The Internet TESL Journal

A Virtual Visit to the Guggenheim Museums in New York

Shiao-Chuan Kung
sckung [at] mail.wtuc.edu.tw
Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages (Taiwan, Republic of China)

Introduction

Electronic information technologies are changing our traditional concepts of literacy. Beyond the four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking, the skills of locating information, evaluating the source, and interpreting data are also becoming essential skills for the ESL learner. The Guggenheim Museums are well known for their collections of Modern art and the innovative architecture of their buildings. The museums' web site is an example of a well-organized, visually appealing and reliable source of authentic material. This lesson requires that students decode information found at the site and practice on-line navigation and research skills through a virtual visit to the museum.

• Level
  • Low-advanced
• Time
  • 1 hour
• Materials
  • Computers with a web browser and Internet access. Depending on the number of computers available and the size of the class, students can work individually or in teams of two or three.
• Procedure
  1. Introduce the activity by asking the students to name two famous museums that they have heard about or been to.
  2. Ask the students how they would attempt to find information about the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Louvre.
  3. Ask the students to predict what they might find on the web site of a museum.
  4. Have the students launch their web browsers and point to the web site http://www.guggenheim.org/new_york_index.html.
  5. Give the following assignment.
  6. Circulate around the classroom addressing technical difficulties or answering questions.
• Answer Key
  • 1. a, 2. a, 3. b, 4. c, 5. b, 6. a, 7. a, 8. c, 9. b
• Editor's Note:
  • On July 1, 2001, the URL was good and the answers to all of these questions could be found.

A Virtual Visit to the Guggenheim Museums in New York

http://www.guggenheim.org/new_york_index.html

1. In what other city besides New York can I find a Guggenheim Museum?
   a) Bilbao 
   b) Florence 
   c) Boston

2. How much does it cost for two adults and an 8-year-old child to get into the museum?
   a) $24
   b) nothing
   c) $32

3. How can I get to the 5th Avenue museum?
   a) Take the N or R train to Prince Street
   b) Take the M1 bus and get off on Madison & 88th Street
   c) Take the 1 or 9 train to 86th Street

4. When can I visit the museum?
   a) Monday to Friday
   b) Everyday except Christmas and New Year's Day
   c) Everyday except Thursdays

5. What did the architect Frank Lloyd Wright dislike the most about the 5th Avenue building?
   a) Its shape as an upside down pyramid
   b) Its location in New York City
   c) How it overpowers the artwork inside

6. What kind of art works does the museum mainly collect?
   a) Furniture
   b) Modern art
   c) Oriental art

   Follow the link called "The Collection" to find the answers to the following questions

7. When did the Dada movement develop?
   a) 2nd decade of the 20 th Century
   b) end of 19 th Century
   c) around 1950s

8. Which art form played a very important role in Paul Klee's life and work?
   a) sculpture 
   b) photography
   c) music

9. What painter's influence can we observe in the painting "Eiffel Tower"?
   a) Joan Miró
   b) Georges Braque
   c) Robert Delaunay

10. Send an e-card to a classmate and another one to your teacher.

---

The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VII, No. 7, July 2001
http://iteslj.org/

---

http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Kung-Guggenheim.html