Welcome to today’s edition of Top 5 Resources. Today’s theme takes you out of the classroom and into the world. . .from home. I am focusing on virtual field trips and other websites that are focused on taking your kids into the outside world! Everything from planning, to going to concluding you’ll find in today’s resource. I have actually found so many interesting places to see and things to do that I may just feature this a few times. If you have a suggestion for the top 5 resources theme, please let me know!
This site has an excellent collection of articles taking virtual field trips. Although the articles are geared towards classroom teachers, I still found many of the articles insightful and helpful. In addition, they have more than a few of their own virtual field trips that you can go on.
Another great website that has virtual field trips listed according to subject area. The collection of field trips is not as comprehensive as other sites, but since the size is smaller. . .it makes for easier navigation for the novice. I also find this to be one of the better organized sites since field trips are listed categorically.
#3. Surf Aquarium
An excellent primer on what to do and what not to do when taking virtual field trips. In addition, I highly recommend having things for your children to look for or write down.
#4. Education World
This is a virtual field trip to Antarctica. The reason I’ve included it is because it gives you an idea of how to write a good one. Notice how there are links and questions paired together. Reading through this, you realize a student isn’t just going to go look at stuff on the internet, but rather he/she is actively engaged in looking for some type of information. This is an excellent example for an outline to follow.
Please note that there is Earth Cam and Earth Cam for Kids. I have linked Earth Cam for Kids, which at the writing of this blog, were all appropriate for children and families. Earth Cam for Kids is a great website because it has live cameras and so essentially, you can watch what’s going on half way around the world. There are several on here that are excellent but I know my own children are always partial to ones with animals. I use Earth Cams when we’re covering something that seems foreign to my children. I’ve used them to show landmarks, cities we’ve discussed, animals and other various things in the natural world that they otherwise would never see.
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