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Hi Tara,

I am hearing the the main cost for a field trip is the bus.  I do not think they are going out of style, however.  Time seems to be a bigger factor.  Every day counts and the time out of class plus the time it takes to plan and execute a fieldtrip makes it less doable.  I work parttime at the Chicago Botanic Garden as a field trip instructor, and we have a few new schools come each year and a majority of our schools come back year after year.  If you find a field trip program that is a perfect fit with your curriculum, then it makes sense to spend the time to plan it and to provide the experience for you students.  For example, in Illinois teaching about prairies is important.  Since the Chicago Botanic Garden has a 15 acre prairie with 6 different types to explore, students get a firsthand exposure to seeing what makes up a prairie. Depending on the grade level, students learn about how specific prairie plants have adapted to a prairie ecosystem, or they learn how to measure the health of a prairie using quadrat or transect tools. So this type of field trip provides hands-on, authentic learning that would be difficult to replicate in the classroom.

If you live near a large metropolitan area, many of the Botanic Gardens, Zoos, and Science and Nature museums have teacher kits that you can check out and bring back to your classroom.  That is one place to start.  

The Learning Center has a plethora of resources on how to use the areas around one's school to provide outdoor learning experiences.  I will share a collection of these resources here:

http://learningcenter.nsta.org/mylibrary/collection.aspx?id=Gz5Uafj0eqA_E

I hope you find some of the articles helpful.

Best,

Carolyn Mohr

Time is definitely a big factor. When I taught high school (2005-era), I claimed a derelict fountain/pond in a rarely used courtyard and applied for a small grant ($500) for funds to fix the pump and plant it with native species. That was our field trip location for many purposes in my science classroom! We tested water quality. We observed pollinators and moth life cycles. We calculated biodiversity. And so much more! Consider what might be on campus that you could use as a go-to location for hands-on outdoor education :) 

Another option is to bring the field trip to your classroom by inviting guest speakers. Many organizations have public outreach programs designed just for this. I had a forestry division team come in and talk about how forestry management, including logging and wildfires. They brought in saplings of various trees, examples of burned wood, etc. I've had forensic fingerprint examiners come in and teach my students how to lift prints using different techniques, something I could teach them but was way cooler from an actual FBI agent! If you reach out to groups to bring in a guest speaker, encourage them to bring props and take-aways for the students. They don't forget those kinds of experiences! 

This is a definite issue where I live also. You could do 'Field Trips in the Classroom' or 'Class in the Grass'. Students can be involved in learning about animals in the classroom or learning plants and beyond outside for the day! 

I loved field trips as a student, but did notice as the years have passed that they seem to be fewer, and this in unfortunate for many reasons. I think moving field trips on campus and in the classroom is a wonderful alternative! It is so important to get students excited and engaged in what they are learning about and discovering.