Take a Museum Field Trip -- Without Leaving Your Classroom
A field trip means that a group of people take a journey to a place which is away from their normal environment. A museum field trip is that students are taken on an educational adventure to a museum of history, science, art, etc. For example, students can appreciate the collections and samples in a museum of history so that they can understand what life was like long time ago. In addition, students' ability to think about art critically can also be increased during a field trip to a museum of art.
In reality, sometimes there is no enough money and time for a class to visit wonderful museums all around the world. The number of the museums that students can visit is also limited. However, students nowadays can take a virtual field trip without leaving their classrooms! Benefitting from the virtual museums, students' horizons will be definitely broadened.
Here I'm gonna introduce a fantastic website to you so that you can take your students into a wonderful virtual field trip:
When you click the link above, you will find three main parts of this virtual museum: Permanent Exhibits, Select Past Exhibits and Other NMNH and SI Tours.
In the first section, you will be guided with a map on the top right so that you can get the full view of the museum. Look at the spots on the map below. They can help you switch to your interested part vastly.
In the second section, you can appreciate fossils, ancient seas and early life. There will be obvious arrows to guide you from display area to another.
I believe the immersive experience will definitely impress you. The most important thing is that a VR headset can be connected to the website so that you can feel the virtual world.
Actually, the real Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is located on the National Mall in Washington DC which is the most visited natural history museum in the world. Hope you will have the opportunity to take a field trip there.
Reference websites:
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/04/10-wonderful-virtual-field-trips-for.html
http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/whats-the-value-of-a-museum-field-trip/
