Field trips, field courses, and other forms of field-based pedagogy have a long and storied history in geography and are frequently described as essential components of geographic education at the college, secondary, and primary levels. A recent and expanding literature on best practices for field-based geographical education provides instructors…

Even the most commonplace object can be a powerful learning tool for a young child. In the case described in this article, shoes provided an opportunity for children of all abilities to leave their classroom and explore the places, spaces, and faces of their own community. The study of shoes also demonstrated how one teacher reached each and every…

This bioacoustics activity combines concepts in invertebrate taxonomy, animal communication, and acoustical physics while providing a unique opportunity for physics and biology teachers to collaborate and introduce their students to an exciting, interdisciplinary research field. Here, we propose a lab-and field-based activity that uses hydrophones…

This paper describes teacher responses to a framework designed to support teacher planning for technology. It includes a learning experience outside the classroom [LEOTC] and is designed specifically for five-year-old students. The planning framework draws together characteristics of technology education, junior primary classrooms and LEOTC to…

Suggests that field trips may best be seen as an example of short-term experiential education. Explains how field trips may be helpful in a range of sociology classes; notes the basic steps to planning, undertaking, and evaluating field trips; and addresses advantages of, and objections to, such excursions. (DSK)

New teachers expect many things in educational life to be complex (e.g., classroom management, lesson planning, administrative paperwork, relationships with colleagues and students' parents), they still underestimate the amount of detail that goes into creating effective learning experiences daily. Field trips, for example, always sound like a…

Notes some of the problems and payoffs involved in adding brief field projects to political science classes. Recommends a variety of activities including attending a public forum, community meeting, or legislative session. Students view first-hand how these organizations operate and sharpen their research skills. (MJP)

Describes a fourth grade teacher's interdisciplinary efforts at imparting the joys of archaeology to her students. The students read fiction and non-fiction materials about the physical environments and participated in a series of hands-on learning activities. These involved simulated archaeological digs, personal artifacts, and realia. (MJP)

Outdoor education, a general term describing the use of resources outside the classroom, has long been considered a method to improve student learning. This book aims to create a bridge between current school reform efforts and the field of outdoor education. Chapter 1 introduces the idea of outdoor education and relates several recent educational…

Hands-on science activities and first-hand experiences of kindergartners studying trees demonstrate the true meaning of authentic assessment. The activities and teacher interactions had several things in common: (1) they asked students to perform or create something; (2) they invoked real-world applications; (3) they showed that there is more than…

Describes a high school world history class field trip structured like a scavenger hunt. Following weeks of preparation the class journeyed to San Francisco (California) looking to answer the question, "What is Culture?" At various locations, the class conducted interviews, collected artifacts, and answered questions. (MJP)

The conservation excursion takes the child out of the schoolroom and into his natural and social environment and helps him to study it and to participate in the conservation of its natural and human resources. The conservation excursion, like any other school journey, is not intended as a substitute for books, magazines, pictures, or any other…

In view of increasing concern about the Nation's serious waste of natural resources and the growing interest in a permanent program of conservation education, it is fitting and desirable that schools should be able to secure help from the U.S. Office of Education in introducing the subject into the regular school curriculum. Courses of study and…