Virtual Field Trips

Introduction to Virtual Field Trips Planning Good planning must precede field trips, real or virtual. Before considering virtual field trips, read a discussion on the topic, Why Take Field Trips." Education World has two articles that you should read before you write your own virtual field trip. 1.Get Outtalk Class With Virtual Field Trips - Links to field trips of all sorts, from museums to a farm, plus tips for creating your own virtual field trips. 2.Take a Museum Field Trip - Without Leaving Your Classroom! - When a field trip is out of the question, journey to a virtual museum! Join Education World as they visit science, art, and history museums around the world. This article is actually a virtual field trip itself. North Carolina State University has a good discussion of four categories of virtual field trips that will present some ideas you might not have considered. You may wish to modify one of their suggestions and have your students produce a PowerPoint show to follow up their trip, rather than a Hyper Studio stack Guidelines Surf Aquarium has a good set of Virtual Field Trip Guidelines, including a nice list of do's and don’ts. One excellent suggestion of theirs is that the teacher should remember that they are taking the class outside the four walls of their classroom, albeit via cyberspace, and must provide just as much supervision and structure as they would on a traditional field trip. Take a look at a sample permission form posted by field-trips.org. This permission form is a .PDF (portable document format) and will require Adobe Acrobat Reader. The purpose of the form is to notify the parent of the virtual excursions so that they might engage their child in a discussion of their online journey. If you think that this is a good idea, as I do, create your own permission form using MS Word. Learning Interchange==-== 1.Exploring Life in the Chesapeake Bay with Smithsonian Scientists - Explore where the salt water from the oceans and the fresh water from the rivers meet and mix. 2.Science in Action - "Science in Action for Conservation" looks at two Field Museum sites that demonstrate how scientists and communities work together to conserve bio-diversity. 3.This Old Habitat - This expedition explores several ecosystems around the Chicago region to see the habitats present, the interconnections between the plants and animals. 4.An Interactive Journey to an Aquarium - In this project, students go on a field trip to an aquarium and create an movie project and/or an photo book about their day. 5.Over the Line - The Art and Life of Jacob Lawrence - Join with staff at the world famous Whitney Museum of Art in New York City to experience the works of renowned African-American artist, Jacob Lawrence. 6.Untold Stories, Baseball and the Multicultural Experience - Many students are familiar with the legendary feats of Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Mickey Mantle, but what about the accomplishments of other baseball stars such as Minnie Mimosa, Sam Jet roe and Masanori Murakami? 7.Queen Anne's Revenge - A coordinated and long-term research project, which conducted underwater archaeological investigations at the site of Blackboard’s Flagship. 8.Virtual Earth - Students will learn what a system is and how to apply the concept of systems to learn more about how the Earth functions. 9.The Underwater World of Space - Join Space Center Houston and NASA as we experience the underwater adventures of training for space walks, also known as Extravehicular Activities or Eva’s. 10.Comparing East and West Coast Estuaries - Students at Turtleback Elementary in San Diego, California were able to compare their own local geological, biological, and physical artifacts and compare them with those in North Carolina. 11.4H Children’s Garden Kids’ Tour - The 4-H Children's Garden is a popular spot for school field trips and visitors during the garden’s growing season, late May to late August. 12.Principles of Flight - Travel through air and time to learn the history and science of flight. 13.African Voices - African Voices celebrates Africa as a historic and living entity with contemporary and future relevance. Voices demonstrates how African cultures have spread worldwide, becoming a part of the very fabric of American life. 14.The Wright Start - The invention of the airplane by Wilbur and Orville Wright is one of the great stories in American history. 15.Problem Solving: The "Wright" Math - Students learn about the evolution of flight. 16.A Day in the Life of the ISS - Visit Space Center Houston to learn about the International Space Center. 17.The Case of the Wacky Water Cycle - There is also a unique online Problem-Based Learning (PBL) activity for each episode that students can work on independently, in groups, or as a class. 18.The Case of the Challenging Flight - In The Case of the Challenging Flight, the tree house detectives are onto a new case as they try to win the extra-ordinary Plane Contest. 19.Kooks - Welcome to Kooks. Yes, Kook is that famous “talking” gorilla you've probably read about in school or seen in a Nature documentary. 20.Recording the Flame: Wood fired Pottery - Wood fire pottery presents an elusive artistic style, unfamiliar to the American public as well as the public of the Western world.

Geology Field Trips'' 1Big Bend National Park - Presented by Texas A & M University, Department of Geology. 2.Coastal Erosion Field Trip - Take a trip to see coastal erosion in San Diego County, California. 3.Enchanted Rock State Natural Area - A state park located in Central Texas. 4.Galapagos Geology on the Web - The intention of this web site is to provide information on the Galapagos Islands to both scientists and non-scientists alike. 5.A Geologist's Lifetime Field List - A list of essential or desirable locations for geologists or travelers to visit, containing many of the interesting geological wonders of the world. 6.Geology Link - Virtual field trips from Houghton Mifflin. 7.Grand Canyon Explorer - The geology of the Grand Canyon. 8.Indian Peaks, Colorado, Front Range, U.S.A. 9.It's Hayward's Fault - A Walking Tour of the Hayward Fault. 10.Monterey Bay - Choose a Field Trip and learn about the geology of the Monterey Bay Area. 11.Natural Bridges State Park : Coastal Geology 12.Quick Time Virtual Field Trips - posted by the University of Houston. 13.Reefs of the Gulf - A grand tour by submarine. 14.Slot Canyons of the American Southwest - Few places on Earth have such beauty and mystique on an intimate scale as the delicately sculptured and colored slot canyons of the American Southwest. 15.Southern Iceland - View the craters and lava formations of the Lake fissure. 16 Virtual and On-line Geologic Field Trip Guides - A large number of virtual field trips from the University of Texas at Austin. 17.Wesson Coast of Southern England - A large set of Geological Field Guides to the Wises Coast of Southern England, much of it a UNESCO World Heritage Site ("Jurassic Coast"). This is a classic area of East Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, West Sussex and the Isle of Wight. Individual Field Trips 1.Alaska [and others] in Panorama - 360 degree images of several Rocky Mountain locations. 2.Albert Einstein: Image and Impact - A tour of Albert Einstein's life. 3.All Along a River - a Think Quest site. 4.Ancient Egypt - This British Museum site also has interactive games. 5.Ancient Stones of Scotland - Ranging from the earliest settlements (dating from about 3500 BC), through the stone circles and standing stones, to the defense towers called brooches, built about 2000 years ago. 6.Antarctica - Produced by the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica. 7.A. Picture: Art Detective - Help solve the mystery of Grandfather's Painting. 8.Art Safari: An Adventure in Looking - There are no right or wrong answers to the questions. Learn by looking, and have fun! 9.Around the World in Eighty Clicks - Visit webcams all around the world! 10.At the Tomb of Tutankhamen - Virtual field trip posted by National Geographic.. 11.British Energy Nature Trail - Explore an imaginary nature park [ uses 360 degree VR ]. 12.The Cave of Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc - Located in the south of France, at Vallon-Pont-d'Arc (Ardèche), the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave is a decorated prehistoric cave which remained intact after the sudden obstruction of its natural entrance right in the middle of the Ice Age. 13.CIA - Virtual Tour of the Central Intelligence Agency. 14.Desert Tortoise Natural Area Virtual Field Trip - The Desert Tortoise Natural Area (DTNA) in Kern County, California boasts a rich flora and fauna representative of the intricate Mojave desert biome. This field trip also includes an animal loop and a plant loop. 15.Dinosaur Tour at the Smithsonian - This virtual tour of the National Museum of Natural History's dinosaurs is just the first step in informing you about our dinosaurs at the Smithsonian Museums. 16.Earth trips - A virtual journey into the Earth's history - You may explore by time (period) or by space (locality). 17.Easter Island - An interactive tour from NOVA. 18.Egypt Voyager - Seven virtual tours. 19.Explore London - Over 200 panoramic views are available. 20.Galaxy Tour - A star-studded turn around the Milky Way and beyond.

CONCLUSION== In this way we have such virtual field trips for our students. By having such field trips, we can make the memories of our students more knowledgeable and experienced. The students can imagine the beautiful sceneries of the nature. The students get an enjoyment more than being in school or classroom. So there should be some provisions for arranging such field trips for school children every year.