5 Advantages of Middle School Virtual Field Trips ~ PLUS an easy way to find them!
Field trips can be a fun and interactive way to learn about things from science, history, art, and more! Especially when kids are younger, both public schools and homeschoolers alike seem to participate and put an importance on participating in field trips. But what about middle school? It seems as though more “academic” activities win out as our children enter their middle and high school grades. One of the advantages of homeschooling is that we don’t have to adhere to those practices. One awesome option I have found is in using middle school virtual field trips!
While field trips offer great hands on experiences and a first person look at artifacts and activities, they can also be time consuming and expensive. Using virtual field trips can be a time and cost effective means of enriching studies through the viewing and interaction of real artifacts and field trip experts from the comfort of your home.
5 Advantages of Middle School Virtual Field Trips
- You don’t have to leave the comfort of your own home. This means you don’t have to drive anyone and no one has to get dressed up!
- Cost effective. There is no gas need for your vehicle, no lunch buy while you are out, and no museum entrance fees for each different museum you visit!
- Vastly larger field trip options. With virtual field trips you can “travel” all over the world, and “visit” many types of museums and venues. Thus offfering a much larger base of options than physically traveling to these destinations.
- You are not limited by younger siblings. It can often be difficult to fulfill the needs of your older children when you have little ones in tow. When you don’t have to leave your home the possibilities are endless!
- Offers more interaction than a book. While you can’t be there and totally hands on, you can see real artifacts and engage with field experts on the topic you are exploring.
Using FieldTripZoom for Middle School Virtual Field Trips
Transport you and your kids to museums, science centers, historical sites, zoos, aquariums, literary group discussions, wellness centers, arts and performing arts organizations and more, all from the comfort of your home using FieldTripZoom!
{I received a free membership to FieldTripZoom and was compensated for my time in writing this review. All views are my own and I was not required to write a positive review. Please see my full Disclosure Policy for more details.}
Benefits of Using FieldTripZoom
- Over 300 programs to choose from with more being added!
- Real time access to field experts in which you can ask questions of and engage with.
- Did I mention you can ask questions? I LOVE that you are not just listening/watching, but that you can ask questions and get answers right there!
- Field trip options for grades K-12.
- Easy to search calendar of events which you can filter by date or grade.
A Peek Inside the Field Trips
1. “Tsaakʉ nʉnnuwee—We Made A Good Landing”: The Comanche Code Talkers and D-Day
Grade Range: 6th-12th
Length: 45 minutes
During World War II, the United States utilized Native Americans to create codes that the Germans and Japanese could not break. While the famous Navajo Code Talkers assisted in communication in the Pacific, Comanche Code Talkers were used for the European Theater of Operations. Fourteen of these code talkers landed on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944. The kids learned about their role on D-Day during this interactive session honoring the legacy of Native Americans in World War II.
This presenter showed us how flexible and accommodating they can be. Since my children didn’t have a large knowledge base of WWII she gave a brief overview before moving into the details of this presentation. It was SO awesome to see actual artifacts such as a Nazi Swastika. You can see a short video clip below of this one!
2. Snakes!
Grade Range: 6th-9th
Length: 45 minutes
In this presentation, kids learned how to tell the difference between venomous and non-venomous snakes and how to identify all four types of venomous snakes in the United States. They discussed how they catch their food, and why they use different methods. The kids also learned how snakes can benefit people and how to react when encountering them.
What my son loved about using the FieldTripZoom platform is that he could ask questions of the presenter and she would answer them in real time, just as if she were right in the room presenting. I found that having the kids take notes helped them to stay more focused and to have something to remember what they learned. She even had live snakes out for them to see!
You can use these FREE Printable Field Trip Journal Pages and create a whole journal of field trips taken throughout the year!
Field Trip Options at FieldTripZoom
At FieldTripZoom you can view their upcoming field trips (They currently have over 300 programs and that number is still growing!) to pick which ones you want to attend. They even offer a printable calendar option which offers you the flexibility of being able to print and view your options and affords you a great record of what you have done!
Here are just a few of their upcoming field trips:
- Journey to the Center of the Earth – Grade Range: 4th-5th, 6th-9th, and 9th-12th
- The Process of Paleontology – Grade Range: 9th-12th
- A Picture Book that honors and extends the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – Grade Range: K-3rd
- Civil Rights: Before You Could Say “Jackie Robinson” – Grade Range: 6th-12th
- Standing Up for Change: African American Women and the Civil Rights Movement – Grade Range: 3rd-5th, 6th-12th
- Exploring the World of Percussion – Grade Range: 3rd-9th
- World of Vultures – Grade Range: 6th-9th
- I Want to Work at a Zoo – Grade Range: 6th-9th
To find out more, visit their website or follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube.
What About Field Trips for Younger and Older Kids?
FieldTripZoom does a fantastic job of sorting their field trip topics by grade level. They have them broken down for grades K-2, 3-5, 6-9, and High School.
Not only has my 5th grade daughter taken in some field trips of her own, but she has also listened in on some of the ones her older brother was participating in. One of the many benefits of using middle school virtual field trips is that your younger ones can easily “come and go” as they please without being a disruption and without you having to chase after them!
An Elementary Field Trip Experience
Bug-Bites
Grade Range: 3rd-5th
Length: 45 minutes
Bone(less) appetit! Students discovered just how common bug-eating really is – both because we eat bugs all the time without knowing it, and because people all over the world eat bugs as important parts of their diets! After overcoming the initial ick-factor, the hope is that kids will come to appreciate the nutritional value of bugs.
From my 10 year old daughter:
“It is perfectly safe to eat bugs. There are very tiny bugs in tons of foods like chocolate. Lots of people around the world eat bugs.”
Get Started Today!
FieldTripZoom is priced at just $49.95 per household and offers an “all inclusive” calendar of live streaming events that will help you learn and celebrate throughout the academic year. That is less than the cost of one yearly family membership for access to just one museum in our area!
You get access to over 300+ programs for everyone in your family at museums, science centers, historical sites, zoos, aquariums and art centers from all over – for one LOW yearly price!
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