Budget Cuts for Field Trips? Go on a Field Skip Instead!
Friday, August 22, 2008 at 04:20PM Budget Cuts for Field Trips?
Go on a Field Skip Instead!
Philadelphia, August 22, 2008—As fuel prices soared this summer, many families took “stay-cations,” opting to vacation at home or nearby. Now, as children return to school, fuel prices are hitting school transportation budgets hard. Bus service is taking a big hit and many kids will be walking longer distances to the bus stop. Some will be walking to school for the first time. And, many districts have cut field trips for the upcoming school year.
“But you can still take Field Skips,” says Jane Kirkland, author and publisher of the award-winning children’s nature series:Take A Walk® Books. “Take students outside to the schoolyard to observe nature. Turn your missed field trip into an experiential environmental education. Because it costs nothing, you can take as many Field Skips as you want, even making them a monthly or weekly event!”
So, how can teachers plan and execute the perfect Field Skip?
1. Take the kids outside to their own schoolyard. See how many plants
and animals they can find. In urban schools you can even focus on how many morphs of pigeons you can see (hint: there are seven).
2. Teach them how to take field notes, illustrate plants and animals,
and write journals. Use library and online resources to help the kids identify the plants and animals they find.
3. Put it all together in a “field guide to your schoolyard”, an
inventory and species account of the plants and animals you find.
“By introducing students to their local nature, we help build a sense of pride and ownership in our communities”, says Kirkland. “They will come to value their neighborhood animals, trees, plants, and other natural resources. Your Field Skips can help save our planet!”
First introduced in Kirkland’s hot new educator’s guide, No Student Left
Indoors: Creating a Field Guide to Your Schoolyard, field guide projects are well suited for all K-12 students in suburban, rural and urban schoolyards. It is multidisciplinary, experiential, and project- and place-based education that can fit any curriculum.
“Nature is not a destination. We don’t have to leave home to see it. If this is a year of major cutbacks, why not turn the bitter pill of doing without into the eye and ear candy of nature?” said Kirkland. “Observation skills help children to be better listeners and learners. And if they’re going to spend more time walking to and from school, observations skills can help to keep them safe.”
Stillwater Publishing
Take A Walk® Books
P O Box 500
Lionville, PA 19353
610-458-4000 voice
610-458-4001 fax
Media contact:
Kae Tienstra
KT / PR & Literary Services
1905 Cricklewood Cove
Fogelsville, PA 18051
610-395-6298