Use Experiments with Google to Spark Discussions and More

Experiments with Google is an open-source platform for incredible coders and designers creating extraordinary projects on AR, VR, AI, Voice experiments, Arts & Culture, Android, Chrome experiments, and more.

Like with anything open sources and found on the Internet, all experiments will not be suited for the classroom. In this post I will highlight eight (8) of my favorite experiments and provide some ideas for learning activities using the notes experiments.

CHROME MUSIC LAB

"Many teachers have been using Chrome Music Lab as a tool in their classrooms to explore music and its connections to science, math, art, and more. They’ve been combining it with dance and live instruments."

Chrome Music Lab is comprised of 13 musical exploration activities. Let's take a look at some lesson suggestions.

Lesson Idea 1:

• Students will explore all 13 of the activities in Chrome Music Lab.
• Students will use FlipGrid to share their favorite Chrome Music Lab activity and include specifics as to what made their choice stand out as their favorite.
• Respond to at least three other FlipGrid responses that are not the same as their favorite being sure to include specifics of what they enjoyed about the specified activity.

Lesson Idea 2:

Connect Chrome Music Lab to books. Below are two examples from Twitter.

BODY SYNTH

Body Synth turns your body movements into sound. Each part of your body plays a different note or sound. You can adjust the sensitivity to make it work for big or small movements. You can also change chords and instruments using your voice by saying things like “C chord” and “guitar.”

Lesson Idea:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) makes it possible for machines to learn form experience, adjust to new inputs and perform human-like tasks.  Most AI examples that you hear about today - from chess-playing computers to self - driving cars - rely heavily on deep learning and natural language processing.  Using these technologies, computers can be trained to accomplish specific tasks by processing large amounts of data and recognizing patterns in the data. 

Directions:

Experiment with Body Synth an AI experiment then answer the following questions in the comment section (in Google Classroom).  Then respond to at least 3 classmates answers.

Question 1:

What inputs is Body Synth learning form your interaction with this AI experiment?

Question 2:

How could inputs learned through Body Synth be used in real world tasks?

SEMI CONDUCTOR

Semi-Conductor is an experiment that lets you conduct your own orchestra through your browser. You can move your arms to change the tempo, volume, and instrumentation of a piece of music. An algorithm plays along to the score as you conduct, using hundreds of tiny audio files from live recorded instruments.

Lesson Idea:

Semi-conductor is an experiment that uses articulated body pose estimation to let you conduct your own orchestra through your browser.  You can move your arms to change the tempo, volume, and instrumentation of a piece of music.

Directions:

• Research to find how articulated body pose estimations can be used for practical real life applications.
• Share in the comments one application for articulated body pose estimation
• Comment to at least three other classmates that have shared a different application than the one you shared.

TALK TO BOOKS

Talk to Books is an experimental new way to conduct a search. Ask questions or make statements and the Talk to Books AI searches a database of over 100,000 books for sentences which are conversational responses. 

Joyce Valenza said of Talk to Books, "Imagine if you had the power to ask authors across time and disciplines your most burning questions or for their best advice"

Lesson Idea:

• Think of your favorite topic of study from this school year
• Research that topic using Talk to Books
• In the comments section share at least 5 new facts you gained from this search using Talk to Books
• Read 3 classmates search results
• Use Talk to Books to research their topic of choice
• Add one new fact to each of the 3 classmates posts

SEMANTRIS

Semantris is a set of word association games powered by machine-learned, natural language understanding technology. Each time you enter a clue, the AI looks at all the words in play and chooses the ones it thinks are most related. Because the AI was trained on billions of examples of conversational text that span a large variety of topics, it’s able to make many types of associations.

Lesson Idea:

• Go to the Semantris website
• Play both the Arcade and Block style games
• Create a My Semantris Game database using Google Sheets
• Post the link to your Semantris Game database in the comments section (in Google Classroom)
• Post the link to your Semantris Game database. Make sure your Google Sheet allows editing
• Look at 3 other classmates Semantris Game database. Add at least 5 new words under each column

MYSTERY ANIMAL

Mystery Animal is a new spin on the classic 20-questions game. The computer pretends to be an animal, and you have to guess what it is using your voice. Ask any yes-or-no question you want, like "Do you have feathers?" or "Do you sleep at night?" Play it on a Google Home or online.

Lesson Idea 1:

Use Mystery Animal as a morning bell ringer activity. 

Lesson Idea 2:

Use Mystery Animal when students are learning about animal attributes.

Lesson Idea 3:

Use Mystery Animal to prepare for or follow up an animal related field trip.

Lesson Idea 4:

• Play Mystery Animal
• Research the animal revealed when you played Mystery Animal
• Use a Google Form to create your own 20 questions game (yes/no answers only) about an animal of your choice.
• Place the link to your Mystery Animal Google Form in the comments section (in Google Classroom)
• Pick 3 classmates 20 Questions Game Google Form.
• Research their questions and guess their animal in 20 questions or less

NOTABLE WOMEN

Background Information:

Rosie Gumataotao Rios, 43rd Treasurer of the United States, and leader of the effort to put a woman on US Currency for the first time in over a century helped to bring to life the Google Experiment, Notable Women. 

Google invited Rosie to speak about her journey as Treasurer of the United States and her efforts to place the portrait of a woman on our currency for the first time in over a century.

It was during that presentation that Rosie met a group of Google women who were excited about her ongoing mission to celebrate historic American women - and the role technology could play to bring it to life. They were inspired by two simple thoughts: “What if we didn’t have to wait to see women on U.S. currency?” And, “What if anyone could learn about women who made U.S. history in a place where they’ve historically been left out?”

The website and the accompanying app are the result of this serendipitous collaboration.  Notable Women is designed with teachers and their students in mind.

Notable Women features 100 historic women selected from the Teachers Righting History database, a collection of women whom the American people recommended to appear on actual U.S. currency during Rosie's time at the U.S. Department of Treasury.

Lesson Idea:

• Choose a woman to investigate that is featured on the Notable Women app/website
• Using at least two sources (Notable Women app/website must on one of your sources)
• Research how that woman has influenced history
• After analyzing tow or more resources, use Google Docs, Slides, or Drawings to make an infographic to present how that woman has influenced history
• Post the link to your infographic in the comments section (in Google Classroom)
• Review 3 classmates infographics and comment about something new you learned about the woman they researched

MORSE CODE FOR GBOARD

Developer Tania Finlayson found her voice through Morse code. Now she's partnering with Google to bring Morse code to Gboard, so others can try it for accessible communication. Morse code for Gboard includes settings that allow users to customize the keyboard to their unique usage needs.

Some learning applications that have been created to be used in schools using the Morse Code for GBoard include:

• Alphabets Got Talent
• Morse Striker
• Hello, Emmett

You can start learning Morse code with Google experiment, Morse Typing Trainer. 

Lesson Idea:

• Watch Tania's Story: Morse code meets machine learning
• Challenge yourself to learn Morse code with the Morse Typing Trainer
• Brainstorm a learning game that would use the Morse Code GBoard to teach a skill to elementary aged students
• Share your idea for a learning game in the comments section
• Read 3 of your classmates learning game ideas and provide feedback

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

• Check the Experiments with Google site often.  There are always new experiments being posted.

• Challenge your students who are ready to go further with coding to create through the Experiments with Google site and its open source coding resource, GitHub Education.

• Have fun with it and don't be afraid to explore the unknown! Exposing students to the possibilities coding holds beyond video games is mind opening.