On Oct. 31, science classes at Elwood-John H. Glenn High School experimented with Google’s new Expeditions Augmented Reality. After submitting an application to Google, the high school was selected to pilot this new program. Google’s AR technology can map out classrooms and place 3D objects throughout the room. While holding devices attached to selfie sticks, students could get up close to see the details of the objects, like a meteor belt or a strand of DNA, or step back to look at the whole picture.

“It brings these textbook lessons to life,” said Krista Albrecht, Elwood’s instructional technology specialist, “and students respond positively to lessons that are more interactive.”

In Jennifer Champouillon’s Earth Science class, students were excited to use the software. Milling around the classroom, the ninth and tenth-graders explored the insides of a tornado, watch the blood flow through a heart, and even witnessed a volcano eruption.