Virtual Field Trips

Field trips are something that almost every student looks forward to. It is a welcomed change of pace to get out of the classroom and experience something first hand. But, how do we do this in the midst of a pandemic where some schools are not even conducting face to face learning? Easy, a virtual field trip. While a virtual version of the field trip comes at the expense of not being able to see, smell, and touch the things you normally would on a regular field trip; it still offers a fun and memorable experience for students! While many teachers look forward to field trips as well, the bonus of virtual field trips is not having any students wander off or goof off when their supposed to be engaged and learning. 

There are many websites that offer virtual field trips. Some major names like Discovery offer a variety of online field trips as well. However, today I will discus a website called The Nature Conservancy. This website offers a variety of field trips to various locations and discusses extremely important topics like climate change and the importance of protecting our environment. The Nature Conservancy offers loads of materials for teachers to create lesson plans and host virtual field trips for their students. The most amazing part? Each virtual field trip comes with a teacher's guide containing questions for students (with an answer key!), worksheets, organizers, and vocab words.  

This past week I decided to use the virtual field trip titled Borneo: Symphony of the Rainforest during my weekly tutoring session. I felt like each session was becoming the same and a tad boring so it was time to switch it up and add a new element. My tutee's eyes lit up when I said we were going to do a virtual field trip. Before beginning the video, I took some questions off the guide for teachers and rephrased them to ask my tutee what he thought we would see, hear, and learn about during this field trip. I gave him things to look out for and questions to answer as he went along watching the video. I know he learned a lot about the rainforest and so did I from taking this virtual trip. Throughout the virtual field trip the host also presents activities to the students. In the Borneo trip they played four different animal calls that were previously discussed and students had to match the sound to the correct animal. 

Hopefully some day soon teachers and students will have the ability to take in person field trips again and have a full hands on experience; but until then, these are a great way to change up the pace or even have a fun Friday activity. Some things will never change though, most of us will never get to take an in person field trip to the rainforest and yet it is something we all learn about in school. So why not take a virtual field trip? While it would still be virtual, students could still experience the sounds and sights of the topic they are learning about. 

To take your own virtual field trip to Borneo or another location click here: https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/who-we-are/how-we-work/youth-engagement/nature-lab/virtual-field-trips/#

Or to check out out The Nature Conservancy website click here: https://www.nature.org/en-us/

Happy virtual travels!