I’m writing this blog post in Spring 2021, when my home province of Ontario is in lockdown, and schools are once again virtual. Like many school districts across the world, planning a real field trip involving school buses and permission slips is not possible this year, so teachers are looking for alternatives.
A virtual field trip is one that is done via technology; it allows anyone to visit a location that may be all the way across the world, from the comfort of their chair. While many virtual field trips have a cost, there are tons of free possibilities out there!
Upper elementary or middle school teachers can check out these free tours to see if one or more of them can fit in with their curriculums or simply make an engaging way of spending time in those last few days of school.
Canada’s Parliament Buildings
When I was in elementary school, another nearby school sent its Grade 8 classes to Ottawa for a week to visit Canada’s capital while MY principal declared he wasn’t a travel agent. While those other classes were visiting the Parliament Buildings, I was visiting the class of Sister Marie Theresa’s friend’s class in Tilbury, another small town. We visited local industries, ate lunch at the Blue Bonnet Cafe, and attended mass. Two weeks later, their class came to Wallaceburg to visit our town. I may still be holding a (massive) grudge about the whole episode.
Iqaluit: Explore the Canadian Arctic
The Emerald Edge Rainforest
Visit the largest intact coastal temperate rainforest in the world, which your students may be surprised to learn stretches across Canada’s west coast into Alaska in the north and back to the United States (Washington). The rainforest is home to more than 50 Indigenous communities, and a vast array of wildlife.
Soarin’ – Walt Disney World
Eiffel Tower
San Diego Zoo Animal Cams
