Grade = A 100 points

Good review and interesting site!

Virtual Field Trips

http://www.field-guides.com/

The different kinds of interactions that are possible on this site are telefieldtrips, information searches, and question and answer sessions.

There is something on this site for all children K-12. It was not designed for just gifted students, but would easily work for a gifted classroom. Students can participate individually or as an entire class. The directions and process are easy to understand and can be quickly accessed. There are ten fieldtrips currently available which include Deserts, Deserts K-8 (curriculum is aimed at a younger age), Fierce Creatures, Hurricanes, Natural Wonders of the World, Oceans, Salt Marshes, Sharks, Tornadoes, and, Volcanoes. There are about fifteen more on the horizon, which range from Dinosaurs to Whales and Construction Sites to Rain Forests. Most of the fieldtrips are science curriculum based and I visited the Oceans site. There were twenty-one stops on our fieldtrip. It had terms to learn as well as many different concepts. There are online teacher tools, resources and ideas sponsored by AT&T. It also includes a list of curriculum and general teacher resources. The teacher or student may also provide feedback. There is also online expert guidance available. I would give this site an A for science curriculum.

I am going to use this site in March and April when my class is studying oceans and other types of landforms. Great, if you remember, tell us how it goes. We have access to the Internet, which we can connect to a television. This will make it possible for the entire class to participate at one time. There are also portions that the students could do as individuals that are more in-depth. I think this site would be perfect for the science prone elementary student because there are so many things you can explore under each fieldtrip. The highly gifted elementary students would also be enthralled because Virtual Fieldtrips also ask for people to create tours and submit them for viewing. However, there is a fee of $24.95 for the Tour Maker CD-ROM package. I would give this site an A for Scientific research for elementary gifted students.

Wendi McConathy