DESKTOP
ADVENTURES
Newark Middle School sixth graders _ both in-school and remote home learners _ were recently virtually transported to a wide range of destinations and points of interest of their choice during nearly 2 ½ hours of instructional time before early dismissal March 18th for all NMS students to allow for professional staff development.
And the best part is there were no lengthy car or bus trips, trains or planes to catch or tickets to buy.
“Travel” was instantaneously accomplished by a simple click on a link on a fun and easy-to-use digital choice board NMS sixth grade teacher Lindsay Dibble who also
organized the sixth grade “field trips”, designed for use on students’ “Schoology” software.
Destinations Literally
At Their Fingertips
Choice Board options included:
• Exploring "Blob
Opera" where students
could create their own opera inspired song, using an online
machine. Through this, they learned the
different pitches and tones like tenor and bass.
• Exploring "The
Metropolitan Museum
of Art for Kids" where students could explore inventions, time periods of art,
from medieval to modern times, including exploring fashion, mythology, and much more!
• Exploring "The NBA Storytellers Through Discovery Education" where students could take an all-star virtual field trip through the game of basketball. Students learned about the different career options that are behind the scenes in the sport of basketball.
• Exploring "Bad Science Myths" where students had the opportunity to explore common myths that many believe to be true, from learning if humans use only 10% of their brains, to how long it takes for chewing gum to digest in our stomach!
• Touring The National Museum of the United States Air Force for students curious about the different branches of military, or those who have family members currently serving. Students could explore the history of aviation and current aircrafts that are used in the Air Force.
• Visiting the The San Diego Zoo via live cams footage of various zoo life like elephants, giraffes, penguins, sea otters and more!
• Exploring “Slime in Outer Space - Science” where students could learn about what happens when astronauts bring slime to space!
• Exploring “Science Recipes for Home” where students could learn about different science related experiments to try with
•Exploring "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" where students could take a virtual trip to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida and explore videos that include a walk-through tour of the theme park, the rides offered, gift shops, and even view a performance from the Frog Choir!
•Exploring Black History. This trip celebrated figures and monuments in Black History enabling students to learn more about different Civil Rights Leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Nina Simone, James Baldwin and more!
Exploring Physical Fitness in which students could choose from multiple work-out videos they could try in class and at home. All the workouts listed were led by the “Avenger” characters!
•Exploring Careers in the NFL in which students could learn about all careers offered in the National Football League, from player, to sports manager, broadcaster, sports
reporter, sports therapist and more! They could also hear from some of their favorite athletes.
• Exploring the “Magic of
Disney World” in which they had
the opportunity to view Disney on a map, explore the theme parks, watch live footage from different rides offered, and learn different facts about Orlando, Florida!
• Exploring The Monterey Bay
Aquarium where students could
watch live cams of various aquarium life. There were many sea animals to watch, such as the jelly fish, sharks, the coral reef, and even an "open sea" cam where you could view
ocean animals like sea turtles and dolphins!
• Exploring the largest cave in the world: "Son Doong" located near the
Laos-Vietnam border. Students could virtually move throughout the cave and explore all different elements of this underground world that exists! As they moved throughout, different
captions would pop up with facts to help them learn along the way.
• Lastly, they could explore three different forms of historical architecture within
Ancient Civilizations (that tie into their sixth-grade social studies curriculum), they include: •The Acropolis of Athens (Ancient Greece)
• The Ziggurats (Mesopotamia)
• The Great Wall of China (Ancient China)
**All of these could be explored through "Google Earth" and as they explored, there were reflection questions to go with what you watched or read.
PAGE #5
"I was really excited to put together a virtual field trip for our sixth-grade
students! Incorporating technology in the classroom is not only a passion of mine, but also a hobby. I enjoy creating digital lessons, that promote student
engagement. My goal as an educator, is for students to have fun, while learning.” Dibble said. “There were
many options available for virtual field trips. I selected options that were grade level appropriate, met student interest and were content-related for
all sixth-grade subjects and specials. “This has been a tough year for our students! There were already many social activities that students couldn't participate in due to the pandemic, so it was
important to not only myself, but everyone at NMS that we gave our students the opportunity to experience a field trip _ as
close to the real thing as possible.
“Students were excited to have a day where they could explore the virtual trips. They enjoyed having the responsibility of "choice," deciding on which trip(s) they would like to explore. Students could take advantage of exploring as many virtual trips as time allowed for. After, they had
discussions and shared what they had learned with
teachers and peers. "
Here is what two students said about the virtual field trips:
"I thought it was fun, especially the San Diego Zoo! It was super fun to see all the animals like a platypus! I also found out more information on the Greece
Parthenon. It was super fun,” said Heidi Wunder
Nicholas Coons: "I explored the ocean. I liked it because I got to see different fish and sharks!"
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