Students usually love just hearing that they’re going on a field trip.  While it can be wonderful for them to explore worlds beyond their classroom walls, PBS LearningMedia also provides digital resources so students can visit places near and far to expand their horizons without leaving the classroom.

Here’s just a sampling of PBS LearningMedia online field trips and field trip support that you might consider for students:

Inquiry Based Learning:  Park Rangers (Grades K-2, 13+) Listen to questioning techniques a park ranger uses with children on a field trip and examine how open-ended questions and real-world experiences can help students learn.  Recognize the value of involving elementary students in real-world investigations that help them develop inquiry skills in environmental science.

American Chestnut Tree (Grades 6-12)  This annotated slideshow shows the devastating impact of blight on the American chestnut tree. Students learn the scientific processes used to identify the remaining trees, document their locations, and cross-pollinate them with other varieties of chestnut trees to create hybrids that are blight-resistant.

Related Content:  Restoration of the American Chestnut  (Grades 6-12) In this video segment students learn how a majestic old chestnut tree that miraculously survived the blight is being preserved, studied, and pollinated under the watchful eye of scientists.  Both resources on the American Chestnut offer background essays and discussion questions as support materials.