Making Connections after Your Field Trip

After you return from your field trip, it is important to continue to make connections between the experiences that students had on the field trip and lessons in the classroom. Soon after your field trip it will be important to reflect on your experiences.

• If you took pictures on your field trip, post them in the classroom. Show them to students.

• Take some time to draw or record what students experienced. Create an exhibit to display your experience at the museum

• Sit for a Science Talk with your students. Think about drawing out conversation from the students. What are their questions about what they saw? What can they explore back in the classroom?

Use the time after the field trip to have one or two science talks or activities that illustrate a few concepts:

• Review ideas and activities from the field trip

• Connect those ideas to the inquiry science unit

• Use excitement or interests from the trip to challenge and inspire students

Examples of Post-Visit Lesson Plans for Field Trips to the National Air and Space Museum:

• One World, One Sky Post-Visit Lesson Plan

• Rocket Race Field Trip Post-Visit Lesson Plan