Discovery Virtual Field Trips
Discovery Streaming requires a subscription, however, the virtual field trips are free. Simply go to their website and look through the calendar of upcoming events or list of archived events. Click on an interesting archived event and you're done-it will start streaming immediately to your class! If it's on the calendar, simply hit "register" and sign up with your information. When the time comes, come back to the website and click the video, it will start streaming and your class will connect with the world without leaving the classroom!
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What?Live and archived videos of everything from how copper mining works and interviews with the President to author readings and trips up Kilimanjaro.
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Who?This would be a great resource for all learners K-12, since field trips enrich learning all at all levels. Visual learners especially benefit though from learning in this manner.
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Why?Regular field trips can only take you so far. We have limited time and money as well as school regulations. Virtual field trips don't require busses, checks, permission slips or passports. There are no limitations-you can literally take your class anywhere.
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Lesson Ideas:
So far, I have used these virtual field trips in my classroom twice.
1. The first time, when I happened across this service was while my students were studying rocks in science. I found that there was going to be a copper mining trip later in the week so I got myself signed up. That morning of the event, I logged in and had my students gather at the carpet. We watched the video together and each time there was a connection to something we had learned together in class, I paused the video to explain and each time they had a question, I did the same. Afterwards, the video continued with a student led experiment to show copper extraction on a small scale and we discussed the different parts of the scientific method they were going through. The field trip served as enrichment and an extension of the ideas we had been going over (rock size, layers of the Earth, minerals, etc.)
2. My class loved the copper trip so much that I quickly signed up for an author reading a week later (for Dr. Seuss day). We listened to author Peter Reynolds read aloud his latest book while there was a livestream down the right hand side of the screen with questions students and teachers from around the country were posing. At the end, Peter answered many of the questions and then briefly talked about his popular book "The Dot" and how he got the idea for that. After the event, I read "The Dot" to my students and they each made their own dot picture.
So far, I have used these virtual field trips in my classroom twice.
1. The first time, when I happened across this service was while my students were studying rocks in science. I found that there was going to be a copper mining trip later in the week so I got myself signed up. That morning of the event, I logged in and had my students gather at the carpet. We watched the video together and each time there was a connection to something we had learned together in class, I paused the video to explain and each time they had a question, I did the same. Afterwards, the video continued with a student led experiment to show copper extraction on a small scale and we discussed the different parts of the scientific method they were going through. The field trip served as enrichment and an extension of the ideas we had been going over (rock size, layers of the Earth, minerals, etc.)
2. My class loved the copper trip so much that I quickly signed up for an author reading a week later (for Dr. Seuss day). We listened to author Peter Reynolds read aloud his latest book while there was a livestream down the right hand side of the screen with questions students and teachers from around the country were posing. At the end, Peter answered many of the questions and then briefly talked about his popular book "The Dot" and how he got the idea for that. After the event, I read "The Dot" to my students and they each made their own dot picture.