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I remember in elementary school, my science teacher took us to a wildlife birding center. There we collected pond water samples and viewed them under a microscope. This was probably one of my favorite memories in school and as an educator would like to give these types of experiences to my students. I'd like to know what places you've taken your students or would like to take them as a field trip for hands-on learning? Also since a lot of us are teaching online, what are some good virtual field trips you've conducted?
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Liliana,
Field trips can be extremely beneficial for students learning to be able to have in person hands-on learning experiences. This is a very good question and I would love to share with you my past field trips I have been a part of. The first one that comes to mind is our class went to a grocery store as a field trip and we looked at the differen't categories of foods and learned how they grew or how they were created. This was a super fun one because everyone in the store was so kind and all the workers loved to interact with the kids. Another one I remember doing that was a great time was going to the zoo. We got to explore and interact with all the animals there as well as make a water system using wooden planks and buckets of water which was a great learning experience. For online virtual trips, I have seen one of my field expereince teachers have the students take a tour through a science museum and they got to do online activities with their tour. Do you have any other fun field trip ideas that you have came up with? What is your favortie hands-on science activity that you have done?
Luke
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Hi Liliana,
I love to hear that you are trying to incorporate field trips for your students. I'm Emma Ammons, currently a Junior at Wartburg College. I also remember many of my class field trips. Some of mine included attending a Driftless Regions Wildlife Preserve, specifically the Wetlands Center in Marquette, IA. We learned about native species along the river, did sampling, identified animals and footprints and more. Some others were clean up or hikes through the State and Local Parks in our area, like Pikes Peak in McGregor, IA and Effigy Mounds in Harper Ferry, IA. Most of these also overlooked the Mississippi river. I believe my school went to Dubuque for another water-based field trip. I think an interactive museum, or park place. Field trips are great ways to involve the students, if you can get them outside, go for it. Check out parks and preserves near you. Otherwise get in touch with boating docks, factories, wineries, places that might have different STEM principles and provide new opportunities for them.
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Liliana,
I enjoyed the field trip more than the children, when we were allowed to take field trips. The most enjoyable trips were the Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta Zoo, and the Pumpkin Patch. The kids leaned a lot and enjoyed the animals.
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Liliana,
I'm hoping as we come out of Covid that in person field trips will return for your school. When it comes to virtual trips, my students enjoyed the live cameras. My students particularly loved the Cornell Live Bird Cameras. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/ They were able to make observations as they watched the birds live.
There many other cameras set up around the world with so many animals to choose from. Just google search to find whatever interests your students.
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Our local park district offers many resources on its pages that are possible to use within the classroom, along with the option of contacting them for a custom program. I believe that NASA also offers a virtual field trip, along with local museums might!
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Sadly, I feel as though field trips are a dying concept. I recall going on many field trips throughout my schooling and they were all such fun and exciting times. While some were just for fun, others were for educational purposes. Either way, they were always something to look forward to. Getting out of the regular classroom setting from time to time is very important to keep students excited about learning, and field trips are a great way to help students better understand what they are learning by emerging them in an environment regarding the lesson at hand. With COVID and increasing parent concerns, it seems as though field trips are all but extinct. I hope that by the time I have my own classroom (though I see the concerns my teachers must have had being in charge of many tiny bodies in a new location!) that I can take my kids on many field trips!
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