Title of Grant: Target Field Trip Grant

Think Outside the Classroom

Learning opportunities extend far beyond the classroom. But schools are finding it more and more

difficult to bring students to museums, historical sites and cultural organizations. Field Trip Grants

help give children these unique, firsthand learning experiences.

Since launching the program in 2007, Target has awarded more than $16 million in grants —

providing 2 million students in all 50 states with the opportunity to enhance their studies in the arts,

math, science and social studies.

As part of the program, each Target store will award three Target Field Trip Grants to K—12 schools

nationwide—enabling one in 25 schools throughout the U.S. to send a classroom on a field trip.

http://sites.target.com/site/en/company/page.jsp?contentId=WCMP04-031880

Research Evidence

There is research that indicates that field trips are a valuable part of the

science education of elementary school children. Field trips have clear cognitive

and affective benefits. The major benefits of field trips are the development of

more positive attitudes toward science, the learning of certain science facts,

concepts, and related skills, and the improvement of the social climate in class.

Teachers should strive to take students on field trips which provide moderate

amounts of novelty. As students gain experience, more elaborate and longer

trips are needed. These are far more important than the short trip behind the

school (Falk and Balling, 1979).

Other investigations found the importance of hands-on activities during

field trips. Field trips that required hands-on activities seem to have a positive'

impact on student ability to recall information learned on the educational

excursion, and students tend to enjoy this type of experience when compared to

field trips that didn't encompass hands-on activities. Most participants revealed

that they experienced enhanced camaraderie with fellow students, teachers, and

chaperones via their participation. According to the study participants, science

and history concepts and knowledge was reinforced through experiences at

museums, zoos, and historical sites. This study found that field trips, which bring

students outside of the classroom and into the real world, are both educationally

and socially beneficial for the participants (Pace and Tesi, 2004).

When discussing suggestions for field trips that K-12 students could

potentially participate in, several of the participants recommended taking

students to hands-on science museums, outdoor trips working with nature, and

having students bake or create artwork in connection to a multicultural lesson at

a cultural site. This indicates that hands-on activities may be a beneficial asset in

reinforcing subject matter from the classroom according to the findings of Strauss

(2001), and Knapp (2000).

It appears that field trips can be both educational and social experiences

for students. Therefore, it may be beneficial to have more than one field trip per

year in order to expose pupils to a variety of activities pertaining to the curriculum

and to allow them to socialize outside of the classroom (Pace and Tesi, 2004).

Rationale

As a media specialist, I would like to be able to bring students to the

author/writer instead of having the author/writer come to them. I think the

experience of getting out of school to go hear an actual historian would be more

memorable for our students who rarely get that kind of opportunity.

According to research evidence listed above, it appears that class field

trips to museums, historical sites, and zoos are effective in reinforcing the

subjects of science and history. With this thought in mind, an outdoor fieldtrip to

Stone Mountain Park is the perfect spot for our fifth grade students. There is so

much history to be seen and discussed at Stone Mountain Park. Not to mention,

the science and geology with the actual granite stone rising out of the ground is

amazing and needs to be experienced. It is marvelous landform found in

Georgia and most of our students have never left our small town of Homer. Two

subjects can be seen first hand at an outdoor field trip at Stone Mountain, earth

science and Civil War History. Below are the proposed activities our students will

experience;

Hands on History with Peter Bonner

Atlanta Campaign

Students discover not only the good and bad of

the Civil War but the wacky, weird and funny, too! Peter Bonner is a local

historian, actor and author with a long history of writing and performing many

engaging programs for schools, television and historic sites throughout metro

Atlanta. Peter will lead students through an interactive program about the Atlanta

Campaign, featuring authentic items from the period that the students can touch,

as well as a self-guided tour through the artifacts and exhibits in the Discovering

Stone Mountain Museum.

At Stone Mountain Park students will discover not only the good and bad

of the Civil War but the wacky, weird and funny too! Peter Bonner, a well known

historian and storyteller, will lead students through an interactive program about

the Atlanta Campaign featuring authentic items from the time period that your

students can handle (Stone Mountain Park, 2010)

In addition to hands-on history, we also would like to incorporate science

and go to the top of Stone Mountain to explore earth science and geology

concepts in our curriculum. Landforms of Georgia are important in fifth grade

and weathering and erosion is part of our curriculum standards. Stone Mountain

is a wonderful example of weathering and erosion in action. Students would love

to see it in person!

Curriculum Objectives-

Social Studies-Historical Understandings-Civil War

SS5H1 The student will explain the causes, major events, and

consequences of the Civil War.

a. Identify Uncle Tom’s Cabin and John Brown’s raid on Harper’s

Ferry, and explain how each of these events was related to the Civil

War.

b. Discuss how the issues of states’ rights and slavery increased

tensions between the North and South.

c. Identify major battles and campaigns: Fort Sumter, Gettysburg,

the Atlanta Campaign, Sherman’s March to the Sea, and

Appomattox Court House.

d. Describe the roles of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses

S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.

e. Describe the effects of war on the North and South.

Earth Science-Includes Landforms of Georgia

S5E1. Students will identify surface features of the Earth caused by

constructive and destructive processes.

b. Identify and find examples of surface features caused by

destructive processes.

• Erosion (water—rivers, oceans, wind), Weathering, Impact

of organisms, Earthquake,

Evaluation

Students will return to school and write in their journals what they learned

from the outdoor fieldtrip. These summaries will be used by the teacher to

informally evaluate knowledge, thoughts, and feelings about the field trip.

They will also visit the library to conclude their experience with some

research questions that they establish for themselves. This research will be titled

“Things I still want to know about the Civil War.” The classroom teacher will then

allow students to conduct their own research projects for the classroom.

Follow up activities and discussions in the classroom will be used to check for

understanding. Students will finally participate in a performance assessment in

which they will be put into groups and plan a dramatized skit of the things they

learned in both social studies and science.

Budget

Hands on History Program with Peter Bonner- Atlanta Campaign plus the cost of

Summit Skyride to the top of Stone Mountain.

Cost of tickets per child $15.00 x 50 # Tickets= $750($12.00 + Summit Skyride)

Cost of school bus $1.00 x 136miles =$136(This includes there and back)

(Map quest, 2010)

Cost of bus driver 1 driver = $40 a day

Total cost of field trip = $926

The field trip that I am requesting funds for is a hands-on history program

about the Atlanta Campaign and a skyride to the top of Stone Mountain. The

total cost for tickets, school bus, and bus driver will be $926.  A bonus for all

students will be that all Field trip attendees will receive one free child Adventure

Pass to return to the Park with a paid accompanying adult at a later date.

References

Falk, John H. and Balling John D (1979). Setting a Neglected Variable in Science

Education: Investigations Into Outdoor Field Trips. Smithsonian Institution

pp 105.

Knapp, D. (2000). Memorable experiences of as cience field trip. School Science

& Teaching. 100, 65-73.

Map quest (2010). http://www.mapquest.com/. Retrieved February 12, 2010

Pace, Stefanie and Roger, Tesi (2004). Adult's Perception of Field Trips Taken

within Grades K-12: Eight Case Studies in the New York Metropolitan

Area. Education 125(1) pp. 11.

Strauss, V. (2001). Going places with class: schools take students to

learn farther afield and more frequently. The Washington Post, p.BOl.

Stone Mountain Park. (2010).

http://www.stonemountainpark.com/school-programs/field-trip-options/.

Retrieved February 12, 2010