What do you remember about field trip experiences when you were a young child? Field trips can deepen and enhance a curriculum study in the early childhood classroom. Not only can effective field trip experiences impact how students feel about the subject, but they can also have positive effects reaching far into the future of a childs learning. Field trips enable children to engage with authentic materials, tools, and environments such as museums, retail stores, zoos, observatories, and beaches. They can add a real spark to childrens interests, ignite inquiries, connect to early learning standards, and contribute to the big picture of both effective child learning and successful curriculum outcomes.
While field trips represent an effective learning strategy for early education, there are real planning barriers, such as cost, travel, weather considerations, and time. Virtual field trips (VFT) can remove many of these barriers while maintaining child learning benefits. Teachers can create their own VFTs using existing resources and their creative planning. For this discussion, you will design a tour of an existing VFT tailored to young children.
Using your selected topic from Unit 1, search for a VFT. You can find VFTs on YouTube, Google Expeditions, as well as on websites for museums, zoos, and other organizations. You may choose a prepared VFT or design your own field trip experience. As you search, think about your topic and a specific experience you can bring to your students to deepen the conceptual knowledge base of your topic.
In your initial post, share these elements of your VFT:
Name the field trip
List the full URL
List your selected topic and describe one objective or concept you want the children to discover from the field trip experience.
