Field Trip
It is suggested that schools having field trips provide students with firsthand experience, stimulate interest and motivation in science, add relevance to learning and interrelationships, strengthen observation and perception skills, promote personal (social) development. A well-orchestrated field trip increases student engagement, improves understanding, and drives deeper learning.
Schneider (2016) identifies 4 Steps To Make Your Field Trip Matter
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Plan with intent
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Frame the experience
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Ensure experiential learning
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Connect and reflect
The Food Project is a launching pad for new ideas about youth and adults partnering to create social change through sustainable agriculture. Their goal is sustainable, local food systems that bridge race, class, age, and more to ensure food security for all.
The National Farm to School Program is a collaborative program of the Center for Food & Justice, a division of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College and the Community Food Security Coalition.
The School Recycling CLUB assists schools in implementing, maintaining and improving recycling programs! The CLUB is housed and managed by the Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA).
Keeping Track teaches adults and children to observe, interpret, record, and monitor evidence of wildlife habitat in their communities, and supports the use of monitoring data by citizens in local and regional conservation planning.
Built Environment, Arts & History
City Lore was founded in 1986 to produce programs and publications that convey the richness of New York City's cultural heritage.
The Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures is committed to the languages and cultural traditions of this region's diverse peoples.
Louisiana Voices is a pioneering online education guide that provides rich teaching resources on Louisiana folk and traditional arts and culture while integrating the Louisiana Education Content Standards.
Service Learning
Community service or service-learning has been integrated into many high schools graduation requirements. However, these required service hours are not necessarily tailored to a specific curriculum. The ultimate goal of service-learning is to integrate meaningful community service with instruction to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility and strengthen communities.
The Generator School Network is an online community of more than 5,000 youth and adult members who have discovered how they can change the world through service learning.
The Corporation for National and Community Service supports the American culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility, by being a catalyst for change and championing the ideal that every American has skills and talents to give.
Mapping & Technology Tools
Mapping Your Community is a series of ArcGIS® 9.2 tutorials that help students gain mapping skills and build toward independent investigations.
Wilderness Technology Alliance’s mission is to develop and implement educational programs where students apply technology to project-based experiential education.
Assessment & Evaluation
Evaluation is an important and complex process in learning. Place-based learning consists of both the content knowledge of the curriculum and the student's imaginative and emotional engagement with knowledge and place. Evaluation matters as it produces powerful results that reveal 'best practices' for curriculum.