Online Field Trips Your Child Can Take
There are many reasons why a child may not be able to go on a field trip. Some of those reasons could be due to your location, the fact that you home school, or you may live in a community where funding doesn’t allow for them. No matter what the reasoning is, with the help of the internet this won’t be a problem any longer.
There are quite a few places that now offer virtual tours so it doesn’t matter where in the world you live – if you have the ability to access the internet, you can go on an online field trip.
The great thing about these field trips is you don’t have to travel, there’s no money involved, and you have the ability to take the tour when the time is right for you. No concerns about the weather, how you’ll pay for it, and how you’ll get there. All you need is a computer with internet access and the ability to share the screen with your children and you’re set to go.
You’ll find there are national parks, museums, villas, dioramas, and exhibits – to name a few. Almost anything you could think of has a tour on its site. You may find these online field trips are so interesting that you’ll wonder why you didn’t go this route before.
Here are quite a few for you to consider.
The American Museum of Natural History – http://www.amnh.org
With this tour you’ll have the ability to view pictures, video, and dioramas.
The Butterfly Conservatory – http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/butterflies/tour.html
With this tour you’ll see exhibition highlights and butterfly cams or a virtual tour.
The Museum of Unnatural Mystery – http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/unmuseum.htm
With this tour you’ll see the seven wonders of the Ancient World, learn about geology, and more.
The Sistine Chapel – http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sistine/0-Tour.html
With this tour you’ll see paintings right from your computer.
Ancient Greek Artifacts – http://www.ancientgreece.com/gallery
With this tour you’ll be able to see sculptures, artifacts, and paintings.
Online Exhibitions from the Natural History Museum in London – http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/online-exhibitions/index.html
With this tour you’ll see botanical illustrations, explore art themes, and even have the ability to save pictures of your favorite exhibits.
The Great Wall of China – http://www.thebeijingguide.com/great_wall_of_china/index.html
With this tour you’ll see a 360-degree tour of parts of the wall. This gives you a feeling that you’re walking right next to it.
Yellowstone Park Webcams – http://www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/northcam.htm
While this is not a virtual tour, you still have the ability to see the park with the webcams.
This is a small list compared what you can find on the K12.com blog. They have a much larger list of sites you can visit which will help you to decide which online field trips would be good for your child. You’ll have the ability to work this list into their studies and the great thing is you can do it as a parent or share this with your child’s teacher. Either way will work because you’re not limited on who can do these online field trips.