Thanks to the Internet, kids can get up close and personal with science without ever leaving the classroom.
If you're unable to devote the time, money and resources to taking kids on an actual field trip to a museum or art gallery, you can use the Internet to give kids an educational experience anyway. Many organizations offer virtual field trips and tours geared toward kids to introduce them to what they have to offer. You can choose from a variety of virtual field trips kids will enjoy and find educational.
Virtual Safari
Take the kids on a virtual art safari via the Museum of Modern Art's website. The kids can pick out a piece of artwork that appeals to them, and then the site asks them a series of questions about the artwork, such as how two subjects in the painting might interact with each other. The students can then write a story based on what they see in the picture.
Journey into the Universe
Invite students to go on a virtual journey into the universe via the Oracle Thinkquest website. Kids can click on a planet in the solar system and read about its features as well as view pictures of some of these features. The tour includes a number of categories of information on the planets, such as surface, interior and satellites, and interactive options, such as a feature on asteroids.
Virtual Hike
Texas A&M University's website offers virtual tours of Big Bend National Park in West Texas. The site offers a lot of geological information on the park, and it also features a "virtual hike" of the 4.6-mile Lost Mine Trail. The hike describes some of the trail markers along the path and vegetation that grows nearby. It also describes the igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rock and structural processes in the park in great detail.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory offers a virtual field trip for kids on its website. Kids can choose their own cartoon avatar and start the tour. They can check out the museum, mission control, a robot lab and the "sun zone," where they can learn facts about the sun, the solar winds it produces and about other stars.
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