Sparking Curiosity with Google Vids: Using Masks to Create Mystery

Sparking involuntary curiosity in students often comes down to creating an awareness of an information gap, a missing piece of knowledge that students naturally want to fill. Loewenstein (1994) described this as the key driver of curiosity, and you can read more in my earlier posts here: Cultivating Involuntary Curiosity and Involuntary Curiosity Sparks: Loewenstein ’94. One of the easiest ways to bring this into the classroom is by showing a video of a phenomenon and covering up a key detail, prompting students to puzzle over what’s missing.

Until recently this kind of editing took time, but with the addition of Google Vids to the Google Workspace in 2025, it can now be done quickly and effectively. The process is simple: locate a clip that fits your lesson, identify the moment you want students to wonder about, import the clip into Google Vids, and use the masking tool to cover the important piece. Playing the masked video creates a sense of mystery, and students are compelled to make predictions before the reveal. Even a basic block covering part of the screen adds to the effect, often making students more eager to uncover what’s hidden.

​I recently used this approach to set up a lab on polarity, intermolecular forces, and chromatography. Students first watched the masked clip and generated hypotheses, then carried out the lab to see the explanation unfold in their own hands. This ties into the Inquiry Hero’s Journey approach, transforming the video from a passive clip into an active thinking prompt. Subtle as it is, this tweak turns mystery into momentum, fueling curiosity and engagement in ways that drive deeper learning. Watch the screencast of the entire process here.