Download Science Field Trip Plan

4TH GRADE FIELD TRIP PLAN: MINNESOTA SCIENCE MUSEUM
GOAL:
The main purpose of taking my students on a field trip to the MN Science Museum is to spend time
exploring the Human Body exhibit and complete activities while exploring the many high-interest
exhibits the museum has to offer.
OBJECTIVES:
SWBAT…
1) Explore the Human Body exhibit with an emphasis in the Disease Detectives exhibit;
2) Choose and explore at least two other museum exhibits;
3) Fill out a worksheet for the required exhibit using careful observations and inquiry;
4) Connect what they have learned at the museum with what we’ve been learning in class;
5) Verbally reflect and share about one other exhibit they explored and explain what they did and
learned.
RATIONALE:
It is important for students to discover the many interesting topics in science that are both
educational and full of exciting information. Specifically, students need exploration with physical
models and materials they can manipulate. Sometimes schools cannot offer a wide variety of ways
for students to explore topics such as the human body and disease. The science museum is a great
way to explore more about healthy habits and the complex human system.
ANTICIPATORY SET:
1. Review museum rules and important information about buddies, groups, chaperones, where to
go if missing, etc.
2. Ask students what is something they want to learn or do at the science museum. Walk through
the worksheet again, answer questions, review goal of field trip.
PROCEDURE:
To engage my students before arriving at the science museum, I would teach a couple
lessons or even a mini-unit on healthy habits and common human diseases in history or in news
articles. I would raise questions such as
- How do people get sick? What are the common symptoms?
- What are some ways our body fights sickness?
This background investigation and learning would provide a foundation for the field trip and
facilitate student inquiry. My favorite exhibit is the Human Body exhibit where students can learn
many cool facts and explore vital parts and functions of the body. The Disease Detectives which is
part of the Human Body exhibit at the science museum is also really good because there are so
many things to do and learn about microscopic diseases! It also teaches students diseases on a
global scale, personal hygiene and proper ways to handle raw meat.
At least three weeks before we are going on this field trip I would send permission slips
home. The regular cost of admission per student is $5 (no Omnitheater). If the school I am
teaching has more than 75% of students with free and reduced lunches, then admission for the
exhibits is $1. I hope this would be affordable for families so that all my students will be able to
attend. If it is not, I would hope there is enough money in the budget to cover the expenses. If it
is a small amount, I would probably cover the expense myself.
In my permission slip, I would also ask for volunteers and plan accordingly. My goal is to
have students be grouped into small groups of 6-8 students per chaperone. This way I can expect
to have three or four small groups, each with a chaperone at an exhibit. The exhibits can be done
in any order. Students are not allowed to leave their exhibit until their whole group is ready. This
is more manageable because some exhibits are separated by floor levels. Students will also be
assigned buddies whom they will need to be with at all times (on the bus and exhibits). They will
travel and work with their buddies on answering the questions on the worksheet even though each
student is responsible for his or her own work.
Depending on where the money will come from to support the field trip (grants, school
budgets, PTA?) I would reserve one bus for drop-off and pick-up. The trip would take a total of
approximately 3 hours (2 hours for exhibit exploring, 1 hour for bus ride to and from). I would plan
on leaving 9:30 in the morning and arriving back at school around 12:30pm (or in time for lunch).
The students would immediately go to lunch and eat in the school cafeteria as they normally do.
ASSESSMENT:
These are the big ideas for the “Disease” stations:
+ Infectious diseases are spread in different ways.
+ There are things we can do to stop the spread of infectious diseases.
+ There are different kinds of microbes that cause disease.
+ Investigating infectious diseases requires many people working together.
Field Trip Worksheet: Become a Disease Detective!
1. Can YOU identify these microbes? (Giant Microbes) Complete this table:
Microbes
Type
(Bacteria, Virus, Prion or Parasite?)
Prevention
Giardia lamblia
Influenza
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Plasmodium falciparum
(Malaria)
Borrelia burgorferi
(Lyme disease)
2. Being a detective or epidemiologist means you’ll have to carefully piece clues together to solve
the mystery of the illness’ source. Explore one of the three case studies. What is making the
person in your case study sick? Write down any thoughts, observations, ideas and conclusions.
Sketch a picture and write a sentence describing what it is and what it does once in/on the human
system.
3. Tissues of Life. Something new I learned about tissues types in the body is…
4. In the Human Bodies exhibit, my favorite activity is______________ because…
For the exhibit they choose to explore on their own, they will have to draw a picture of their
favorite exhibit or part of that exhibit and write an explanation in 2-3 sentences.
What was it about?
What did you like? Dislike? Who would you recommend it to?
What could make it better?
Students will be assessed on whether they engage in the activities and exploration of the exhibits
or not and how well they worked as partners. The worksheets should be completed as much as
possible.
When I observed children at this station, most of them were pressing buttons and hurrying from
station to station without reading directions or looking at the information. I hope with a
worksheet as a guide, students will be able to grasp the main ideas and be able to have more
structure to what they’re learning. I decided to allow them to choose an exhibit to explore and
briefly write about because some students may have already been to some of the main exhibits.
The museum changes every now and then so students can explore new exhibits or their favorite
exhibits.
CLOSURE:
As a class, we will discuss these questions and look over our worksheets from the museum.
For example:
What are the three ways disease is transmitted?
What kinds of germs cause infectious disease?
What are some ways to prevent you (and others) from getting sick?
As a class, I would ask students to share what information they learned by reviewing their
worksheets. I would wrap up with reviewing important concepts of the human body and diseases.
Students should be able to explain that germs are microscopic and can’t be seen with the naked
eye, so it’s important to practice good personal hygiene. We would review how our bodies have an
immune system that fight against illnesses and connect what we have learned on the field trip
with what we have done in classes.
I would need to make sure I know more about:
- history of infectious diseases
- bacteria, pathogens, diseases, parasites, germs
- current/interesting statistics about microbes
- vaccines and anti-biotics
RESOURCES:
http://www.smm.org/static/explorations/diseasedetectives.pdf
http://www.diseasedetectives.org