Virtual Field Trips & Webquests

Introduction

This page looks at Virtual Field Trips and Webquests (including online Scavenger Hunts).  The first section deals with Virtual Field Trips, the second with Webquests and online Scavenger Hunts.

Section 1: Virtual Field trips

A virtual field trip takes students on a tour of a location using a series of web sites that have been linked together, creating a guided experience.  Since they do not require special software, they can be accessed from a classroom or home computer. Virtual field trips can enhance the content of a lesson by providing an activity that extends students’ experiences with a topic by taking them outside of the classroom and into a different environment (Flattening the classroom walls).   A Virtual Field Trip can also be  a partnership between two or more classes.  One class acts as the local host for the field trip and the other class is the remote partner in the field trip.  The host class becomes the eyes, ears, noses, mouths and hands for the remote clas, gathering data, answering questions and reporting their findings to the remote class using virtual manipulations in Second Life (this link will take you to a lot of resources for virtual tours in Second Life), visual phone calls like using Skype (here is a link to a free tech tutorial for downloading and using Skype: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techtorial/techtorial107.pdf) , using Web conferencing like DimDim , email, or usig a buddy-blog page or wiki where video clips, photos and written comments can be logged. The host class may be using a local point of interest in close proximity to th school, or a site being visited during a school excursion or camp.

Here is a very informative video on teaching with Virtual Worlds http://www.teachers.tv/video/30858#share

Virtual Fields Trips enable students and teachers to share information about places they may not be able to visit in person.

Eleven Teaching Tips and Resources for Taking Field Trips:

1. Make or create your own passport: Here is a guide to creating your own passport:  http://www.gale.cengage.com/pdf/TeachersGuides/PassportGuide.pdf

Another resource to create mini books (for passports or scrapbooks) http://www.pocketmod.com/

2.  Virtual Postcards: Instruct students to copy and paste pictures and the URL’s that go with them, to a MS Word Document, Publisher or an online tool.  Students add text in ‘postcard’ language (e.g. I wish you were here, etc.) and mail to you via e-mail, mailbox set up in class, etc.

3. Travel log:  Have students record impressions of their virtual trip in a Word document journal.

4. Online ‘hide and seek’: Explain to students that important items from trip sites are hiding out on the internet.  Either give students the web sites to seek the objects, or (for older kids) give students a list of website links to go and find the objects on their own.  Example: Tell students the tomb of a famouse Egyptian king is hiding on the internet and they must find it on a given web page (Web page: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_egypt.html, answer: Tomb of Tutankhamen).

5. Scrapbook: Invite students to create an online scrapbook collage of images they find most interesting, or that describe a theme from a unit you are working on, in either Word, Publisher or PowerPoint, to be presented for class viewing.

6. Use Excel to keep record of all your ‘expenses’ or to create a budget including air fares, hotel costs, cost of food, travel expenses (hire car, train, tram or bus), incidentals like medical cover and travel insurance, etc.

7. Documents to help with Expenses Budget and other tasks for students (NOTE: Documents would not upload so I copied and pasted the two documents here):

  • TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD TASK STAGE 1

Your task is to choose a country that you would like to visit for 21 days.   Please find the following information:

  1. Draw a map indicating the country.  It has to be a world map also indicating Australia.  Remember to put in oceans, major islands or other countries around your country.
  2. On this map, indicate various flight paths that you could take to this country.  Highlight the path you will be taking.  Indicate any cities where you will have to stop for fuel.
  3. What is the capital of your country?
  4. What is the main language in this country?
  5. What is the money they use there?  Try to find out how may Aussie dollars would buy one of their unit of money, or how many units of their money one Aussie dollar would buy.
  6. What is the climate like?
  7. Using the information about their climate to make a list of the types of clothing you would take on your trip.  Also indicate how much this might weigh.  Remember that most international airflights require you to have less than 20 kilograms.
  8. Work out the cheapest option for “Airfare”.  Write down the cheapest airfare and how long it will take you to reach your destination, against another airfare and how long it will you take you to reach your destination with another carrier, as well as peak and off peak costs with the cheaper carrier.  Write the dates for peak and off peak on the top of your page.
  9. Now choose a date you would like to travel to this country.  Use the information you worked out before (“Airfares”) to find the cost of flying to this country during these dates you chose.
  10. Indicate whether you are travelling during Low season (off peak) or High season (peak)?  What do you think would influence whether a time of the year is classified as Low season or High season?
  11. Find the cost of  “Accommodation” and “Food” in your country where you are going for the holiday.
  12. Now choose what your food and accommodation would cost for your 21 day trip to your country?
  13. Estimate some Other costs that may have to be  budgeted for, e.g. medical insurance and lost luggage insurance, travel insurance etc.
  14. Now also find out how much it may cost to rent a car for your 21 day trip.  Indicate which car you would choose.
  15. Please find some tours or sight seeing that take place in your country.
  • Indicate which places the tour would visit, and why these places are on the tour.
  • How much would it cost?
  • How long will it take?

16.  Now make a poster about your country.  It has to contain a big map of your country, indicating some major cities or landmarks like museums, natural wonders, mountain ranges, rivers etc.

17.  Surround this map with fact bubbles indicating interesting facts about your chosen country, e.g. their national language, unit of money, capital city, nationalities etc.  Your presentation also counts, e.g. put a nice border around, photos or pictures and so forth.  Hand all this information in.

  • TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD TASK STAGE 2

Do a Google search for your country.  Please visit relevant web sites to find out the following information regarding your country:

  1. What is the capital of your country?  Please indicate this capital on your map.
  2. Is the country in the Northern or the Southern Hemisphere?  What does this mean for the seasons in this country?  Will it be the same as on different times than in Australia?
  3. What is the kind of money your country uses?  Also write down what a thousand Australian dollar is worth in your country.  (You will probably have to use some sort of money conversion program for this.)
  4. What is the main languages of your country?  Will you be able to understand them without using a dictionary?
  5. Find out how to say the following in the main language of your country, and write the translations down.  If the main language is English, choose any other language the people in that country uses:
  • How are you?
  • Where is the nearest bus stop?
  • Where is my hotel?
  • I am hungry.
  • I am thirsty.

6.       What is the main food eaten in this country?

7.  What is the main river in your country?

8.  What is the main dessert in your country?

9.  Name the main mountain range in your country.

10.  Please find out the following, and draw copies of them on your poster:

  • The flag of your country
  • The national flower/tree of your country
  • The national animal of your country

11.  What is the main/national sport of your country?  What is their team called?  (E.g. the Australian rugby team is called the Wallabies, the Australian netball team is called the Opals.)

12.  Is your country is first, or third world country? What does this mean for the infrastructure and development in this country?  How will the hospitals look?  Will there be enough schools?

13.  What is the average income of a family in this country?

14.  What is the population growth in this country?  Please make a graph comparing the population growth in this country and Australia.

15.  Plan a week long trip around the country.  Name main attractions and towns you will visit.

Now put all this information together on a poster or little booklet form.  Hand it in.  Remember that your presentations will count as well, e.g. how much colour you used, the heading etc.

8. Create a travel video of your tour.  Examples of travel videos http://www.expeditions.com/Theater17.asp?Destination=0&Theme=32

9.  Create a web page of your trip.  Example of a web page that offers a virtual field trip to the National Toy Museum http://www.museumofplay.org/NTHoF/NTHoF.html

10. Example of questions that could get a virtual field trip started (Vacation Planner with links) http://www.oops.bizland.com/planfiles/index.htm

11.  Create a jingle or advertisement (podcast or vodcast) advertising your country, featuring some music of the country, and some words or sentences in the native language of your country.  Extra points for presenting your advertisement with a native dance accompanying it!

CONCLUSION

A virtual field trip is the next best thing to being there! Choose a destination below and click your trip into action. Vacation Planner So You’re Planning A Trip Planner (http://chalk.richmond.edu/education/projects/webunits/math/trips.html) Happy Travels!

Other resources for Virtual Field Trips

Section 2: Webquests and Internet Scavenger Hunts



3 Responses to “Virtual Field Trips & Webquests”

  1.    Pauline, on September 24th, 2009 at 3:50 pm Said:

    Great ideas, especially the science

  2.    Grainne Conole, on September 26th, 2009 at 4:23 pm Said:

    Hi great post – really useful and good set of links. We have a social netwrking site cloudworks,ac,uk which aims to help share and discuss learning and teaching ideas. Anyone can create ‘clouds’, add links and discuss ideas. I have created a cloud linking to this http://cloudworks.ac.uk/index.php/cloud/view/2371.html feel free to create other clouds linking to other posts you’ve done like this.

  3.    bathrooms, on December 31st, 2009 at 5:10 pm Said:

    Added to my favourites list and added to my blogroll.

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