The Empire State Building, in partnership with Bank Street College of Education, has updated its complimentary interactive lessons plans for student group visits to the building’s brand new $165 million Observatory Experience.
Immersive Learning
The lesson plans, which were created in partnership with Bank Street College of Education, offer learning before, during, and after the groups visit the Observatory Experience. The curriculum follows New York State Learning Standards for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) and social studies curricula and has grade level appropriate learning plans for elementary, middle, and high school students.
“Bank Street College of Education created these updated curricula to make student’s visits to our Observatory Experience’s immersive digital and tactile exhibits more than just a tourist experience,” said Jean-Yves Ghazi, president of the Empire State Building Observatory. “We have always offered lesson plans for school groups and have updated the classroom engagement with our modern marvel in engineering and energy efficiency.”
The Empire State Building – Reimagined
Teachers and students can utilize the new curricula to learn about the building’s engineering, design process, deep energy retrofit, and more. The Observatory Experience completed a $165 million development in December 2019 that compliments all elements of the program and offers students the chance to experience the energy-efficient building from bottom to top. Lessons start with interactive digital exhibits in the second-floor museum and continue up to the open-air 86th Floor Observatory.
The renovations include premier indoor environmental quality measures – such as MERV 13 filters and active bi-polar ionization – for visitor confidence and led to the building’s achievement as first in the Americas to achieve the WELL Health-Safety Rating.
