the planning department: Planning a Field Trip

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So, you and a colleague have done your planning for a literature based thematic unit and it is well underway. Your students are engaged and enjoying various activities. The classroom is beginning to reflect the theme—mobiles or banners are hanging from the ceiling, the bulletin boards highlight displays of student work. Over in the corner there is an expanding collection of theme related artifacts that the children have been bringing from home.

Everything seems to be on track. Now is a good time to look outside of the classroom for ways to enhance the experience. Exploring a site related to the focus of study could be a powerful learning experience.

PLANNING TIPS

The following tips will help you and your students get the most out of an outdoor field trip.

1. Know the Site
If possible, visit the site ahead of time. Look for potential hazards or problems such as blocked or unmarked trails.

2. Organization
A field trip should be fun and safe. Enlist parent volunteers so that students are in groups of five or six. Assemble and take along a Trip Kit for each small group.

Trip Kit
• small first aid kit
• whistle
• a clipboard and pencil for each pair of students
• response forms or paper for recording information
• a hand lens in a cloth sleeve for each student
• small plastic bag for collecting specimens (if appropriate)
• water
• snacks

3. Student Preparation
Safety begins with good preparation. Students should dress in layers and wear sturdy closed-toe footwear. Each ecosystem is home for many creatures big and small. Discuss the impact the class will have on the ecosystem during the visit.

Be sure the students understand the delicate nature of the environment. Stress that their visit should leave no human traces and that the environment should not be changed in any way by their presence. Some minimum impact guidlines are listed here.

Remember to:
• Stay on designated trails.
• Leave plants, seeds and flowers undisturbed.
• Treat all creatures with respect. Observe but do not approach or touch.
• Be a friend of nature. Carry all litter away with you and dispose of it appropriately.

4. Guiding the Learning
A field trip gives students the opportunity to practice science process skills such as observing, comparing, classifying, inferring and hypothesizing. Encourage students to jot down comments, make quick sketches and perhaps invent a name for a plant or animal if the species is unknown.

5. Collecting Specimens
Plant collection is not permitted in any of our Provincial or National Parks and should be discouraged in all wilderness areas—some species may be poisonous and many are very delicate. If you choose to have students collect specimens, be sure that they are not living (e.g. fallen leaves, nuts, feathers). A good rule of thumb is to restrict collection to items found on the trails or paths. Have students return their specimens to the forest floor, beach, etc. before ending the field trip.

FIELD TRIP ACTIVITIES

Sound Tally
Have the students sit in a comfortable spot with their eyes shut for two minutes. Ask them to count the number of sounds they hear.

Scavenger Hunt
As an alternative to collecting actual specimens, provide the children with a checklist (possibly illustrated) of plant and animals common to the site. Completed lists could be placed in a draw, earn points for a team, etc.

Mini-Ecosystems
Place a metre long piece of string on the ground in a circle to designate a specific area for a close-up study. With a hand lens, a child searches for living and non-living things within the string’s border. The contents of several mini-ecosystems could be compared.

Sound Bites
Have the students draw an X on a piece of paper to show where they are sitting. Have them sit still for three to four minutes and record the sounds they hear. They could print words to describe the sounds or draw small pictures. They should position the sounds on the paper to indicate the direction from which they were heard.

Telescopic Views
Prior to the field trip, have the students bring cardboard tubes from home to use as “telescopes.” Alternatively, two tubes could be taped together to fashion “binoculars.” Have the students use their telescopes to view a tree trunk, fallen log, etc. in detail. Isolating small areas will help students really focus on details of the environment.

Brenda Boreham has been teaching in BC schools for over 25 years using an integrated approach in her classroom. She has written several teachers’ guides for The Nature Detectives Series (see www.PacificEdgePublishing.com) and presents popular workshops at District Pro D days. This is the third in her Planning Department series.