Get Out of the Classroom

This short article is a call to get the kids out of the classroom and into their local environment to experience real science in a real world setting. The author provides some example of si... See More

This short article is a call to get the kids out of the classroom and into their local environment to experience real science in a real world setting. The author provides some example of sites in her neck of the woods. With that said she also provides a short list of routine activities that a teacher should go through before taking kids on a field trip. This article provides practical steps and should be helpful for the teacher who wants to introduce real nature to his or her students and has the resources to do this.

Wonderful idea of simple places to see science

The author suggests seeking opportunities to see science in the community outside of the usual zoos and museums. Unfortunately, she then lists mostly zoos and museums and not these other loc... See More

The author suggests seeking opportunities to see science in the community outside of the usual zoos and museums. Unfortunately, she then lists mostly zoos and museums and not these other locations. I love her suggestion for a dairy farm or just to go observe the water movements at a breakwater (which was where I thought the article was going from the introduction). I would have loved to see her suggest local hospitals (our students loved that trip and the chance to see the MRI and CAT scanners up close) or physical therapists, greenhouses or orchards, beauticians, mechanics, etc. Two of the more popular field trips in my area are the state police forensics lab and the National Weather Service. I would also suggest if you cannot go to these locations to see if people who work there would be willing to speak to the class about when they use different types of science in their jobs!