and water security.

11. Discovery Education

Discovery Education hosts a variety of virtual events —each with a companion guide with hands-on learning activities. Current offerings include “Making a New Life: The Courage of a Refugee” and “The Future Is Now” (architectural and engineering innovations). Stay tuned for their upcoming civics virtual field trip, “The American Ideal.”

12. The Great Lakes

This virtual field trip from Great Lakes Now has three components: coastal wetlands, algae, and lake sturgeon. Each video is a quick five minutes long.

13. The Strong National Museum of Play

Explore online exhibits and discover the history and evolution of play. Check out board games that changed play, sports video games that shaped digital play, and the making of Monopoly to name a few.

14. U.S. Census Bureau

Kids can learn about the most recent Census and how census data is collected and used. This virtual field trip also features interviews with subject matter experts and an interactive challenge.

15. National Constitution Center

The “Museum of We the People,” the Constitution Center serves as a “headquarters for civic education.” Check out the Interactive Constitution section , and be sure to watch the virtual tour .

16. The Johnson Space Center

Houston, we have a virtual field trip. Three, actually. All with companion educator guides. The star of the show is the behind-the-scenes tour of the Johnson Space Center .

17. Birthplace of Music

Boise State put together this fully interactive virtual field trip with text, photos, audio, and video about the history of music. The four featured music locations are: Vienna, Austria; New Orleans, Louisiana; Cleveland, Ohio; and Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia.

18. Colonial Williamsburg

This living-history museum provides a look into life in an early American community. The website offers five different webcams featuring areas such as the tavern and the armory.

19. Mount Vernon

This virtual experience of George Washington’s home is incredibly well done. Enter the different buildings—from the opulent mansion to the chilling slave quarters—and click on different items for video and text explanations.

20. Mount Rushmore

This virtual tour comes with a real tour guide! Blaine Kortemeyer is the Assistant Chief of Interpretation and Education, who lends his expertise on the building of this national monument. The 3D Explorer is also an excellent tool.

21. The Manhattan Project

Take a visit to the National WWII Museum for “a cross-country virtual expedition to discover the science, sites, and stories of the creation of the atomic bomb.” Don’t forget to download the classroom guide!

22. The White House

For a look inside the iconic building, check out the 360° tour of some of the most historic rooms of the People’s House, from the Situation Room to the Oval Office. Examine each room and check out the contents up close.

23. The Smithsonian

The National Museum of Natural History’s virtual experiences are self-guided, room-by-room tours of permanent, current, and past exhibits. Be sure to send kids to the second floor Bone Hall so they can take a look at all different kinds of skeletons.

24. Google Arts & Culture

A collaboration with over 1,200 leading museums and archives, Google Arts & Culture is an incredible storehouse of monumental works of art. We recommend the Street View and Play sections.

25. 360 Cities

Boasting the world’s largest collection of 360° image videos, 360 Cities provides kids with the opportunity to see stunning panoramas across the globe, including their video of the ice floe on the Vistula River in Poland.

26. Buckingham Palace

It’s the official residence of the Queen of England, and boy, is it opulent! Get a peek inside the gorgeous Grand Staircase, White Drawing Room, Throne Room, and Blue Drawing Room.

27. The Great Wall of China

See one of the wonders of the world with this amazing, thousands-year-old fortification system known the world over. This virtual tour has four scenes available (you have to pay to get access to all 14). The bird’s-eye view of Mutianyu pass is a highlight.

28. Easter Island

Easter Island Moai Statues at Rano Raraku under sunny summer sky. Rano Raraku, Rapa Nui National Park, Hanga Roa, Easter Island, Chile.

Most of us recognize the giant stone statues of Easter Island, but what’s the story behind them? Nova’s online adventure “Secrets of Easter Island” delves into the mystery with a virtual tour.

29. Son Doong Cave

National Geographic lets you explore the world’s largest cave, located in Vietnam. Use the interactive map to enjoy the fully immersive experience (sound on!).

30. Ancient Egypt

You don’t need a time machine! Discovering Ancient Egypt has a ton of free resources, but it’s the interactive pyramid map and 3D temple reconstructions that really give it a field trip feel.

31. Back Through Time

Virtually visit Turn Back the Clock , a museum exhibit that ran for two years at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Through compelling personal stories, innovative interactive media, and pop culture artifacts, the exhibit takes guests through seven decades of history—from the dawn of the nuclear age to significant policy questions our leaders face today.

Landscape on planet Mars, scenic desert scene on the red planet

No, really! You can absolutely “go” to the red planet. With Access Mars , you can see the actual surface of Mars, recorded by NASA’s Curiosity rover. Trust us—don’t skip the intro. And if your kids liked that, check out this 4K tour of the moon . These may go down in history as some of the best virtual field trips your students get to experience.

33. The Battleship New Jersey

Take a virtual tour of this historical battleship located on the Camden waterfront. This battleship has traveled more miles than any other!

34. The Vatican

No need to travel to Rome! Take in the amazing art and architecture located in the Vatican Museums with these 360-degree views.

35. Space Center Houston

Space Center Houston Virtual Tour

Download the app and climb aboard the virtual tram line! Take a virtual walk through the Space Center Houston with informational stops along the way.

36. The Louvre

Virtually visit museum rooms in the famous Louvre located in Paris. Even check out The Louvre kids’ site for student-friendly galleries and stories. You can’t visit The Louvre without seeing the Mona Lisa , so check out their immersive Mona Lisa experience available in the app store.

37. Ellis Island

Map of Ellis Island Virtual Field Trip

This interactive tour of Ellis Island lets students explore places like the Baggage Room and the Stairs of Separation through short stories, historical photographs, videos, and audio clips. Students can also hear the stories of real kids who recently immigrated to the United States, explore colorful charts and graphs with immigration data, and watch a 30-minute movie that includes a Q&A with National Park Service Rangers who explain what coming to America was like for many immigrants.

38. Plimoth Patuxet Museums

Desk with laptop featuring a Wampanoag Native American.

Travel back to the 17th century with options for free, on-demand, digital resources or a live, 1-hour virtual school program led by a Plimoth Patuxet Contemporary Indigenous Museum Educator. Students explore Wampanoag daily life and history; discover the real history of Thanksgiving and the legend behind it; meet a 17th-century Pilgrim; get an interactive sneak peak into 17th-century wardrobes; and learn about simple machines and water power at the Plimoth Grist Mill. There are also options for virtual hands-on history workshops, including Wampanoag Pottery and Write Like a Pilgrim.

39. Children’s Museum Houston

Children's Museum Houston museum educators giving a tour

When you can’t visit the museum in person, 3D virtual field trips to the Children’s Museum Houston are the next best thing. All videos are produced and curated by museum educators and feature hands-on activities that can be done in the classroom. Topics include nutrition, math, states of matter, forces and properties of water, and more.

40. Museum of the American Revolution

Beyond the Battlefield Virtual Field Trip featuring Laruen Tarshis, author of I Survived series

Beyond the Battle Field is a virtual field trip for grades 2-8 hosted by Lauren Tarshis, author of the I Survived historical-fiction series for kids. Students will meet a museum educator as well as the museum curator, and explore artifacts and documents from the American Revolution. Plus they’ll hear the stories of teens who served during the war. There’s also a Classroom Kit available with a vocabulary list and discussion questions by grade level.

If you liked this roundup of the best virtual field trips and want more resources like this, be sure to  subscribe to our newsletters.

Plus, check out the best field trip ideas for every age and interest (virtual options too) ..

You can't always get there in person, but lots of places will let you "visit" online. These are the best virtual field trips out there!

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Frederick douglass - from slavery to freedom: the journey to new york, 24 objects that document the long fight for freedom, martin luther king jr. and the struggle to march forward, art as activism: graphic art from the merrill c. berman collection, spotlight on: gordon parks, risk takers and history makers, celebrating iconic black women.

Tech & Learning

Best Virtual Field Trips

A s school budgets continue to shrink and classroom time is at a premium, virtual field trips have become a great opportunity for educators to help students experience places around the globe without getting on a bus, or even leaving their classroom.

Being able to see and experience a significant cultural institution, historic site, or natural landscape with the help of immersive technology, such as virtual or augmented reality, can help make lessons more engaging and exciting.

Here are the best virtual field trips for education, organized by art museums, history museums, civics-related sites, aquariums and nature sites, STEM-related experiences, and more!

Virtual Art Museum Tours

- Benaki Museum, Greece Showcasing the development of Greek culture, including more than 120,000 artworks from the Paleolithic Era to modern day. 

- British Museum, London Explore more than 4,000 years of art and historical objects from around the world.

- National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C Features more than 40,000 American works of art, including paintings, works on paper, and etchings. 

- Musee d’Orsay, Paris Displays art created between 1848 and 1914, including works by van Gogh, Renoir, Manet, Monet, and Degas

- National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea The representative museum of modern Korean visual art, plus architecture, design and crafts.

- Pergamon, Berlin, Germany Features sculpture, artifacts, and other items from ancient Greece. 

- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands Home to the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh in the world, including more than 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and 750 of the artist's letters.

- Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy A dynastic collection of ancient sculpture, artwork, and artifacts, established by the renowned Medici family.

- MASP, Sao Paolo, Brazil Brazil's first modern museum, displaying 8,000 works, including paintings, sculptures, objects, photographs, and costumes from a range of periods, encompassing Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. 

- National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City, Mexico Devoted to the archaeology and history of Mexico’s pre-Hispanic civilizations.

- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston A comprehensive collection that ranges from prehistoric times to modern day, featuring world-renowned paintings by Rembrandt, Monet, Gauguin, and Cassatt, plus mummies, sculpture, ceramics, and masterpieces of African and Oceanic art.

- The Frick Collection, New York Distinguished Old Master paintings and outstanding examples of European sculpture and decorative arts.

- J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles Works of art dating from the eighth through the twenty-first century, including European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and European, Asian, and American photographs.

- The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois Thousands of artworks—from world-renowned icons (Picasso, Monet, Matisse, Hopper) to lesser-known gems from every corner of the globe—as well as books, writings, reference materials, and other resources.

- The Metropolitan Museum of Art A colossal collection of art, cultural objects, and historical artifacts from over 5,000 years of human history. 

- The Louvre Museum Packed with iconic works of art, from da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, and other renowned artists.

Virtual History Museum Tours

- National Museum of the United States Air Force The oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world features dozens of vintage aircraft and hundreds of historical objects. 

- Smithsonian Museum of Natural History One of the largest repositories of natural history on the planet, featuring more than 145 million artifacts and specimens. 

- National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Home to an internationally renowned collection of Western art and artifacts, including paintings, sculpture, photographs, and historical objects. 

- The Prague Castle, Czechoslovakia Prague Castle is the largest coherent castle complex in the world, consisting of palaces and ecclesiastical buildings of various architectural styles, from the remains of Romanesque-style buildings from the 10th century through Gothic modifications of the 14th century. 

- The Colosseum, Rome One of the most iconic structures in world history.

- Machu Picchu, Peru Explore the 15th-century mountaintop citadel built by the Inca. 

- The Great Wall of China One of the wonders of the world, stretching more than 3,000 miles across multiple provinces of China

- The National WWII Museum’s Manhattan Project virtual field trip A cross-country virtual expedition to discover the science, sites, and stories involved with the creation of the atomic bomb.

- Discovering Ancient Egypt In addition to stories of the great kings and queens, learn about the ancient Egyptian gods and mummification, pyramids, and temples through interactive maps, photos, drawings, and paintings. 

- Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock Virtual Tour  Through personal stories, interactive media, and pop culture artifacts, explore seven decades of history, from the dawn of the nuclear age to the significant policy questions of today.

- U.S. Capitol Virtual Tour  Video tours of historic rooms and spaces, some of which are not open to the public, research resources, and teaching materials.

Civics Virtual Field Trips

- Virtual Field Trip to the Census Bureau A behind-the-scenes introduction to the U.S. Census Bureau, featuring exclusive interviews with subject matter experts.

- National Constitution Center Virtual Tour A virtual interactive multimedia tour of the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

- Virtual field trip to Ellis Island Hear first-hand stories told by those who came through Ellis Island, see historical photographs and films, and read fascinating facts.

- The City of U.S. Virtual Field Trip A virtual field trip of Washington, D.C., hosted by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.

- I Do Solemnly Swear: The U.S. Presidential Inauguration Featuring questions submitted by students and answered by experts, this virtual field trip travels to our nation's capital to explore the Presidential Inauguration, past and present.

Aquariums & Nature Parks Virtual Field Trips 

- National Aquarium Home to 20,000 animals covering 800 species, from the depths of the ocean to the canopy of the rain forest. 

- Georgia Aquarium Live webcam feeds for aquatic creatures, such as beluga whales, penguins, alligators, sea otters, and even underwater puffins.

- San Diego Zoo Live looks at koala, baboons, apes, tigers, platypuses, penguins, and more. 

- Five U.S. National Parks Explore Kenai Fjords in Alaska, volcanoes in Hawai'i, Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Bryce Canyon in Utah, and Dry Tortugas in Florida.

- Yellowstone National Park (live cams) Nine webcams—one live-streaming and eight static—provide views of around the North Entrance and Mammoth Hot Springs, Mount Washburn, the West Entrance, and the Upper Geyser Basin.

- Mystic Aquarium One of three U.S. facilities holding Steller sea lions, and it has the only beluga whales in New England. 

- Monterey Bay Aquarium (live cams) Ten live cams, including sharks, sea otters, jellyfish, and penguins.

- Son Doong Cave  The world's largest natural cave, located in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park in Vietnam.

- PORTS (California Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students)  K-12 students can connect with live interpretive staff and learn academic content standards within the context of California’s dynamic State Park System. 

STEM Virtual Field Trips

- NASA at Home Virtual tours and apps from NASA, including tours of the Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, International Space Station, and Hubble Space Telescope Mission Operations Center, plus excursions to Mars and the Moon.

- California Science Center Build your own virtual field trip for grades K-5 with NGSS-aligned content, in both English and Spanish.

- Carnegie Science Center Exhibit Explorations Students in grades 3-12 explore the science behind Carnegie Science Center's most popular exhibits, with an interactive focus on engineering/ robotics, animals, space/astronomy and the human body.

- Stanley Black & Decker Makerspace Students can see and experience first-hand how math, science, technology, creativity, and teamwork can lead to technological advancements.

- Slime in Space Take students 250 miles above Earth to the International Space Station to learn along with astronauts how slime reacts to microgravity compared to how water reacts. 

- Clark Planetarium Virtual Skywatch Free for schools, virtual versions of the live “Skywatch” planetarium dome presentations that directly correlate to 6th grade and 4th grade SEEd astronomy standards. 

- Alaska Volcano Observatory Alaska's active volcanoes offer superb opportunities for basic scientific investigations of volcanic processes.

- The Nature Conservancy’s Nature Lab virtual field trips Designed for grades 5-8 but customizable for all ages, each virtual field trip contains a video, teacher guide, and student activities.

- Great Lakes Now Virtual Field Trip  Learn more about the importance of coastal wetlands, the danger of algal blooms, and a deep dive into lake sturgeon. Designed for 6-8th grade.

- Access Mars Explore the real surface of Mars, as recorded by NASA's Curiosity rover.

- Easter Island The story of a team of archaeologists and a 75-person crew who sought to unravel how the hundreds of giant stone statues that dominate the island's coast were moved and erected.

- FarmFresh360 Learn about Canadian food and farming in 360º.

- Virtual Egg Farm Field Trips  Visit modern egg farms across the United States.

- Online agriculture education curriculum The American Royal Field Trip features a virtual tour of production agriculture; innovation and technology; and the food system. Lesson plans, activities, and short quizzes are also provided.

Miscellaneous Virtual Field Trips

- American Writers Museum new live Virtual Field Trips feature a guided exploration of AWM’s permanent exhibits or two online exhibits; staff-led interactive gameplay and pop quizzes about major literary works; and Writer Wednesdays, offering students a weekly opportunity to connect with a published author about the craft of writing.

- Kahn Academy Imagineering in a Box Go behind the scenes with Disney Imagineers and complete project-based exercises to design a theme park.

- Google Arts & Culture  Explore galleries, museums, and more.

Exploring Machu Picchu in Peru, via You Visit

  • Articles   >

The Moscow Metro Museum of Art: 10 Must-See Stations

There are few times one can claim having been on the subway all afternoon and loving it, but the Moscow Metro provides just that opportunity.  While many cities boast famous public transport systems—New York’s subway, London’s underground, San Salvador’s chicken buses—few warrant hours of exploration.  Moscow is different: Take one ride on the Metro, and you’ll find out that this network of railways can be so much more than point A to B drudgery.

The Metro began operating in 1935 with just thirteen stations, covering less than seven miles, but it has since grown into the world’s third busiest transit system ( Tokyo is first ), spanning about 200 miles and offering over 180 stops along the way.  The construction of the Metro began under Joseph Stalin’s command, and being one of the USSR’s most ambitious building projects, the iron-fisted leader instructed designers to create a place full of svet (radiance) and svetloe budushchee (a radiant future), a palace for the people and a tribute to the Mother nation.

Consequently, the Metro is among the most memorable attractions in Moscow.  The stations provide a unique collection of public art, comparable to anything the city’s galleries have to offer and providing a sense of the Soviet era, which is absent from the State National History Museum.  Even better, touring the Metro delivers palpable, experiential moments, which many of us don’t get standing in front of painting or a case of coins.

Though tours are available , discovering the Moscow Metro on your own provides a much more comprehensive, truer experience, something much less sterile than following a guide.  What better place is there to see the “real” Moscow than on mass transit: A few hours will expose you to characters and caricatures you’ll be hard-pressed to find dining near the Bolshoi Theater.  You become part of the attraction, hear it in the screech of the train, feel it as hurried commuters brush by: The Metro sucks you beneath the city and churns you into the mix.

With the recommendations of our born-and-bred Muscovite students, my wife Emma and I have just taken a self-guided tour of what some locals consider the top ten stations of the Moscow Metro. What most satisfied me about our Metro tour was the sense of adventure .  I loved following our route on the maps of the wagon walls as we circled the city, plotting out the course to the subsequent stops; having the weird sensation of being underground for nearly four hours; and discovering the next cavern of treasures, playing Indiana Jones for the afternoon, piecing together fragments of Russia’s mysterious history.  It’s the ultimate interactive museum.

Top Ten Stations (In order of appearance)

Kievskaya station.

virtual field trips google arts and culture

Kievskaya Station went public in March of 1937, the rails between it and Park Kultury Station being the first to cross the Moscow River.  Kievskaya is full of mosaics depicting aristocratic scenes of Russian life, with great cameo appearances by Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin.  Each work has a Cyrillic title/explanation etched in the marble beneath it; however, if your Russian is rusty, you can just appreciate seeing familiar revolutionary dates like 1905 ( the Russian Revolution ) and 1917 ( the October Revolution ).

Mayakovskaya Station

Mayakovskaya Station ranks in my top three most notable Metro stations. Mayakovskaya just feels right, done Art Deco but no sense of gaudiness or pretention.  The arches are adorned with rounded chrome piping and create feeling of being in a jukebox, but the roof’s expansive mosaics of the sky are the real showstopper.  Subjects cleverly range from looking up at a high jumper, workers atop a building, spires of Orthodox cathedrals, to nimble aircraft humming by, a fleet of prop planes spelling out CCCP in the bluest of skies.

Novoslobodskaya Station

virtual field trips google arts and culture

Novoslobodskaya is the Metro’s unique stained glass station.  Each column has its own distinctive panels of colorful glass, most of them with a floral theme, some of them capturing the odd sailor, musician, artist, gardener, or stenographer in action.  The glass is framed in Art Deco metalwork, and there is the lovely aspect of discovering panels in the less frequented haunches of the hall (on the trackside, between the incoming staircases).  Novosblod is, I’ve been told, the favorite amongst out-of-town visitors.

Komsomolskaya Station

Komsomolskaya Station is one of palatial grandeur.  It seems both magnificent and obligatory, like the presidential palace of a colonial city.  The yellow ceiling has leafy, white concrete garland and a series of golden military mosaics accenting the tile mosaics of glorified Russian life.  Switching lines here, the hallway has an Alice-in-Wonderland feel, impossibly long with decorative tile walls, culminating in a very old station left in a remarkable state of disrepair, offering a really tangible glimpse behind the palace walls.

Dostoevskaya Station

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Dostoevskaya is a tribute to the late, great hero of Russian literature .  The station at first glance seems bare and unimpressive, a stark marble platform without a whiff of reassembled chips of tile.  However, two columns have eerie stone inlay collages of scenes from Dostoevsky’s work, including The Idiot , The Brothers Karamazov , and Crime and Punishment.   Then, standing at the center of the platform, the marble creates a kaleidoscope of reflections.  At the entrance, there is a large, inlay portrait of the author.

Chkalovskaya Station

Chkalovskaya does space Art Deco style (yet again).  Chrome borders all.  Passageways with curvy overhangs create the illusion of walking through the belly of a chic, new-age spacecraft.  There are two (kos)mosaics, one at each end, with planetary subjects.  Transferring here brings you above ground, where some rather elaborate metalwork is on display.  By name similarity only, I’d expected Komsolskaya Station to deliver some kosmonaut décor; instead, it was Chkalovskaya that took us up to the space station.

Elektrozavodskaya Station

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Elektrozavodskaya is full of marble reliefs of workers, men and women, laboring through the different stages of industry.  The superhuman figures are round with muscles, Hollywood fit, and seemingly undeterred by each Herculean task they respectively perform.  The station is chocked with brass, from hammer and sickle light fixtures to beautiful, angular framework up the innards of the columns.  The station’s art pieces are less clever or extravagant than others, but identifying the different stages of industry is entertaining.

Baumanskaya Statio

Baumanskaya Station is the only stop that wasn’t suggested by the students.  Pulling in, the network of statues was just too enticing: Out of half-circle depressions in the platform’s columns, the USSR’s proud and powerful labor force again flaunts its success.  Pilots, blacksmiths, politicians, and artists have all congregated, posing amongst more Art Deco framing.  At the far end, a massive Soviet flag dons the face of Lenin and banners for ’05, ’17, and ‘45.  Standing in front of the flag, you can play with the echoing roof.

Ploshchad Revolutsii Station

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Novokuznetskaya Station

Novokuznetskaya Station finishes off this tour, more or less, where it started: beautiful mosaics.  This station recalls the skyward-facing pieces from Mayakovskaya (Station #2), only with a little larger pictures in a more cramped, very trafficked area.  Due to a line of street lamps in the center of the platform, it has the atmosphere of a bustling market.  The more inventive sky scenes include a man on a ladder, women picking fruit, and a tank-dozer being craned in.  The station’s also has a handsome black-and-white stone mural.

Here is a map and a brief description of our route:

Start at (1)Kievskaya on the “ring line” (look for the squares at the bottom of the platform signs to help you navigate—the ring line is #5, brown line) and go north to Belorusskaya, make a quick switch to the Dark Green/#2 line, and go south one stop to (2)Mayakovskaya.  Backtrack to the ring line—Brown/#5—and continue north, getting off at (3)Novosblodskaya and (4)Komsolskaya.  At Komsolskaya Station, transfer to the Red/#1 line, go south for two stops to Chistye Prudy, and get on the Light Green/#10 line going north.  Take a look at (5)Dostoevskaya Station on the northern segment of Light Green/#10 line then change directions and head south to (6)Chkalovskaya, which offers a transfer to the Dark Blue/#3 line, going west, away from the city center.  Have a look (7)Elektroskaya Station before backtracking into the center of Moscow, stopping off at (8)Baumskaya, getting off the Dark Blue/#3 line at (9)Ploschad Revolyutsii.  Change to the Dark Green/#2 line and go south one stop to see (10)Novokuznetskaya Station.

Check out our new Moscow Indie Travel Guide , book a flight to Moscow and read 10 Bars with Views Worth Blowing the Budget For

Jonathon Engels, formerly a patron saint of misadventure, has been stumbling his way across cultural borders since 2005 and is currently volunteering in the mountains outside of Antigua, Guatemala.  For more of his work, visit his website and blog .

virtual field trips google arts and culture

Photo credits:   SergeyRod , all others courtesy of the author and may not be used without permission

Museum of Fine Arts in Peredelkino

Moscow, dsk michurinetch, russia.

Visual culture and the Moscow Metro

James Andrews seated at a table with microphone.

James Andrews first rode the Moscow Metro in the 1980s as an undergraduate student studying in the former Soviet Union.

Now after 35 years, the metro is taking him on a new journey: documenting how its iconic public spaces reveal the story of Moscow itself as the city evolved under Joseph Stalin and his Soviet and post-Soviet successors.

This May, Andrews, professor of history, gave a public lecture on his new research project at the Kennan Institute in Washington, D.C. The Kennan Institute is part of the Woodrow Wilson Center, where Andrews was a former senior resident fellow.

The talk, which has been made available on YouTube, was so well-received that Andrews immediately received an additional invitation to present at the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia at New York University.

What makes the Moscow Metro a fascinating subject for a historian? More people ride the Moscow Metro each day than the New York City Subway and London Tube combined, yet its history is relatively unknown, Andrews said.

“Everyone has a story about the metro, but there has never been a book in English about its history,” Andrews said. “Many of my generation spent an endless amount of time on the metro. Before people had cell phones, you would always say, ‘Well, we’ll meet on the platform at this station.’ Everyone spent time traveling through this cavernous system. It’s a labyrinth really, but at the same time people don’t know much about its history in detail.”

Andrews’ previous books focus on the history of Russian science, technology and the Soviet space program. His new book project on the metro is another opportunity to study iconic Soviet technology, as well as visual culture.

The original metro stations, built with deep shaft tunneling methods beginning in 1932, had airy open ceilings with gorgeous bas-relief architecture—a canvas that Stalin used to create a public art monument to socialism.

“Socialist countries had a tendency to produce technologies that they could adorn with stories,” Andrews said. “Their metro was started in the 1930s under Stalin, and they invested a lot of money in it. It was important for two reasons: there was a utilitarian nature. The crowds were incredible in Moscow. They needed better public transportation. People had been flooding in from the countryside during collectivization. The other thing was to come up with a monument to socialism. That’s why they hired all these architects to decorate, and they decorated each station thematically.”

In the years after Stalin’s death, Nikita Khrushchev issued an edict rejecting the metro’s flamboyant architectural style in favor of a pre-fabricated, practical style, Andrews said. At the same time all over the city, de-Stalinization was happening, and street signs, busts of Stalin and station names were changed or removed.

“The irony is Stalin funded it,” Andrews said. “It’s a Stalin-era display technology project, but by the Khrushchev era they were erasing Stalin’s name from it.”

Andrews has had unlimited access to Moscow’s architectural archives, including many original photographic negatives, and will return to Russia next summer to research political archives.

“The Bolsheviks liked to document everything, but I was shocked at how many photographs they had taken of all these projects, documenting every stage and how well they were preserved,” he said.

Throughout his research, he has uncovered more stories hidden within familiar metro spaces.

One Russian architectural archivist told Andrews about being born in the metro in 1942, during a time when its underground stations housed makeshift hospitals, military meetings and even cultural events such as film nights.

Public spaces bear new stories over time, and Andrews is closely following the story told by newly constructed metro stations. New stations are bringing back marble-laden aesthetics and cultural themes that highlight famous Russian figures like chemist Dmitri Mendeleev or writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky, he said.

“I think the story tells us now that during Putin’s era you see a resurgence of Russian nationalism and Russian themes,” he said. “Not every station can be imploded into this reductive narrative, but it points again to how the narrative of the metro stations changes as the politics of Russian change to some extent and the city itself.”

And it shows how the Moscow Metro has a seemingly endless amount of track for a historian to travel.

“What I love about the project is there is a political history to it, a technological history, a social history, an engineering element, and an artistic element,” Andrews said. “It’s a multi-disciplinary study, which is both fascinating to me and challenging.”

Published: June 17, 2016

Visual culture and the Moscow Metro

virtual field trips google arts and culture

James Andrews first rode the Moscow Metro in the 1980s as an undergraduate student studying in the former Soviet Union.

Now after 35 years, the metro is taking him on a new journey: documenting how its iconic public spaces reveal the story of Moscow itself as the city evolved under Joseph Stalin and his Soviet and post-Soviet successors.

This May, Andrews, professor of history, gave a public lecture on his new research project at the Kennan Institute in Washington, D.C. The Kennan Institute is part of the Woodrow Wilson Center, where Andrews was a former senior resident fellow.

The talk, which has been made available on YouTube, was so well-received that Andrews immediately received an additional invitation to present at the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia at New York University.

What makes the Moscow Metro a fascinating subject for a historian? More people ride the Moscow Metro each day than the New York City Subway and London Tube combined, yet its history is relatively unknown, Andrews said.

“Everyone has a story about the metro, but there has never been a book in English about its history,” Andrews said. “Many of my generation spent an endless amount of time on the metro. Before people had cell phones, you would always say, ‘Well, we’ll meet on the platform at this station.’ Everyone spent time traveling through this cavernous system. It’s a labyrinth really, but at the same time people don’t know much about its history in detail.”

Andrews’ previous books focus on the history of Russian science, technology and the Soviet space program. His new book project on the metro is another opportunity to study iconic Soviet technology, as well as visual culture.

The original metro stations, built with deep shaft tunneling methods beginning in 1932, had airy open ceilings with gorgeous bas-relief architecture—a canvas that Stalin used to create a public art monument to socialism.

“Socialist countries had a tendency to produce technologies that they could adorn with stories,” Andrews said. “Their metro was started in the 1930s under Stalin, and they invested a lot of money in it. It was important for two reasons: there was a utilitarian nature. The crowds were incredible in Moscow. They needed better public transportation. People had been flooding in from the countryside during collectivization. The other thing was to come up with a monument to socialism. That’s why they hired all these architects to decorate, and they decorated each station thematically.”

In the years after Stalin’s death, Nikita Khrushchev issued an edict rejecting the metro’s flamboyant architectural style in favor of a pre-fabricated, practical style, Andrews said. At the same time all over the city, de-Stalinization was happening, and street signs, busts of Stalin and station names were changed or removed.

“The irony is Stalin funded it,” Andrews said. “It’s a Stalin-era display technology project, but by the Khrushchev era they were erasing Stalin’s name from it.”

Andrews has had unlimited access to Moscow’s architectural archives, including many original photographic negatives, and will return to Russia next summer to research political archives.

“The Bolsheviks liked to document everything, but I was shocked at how many photographs they had taken of all these projects, documenting every stage and how well they were preserved,” he said.

Throughout his research, he has uncovered more stories hidden within familiar metro spaces.

One Russian architectural archivist told Andrews about being born in the metro in 1942, during a time when its underground stations housed makeshift hospitals, military meetings and even cultural events such as film nights.

Public spaces bear new stories over time, and Andrews is closely following the story told by newly constructed metro stations. New stations are bringing back marble-laden aesthetics and cultural themes that highlight famous Russian figures like chemist Dmitri Mendeleev or writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky, he said.

“I think the story tells us now that during Putin’s era you see a resurgence of Russian nationalism and Russian themes,” he said. “Not every station can be imploded into this reductive narrative, but it points again to how the narrative of the metro stations changes as the politics of Russian change to some extent and the city itself.”

And it shows how the Moscow Metro has a seemingly endless amount of track for a historian to travel.

“What I love about the project is there is a political history to it, a technological history, a social history, an engineering element, and an artistic element,” Andrews said. “It’s a multi-disciplinary study, which is both fascinating to me and challenging.”

IMAGES

  1. Best Virtual Field Trips 2024

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  3. 50+ Virtual Field Trips for Kids

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  5. Virtual Field Trips Full of Learning Potential

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COMMENTS

  1. How to take a virtual field trip

    Near or far. You can take the class to a wide variety of places. From a visit to the local museum, to a quick trip to Mars. You can project the tour on a screen or share it on Google Classroom. These tours are a mixture of 360° and 2D imagery. There are no pop ups within the panoramas.

  2. Arts & Culture Expeditions

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    The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks — Google Arts & Culture. Home to nature, history and collections.

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    This week there is no need for permission slips! With Google Arts & Culture Expeditions, teachers can take students on exciting virtual field trips right from the classroom. These immersive 360-degree experiences allow learners to explore new places and topics in visually stunning ways. Arts & Culture Expeditions With Expeditions, students can tour famous museums, […]

  7. Expanding Google Arts & Culture with Expeditions

    Virtual field trips on Google Arts & Culture. Many schools and families use Google Arts & Culture, Google's free initiative to bring the world's art and culture online, to experience museums, heritage sites and wonders of the world from their classrooms and homes. To continue to add to the collection, and make Expeditions 360 tours ...

  8. The Holocaust: History and Memory

    The Holocaust: History and Memory. Explore the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, a living memorial that encourages visitors to remember, reflect, and act to confront hate and promote human dignity. In this virtual tour you will examine how the museum preserves and presents Holocaust history. By United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

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    Virtual field trip — Google Arts & Culture. The Abduction of Europa, Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, 1632, From the collection of: The J. Paul Getty Museum. A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Georges Seurat, 1884-1886, From the collection of: The Art Institute of Chicago. The Annunciation of the Virgin Deal, Grayson Perry, 2012, From the collection ...

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    This week there is no need for permission slips! With Google Arts & Culture Expeditions, teachers can take students on exciting virtual field trips right fro...

  13. Google Arts and Culture with Google Expeditions

    Google Arts and Culture is a website and app with virtual tours of art museums around the world, artist features and much more! The site includes virtual fields trips that students can access through a mobile device or a laptop. Students do not need to log into the site to access. Click here to view information about virtual fields trip in ...

  14. Google Arts & Culture Virtual Field Trips

    A virtual field trip can be a way for students to explore new places in your community or all over the world. In this class, we will explore resources for a virtual field trip in the Google Arts & Culture App & Website.

  15. Virtual Field Trips Full of Learning Potential

    Using Google Arts & Culture for virtual field trips: If you're starting a unit on Shakespeare and want an exciting way to pepper in some moments that go beyond the page, check out Performing Shakespeare to experience 360° excerpt videos from the Royal Shakespeare Company, or rifle through the prop trunk at the Globe.

  16. The Best Virtual Field Trips for the Classroom

    Google Arts & Culture. A collaboration with over 1,200 leading museums and archives, Google Arts & Culture is an incredible storehouse of monumental works of art. We recommend the Street View and Play sections. ... If you liked this roundup of the best virtual field trips and want more resources like this, be sure to ...

  17. Take a virtual field trip through African-American history with Google

    Explore the history, arts and culture of Black experience in the United States through Google Arts and Culture. The website allows you to take virtual field trips and enjoy online experiences ...

  18. Take a Schoolcation:Interactive Virtual Field Trips with Google Arts

    Trip Itinerary for Take a Schoolcation: Interactive Virtual Field Trips with Google Arts and Culture Your Tour Guides: Kelsey Pacer and Laura Israelsen [email protected] [email protected] @kelseypacer @lisraelsen Itinerary Key Intro Art ...

  19. Best Virtual Field Trips

    Here are the best virtual field trips for education, organized by art museums, history museums, civics-related sites, aquariums and nature sites, STEM-related experiences, and more!

  20. The Moscow Metro Museum of Art: 10 Must-See Stations

    Take a look at (5)Dostoevskaya Station on the northern segment of Light Green/#10 line then change directions and head south to (6)Chkalovskaya, which offers a transfer to the Dark Blue/#3 line, going west, away from the city center. Have a look (7)Elektroskaya Station before backtracking into the center of Moscow, stopping off at (8)Baumskaya ...

  21. Museum of Fine Arts in Peredelkino, Moscow, DSK ...

    Google Arts & Culture features content from over 2000 leading museums and archives who have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the world's treasures online.

  22. Visual culture and the Moscow Metro

    James Andrews presents "Narrating the Soviet Metropolis: Visual Culture in the Moscow Metro" at the Kennan Institute in Washington, D.C., on May 17, 2016. The talk, which has been made available on YouTube, was so well-received that Andrews immediately received an additional invitation to present at the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of ...

  23. Visual culture and the Moscow Metro • LAS News Archive • Iowa State

    James Andrews presents "Narrating the Soviet Metropolis: Visual Culture in the Moscow Metro" at the Kennan Institute in Washington, D.C., on May 17, 2016. The talk, which has been made available on YouTube, was so well-received that Andrews immediately received an additional invitation to present at the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of ...