Take a Museum Field Trip -- Without Leaving Your Classroom!

When a field trip is out of the question, journey to a virtual museum! Join Education World as we visit science, art, and history museums around the world.

A class field trip to a museum can spark intense student interest as well as nurture thinking skills. But practical concerns, such as money and time, limit the location and number of museums a class can visit.

An alternative to real-life field trips is online virtual visits that can be taken via computer. Clearly, nothing replaces the actual experience of a museum tour, yet experiencing a high-quality online museum yields its own rewards.

Here is a sampling of excellent online museums to visit with your class, divided by category. Suggested activities accompany the descriptions of the Web sites.

SCIENCE MUSEUMS

The Franklin Institute Science Museum
This Philadelphia-based museum has structured its online site in a way that is ideal for educational purposes. The presentation is straightforward; you won't have to spend much time finding what you want. The site offers a number of interesting exhibits, and there is almost definitely going to be some content that relates to your curriculum. At this time, the following are among the offerings:

·  The 2003 Flight Forecast, which challenges students to analyze historical weather data as a basis for making weather prediction;

·  "Pieces of Science," an online gallery of sixteen educational resources related to a collection of historical science objects; and

·  Jopurney in Time, an exhibit about clocks, gears, sundials, and the history and concept of time. You'll also find online exhibits about the Wright brothers, scientific instruments and more.

Activity: Have students explore the "Hot Air over Hot Water exhibit, and then experiment with hot water to learn about the phenomenon of El Nino. You might have students look for weather stories about El Nino and bring them to class to serve as a basis for discussion.

Museum of Science and Industry
Variety is the spice of this Web site from a Chicago, Ill., museum. Online exhibits include AIDS: The War Within; Apollo 8 Command Module; the Big Dig Construction Site; the Coal Mine; Hatching Chicks; Giant Heart; and Animated Industrial Gears. A nice aspect of the virtual museum is the inclusion of exhibits that will appeal to students in grades 1 to 4 as well as exhibits more suitable for older students.

Activity: Invite students to explore the Coal Mine exhibit and then ask them to write a paragraph explaining whether they would like to work in a coal mine, and why or why not. A more complex activity for students in grade 5 or above involves visiting a local business or industry and photographing its operations. Students can then use the photographs as a basis of their own exhibit on the business or industry.
Optional Activity: Have students visit the The Chick Hatchery exhibit and write captions for the online photographs of a chick's birth.

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUMS

American Museum of Natural History
The museum is one of the world's foremost scientific and educational institutions. It contains enormous collections of specimens and cultural artifacts. Museum collections, including more than 30 million items, are a "field guide" to the life forms and cultures on earth.

Activity: Have students explore the museum's Web site, (Fossil Halls might be of special interest) and then ask them to make a four-page illustrated brochure about the American Museum of Natural History.

The Worldwide Museum of Natural History
The Worldwide Museum of Natural History (WMNH) is an online museum of photo galleries that features excellent educational products for schools and homes. New galleries and updates are added every month. Categories of exhibits are Vertebrate Life Galleries; Invertebrate Life Galleries; Planetary Science and Astronomy Galleries; and Gem and Mineral Galleries.

Activity: Encourage students to visit the Dinosaurs Galleries in the Vertebrate Life Galleries. Then have them click the image of Dreamstar's Dinosaurs and draw their own imaginary dinosaurlike creature based on the photographs they see.

HISTORY MUSEUM

American Red Cross Virtual Museum
This online museum is produced by the American Red Cross History and Education Center (HEC). The class can explore one of six different eras (pre-1900; 1900-1919; 1920-1939; 1940-1959; 1960-1979; 1980-present) or take an Automated Guided Tour through the cultural history of the American Red Cross.

Activity: Click the Pre-1900 area of the museum's History Timeline; then click the other eras, in order. Have students make a timeline of important events, perhaps with illustrations, in the history of the Red Cross. A group of students might collaborate on one long timeline to be displayed in class.

ART MUSEUM

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The museum houses one of the largest, most varied, and most prestigious collections of art in the world. More than two million works of art -- several hundred thousand of which are displayed at any given time -- in its collections are drawn from more than 5,000 years of world culture. The site provides an overview of the collections from the museum's galleries. Be forewarned: There are occasional nudes on the site, and you might want to preview any areas before having students explore them if this might present a problem in your community.

Activity: Encourage students to explore the Mary Cassatt exhibit. Several of her paintings are on display in the Works of Art section by clicking on the title of the painting at the end of the text. (One shows a nude girl who looks maybe 4 or 5 years old; just a caution.) A brief biography is included, as is information about her painting style. After students explore the site, ask them to imagine they are journalists interviewing Mary Cassatt about her life and work. Have students write five interview questions they would ask her.

ADDITIONAL MUSEUM RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET

·  Museums on the Web This extensive compilation of links to online museums is divided by categories: art, science, history, natural history, cultural, miscellaneous, and Special Exhibits. Included among the miscellaneous museums are the San Diego Model Railroad Museum and the George Eastman House International Museum of Film and Photography.

·  Natural History Museums on the Web This list of links to 18 natural history museums on the Web includes the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the London Natural History Museum, and the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University, in New Haven, Conn.

·  Association of Science and Technology Centers A state-by-state list of science and technology museums and centers.

·  Virtual Worlds and Fieldtrips This compilation includes virtual field trips to Asia, Europe, the United Kingdom, and America as well as museums, galleries, and environmental and geology field trips.

·  Comic Art & Graffix Gallery Virtual Museum A lively history of comic art, biographies of artists, and a list of related comic links make the museum intriguing. Also included is a how-to section on collecting comics and a What's New in Comic Art section.

·  The Vanderbilt Museum The Vanderbilts are one of the best-known and wealthiest families in U.S. history. Take your class on a virtual tour of the museum and grounds.

Article by Sharon Cromwell
Education World®
Copyright © 1998, 2005 Education World

02/23/1998
Updated 10/12/2005

Collections of Field Trips

  1. Agriculture in the Classroom - discover farming through six virtual field trips
  2. Blackwell's Best Virtual Field Trips - Vicki Blackwell provides a list of virtual field trips and museums
  3. CARE provides an index of thirteen virtual field trips of impoverished or strife torn countries.
  4. East Aurora District 131 - field trips posted by a school district near Chicago
  5. eFieldTrips - registration is required, there is no charge for registration - index of 20 eFieldTrips
  6. Factory Tours Online - a list of tours with suggestions on how to search for more
  7. HomeworkSpot Archive of Field Trips - A large range of topics, from a Chocolate Factory to the Louvre Museum
  8. Internet Field Trips from Scholastic - Scholastic provides an index, organizing their trips into five areas; Reading/Language Arts, Science, Math, Social Studies, and K-2.
  9. Kentucky Educational TV - Electronic field trips
  10. LDS Home schooling in California provides a large list of virtual field trips
  11. MiddleSchool.net has a large list of field trips and exhibits
  12. NASA Quest - they also include a page of instructions on how to participate.
  13. Online Field Trips - from Thinkport; all areas, Lang, Math. Economics and more
  14. OOPS (Our Overnight Planning System) provides a long list of virtual field trips. At the bottom of the page you will find four ideas for using virtual field trips. One that I liked was having students create virtual postcards using MS Word.
  15. Scavenger Hunts and Virtual Field Trips
  16. Science Museums and Exhibits - a Yahoo Directory
  17. Tech Trekers provides a long list of what they call virtual field trips. Some are not, and they insist on using all caps, but you may find some jewels here.
  18. Tramline has a list of just over three dozen virtual field trips
  19. Utah Education Network Virtual Field Trip Resources
  20. Teacher Created Field Trips - Trips created by Utah teachers
  21. Tutorials on how to create Virtual Field Trips
  22. Links to other field trips found on the web
  23. Virtually Hawaii - All of the images in the Virtual Field Trips have accompanying descriptive texts, and for many of the tours we have a short quiz that you can take to see how much you have learned about Hawaii.
  24. Virtual Exhibits (scroll past their welcome screen to see the listing)
  25. Virtual Field Trips from Teacher's Guide
  26. Virtual Field Trips and Field Studies - posted by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
  27. Virtual Museums (scroll past their welcome screen to see the listing)
  28. Virtual Special Exhibits (scroll past their welcome screen to see the listing)

Individual Field Trips

  1. Alaska [and others] in Panorama - 360 degree images of several Rocky Mountain locations
  2. Albert Einstein: Image and Impact - a tour of Einstein's life
  3. All Along a River - a ThinkQuest site
  4. Ancient Egypt - this British Museum site also has interactive games
  5. Ancient Stones of Scotland - ranging from the earliest settlements (dating from about 3500 BC), through the stone circles and standing stones, to the defense towers called brochs, built about 2000 years ago
  6. Antarctica - produced by the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica
  7. A. Pintura: Art Detective - Help solve the mystery of Grandfather's Painting
  8. Art Safari: An Adventure in Looking - There are no right or wrong answers to the questions. Learn by looking, and have fun!
  9. Around the World in Eighty Clicks - visit web cams all around the world
  10. At the Tomb of Tutankhamen - Virtual field trip posted by National Geographic.
  11. British Energy Nature Trail - an imaginary nature park to explore [uses 360 degree VR]
  12. The Cave of Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc - Located in the south of France, at Vallon-Pont-d'Arc (Ardèche), the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc cave is a decorated prehistoric cave which remained intact after the sudden obstruction of its natural entrance right in the middle of the ice age.
  13. CIA - Virtual Tour of the CIA
  14. Desert Tortoise Natural Area Virtual Field Trip - The Desert Tortoise Natural Area (DTNA) in Kern County, California boasts a rich flora and fauna representative of the intricate Mojave desert biome. This field trip also includes an animal loop and a plant loop.
  15. Dinosaur tour at the Smithsonian - This virtual tour of the National Museum of Natural History's dinosaurs is just the first step in informing you about our dinosaurs at the Smithsonian
  16. Earthtrips - A virtual journey into Earth history - You may explore by time (period) or by space (locality).
  17. Easter Island - an interactive tour from NOVA
  18. Egypt in VR - A 3-D Exploration site of Ancient Egyptian monuments.
  19. Egypt Voyager - seven virtual tours
  20. Explore London - over 200 panoramas are available
  21. Galaxy Tour - A star-studded turn around the Milky Way and beyond
  22. Health for Kids provides a virtual tour of My Body.
  23. Yucky Kids has a tour of "Your Gross and Cool Body" for another view of the same topic.
  24. Historical Tour of the White House - Welcome to our online tour of the White House, the First Family's Home.
  25. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. - 360 degree panoramic images
  26. Lascaux - a virtual tour of this important cave (home page of this cave)
  27. Lechuguilla Cave - Take a virtual tour of the Deepest Cave in the US.
  28. Louvre Museum - a virtual tour (This site will open in a new page. Close the page to get back to this list.)
  29. Mount St. Helens - some QTVR included with maps and still photos
  30. New York Underground - The city’s infrastructure starts just below street level, but it doesn’t stop there.
  31. New Zealand - Caution for users of their slide show: the show runs automatically, don't look for the controls.
  32. Nine Planets - A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System
  33. Nova Scotia - A Virtual Field Trip of the Landscape
  34. Oregon Trail
  35. Particle Adventure - An interactive tour of quarks, neutrinos, antimatter presented by the Particle Data Group of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  36. Plimoth Plantation - a virtual tour of the first permanent European settlement in southern New England
  37. Postcards from America - Hitch a ride in their virtual backseat and tour the 50 states in Harvey the RV.
  38. Robotics - The Tech Museum offers this tour of the world of robotics
  39. Salem Witch Museum
  40. Scrolls From the Dead Sea: The Ancient Library of Qumran and Modern Scholarship
  41. St. Michael's Abbey - As you take the virtual tour, look for red spots.
  42. Spotty's White House Tour - conducted by the President's English Springer Spaniel.
  43. Stonehenge
  44. Supreme Court Building - You may also observe that within some sections of the tour, the cursor may change to a button/hand when you pass over certain "hot spots." This is a signal to click your mouse, transporting you to another section or to a detailed still image.
  45. The Sun - a multimedia tour
  46. Theban Mapping Project - Investigate a database of information about each tomb, view a compilation of more than 2000 images, interact with models of each tomb, and measure, pan, and zoom over 250 detailed maps, elevations, and sections.
  47. The Tomb of Tutankhamun
  48. Underground Railroad - "With miles to go before I sleep." a historical field trip from Co-Nect
  49. National Geographic also has a tour of the Underground Railroad
  50. U.S. Capitol Virtual Tour - an interactive, user friendly, comprehensive and integrated multimedia tour of the U.S. Capitol
  51. Virtual Solar System by National Geographic - your chance to discover the wonders of our solar system in a spectacular 3-D environment. Take a fly-by tour of the sun and each planet in its orbit, observe close-up views of the planets, extraterrestrial weather patterns, and more.
  52. Yellowstone
  53. Bears of Yellowstone part 1 | part 2
  54. Fire Ecology part 1 | part 2
  55. History part 1 | part 2
  56. Influence of Art on Yellowstone part 1 | part 2
  57. Trumpeter Swans of Yellowstone low bandwidth version | high bandwidth version
  58. Wolves of Yellowstone part 1 | part 2

Apple Learning Interchange - List of virtual field trips