The Specifics of this Trip

This activity centers on taking a group of biology students to a local nature center as part of their ecology unit. While field trips can be used for a variety of reasons, this trip is being taken as a culminating activity of the ecology unit so the students can apply what they have learned in the classroom to settings in the field. On the trip the students will take part in an instructional session given by nature center staff, a guided nature hike, and free exploration time. With travel time, this trip is will take an entire school day.

Data Collection on the Trip

On the trip, your students will be responsible for collecting a series of images about what they see and learn. Since this is a culminating activity for the unit, there are many different aspects for students to explore. Consider dividing your students into groups of three to five - depending on the number of digital cameras you have, and assign each group a particular concept or topic they should look for or address. By doing this each group becomes a "subject expert" and can report their findings to the whole class after the trip is concluded. In essence, you are taking the jigsaw instructional technique and applying it to a field trip setting.

The digital image data your student groups collect will depend upon what your instructional goals are and what the site allows. By using the digital cameras, each student group can record important images, such as types of flowers, plants, insects etc. If you wish, your students can also collect data about the location of the object they photographed. For example, if you are emphasizing abiotic factors and their impact on ecosystem development, students can photograph "typical" organisms in the ecosystem, while at the same time collecting data about temperature, humidity, sunlight, and soil moisture. This information can then be combined to create an informative presentation when you get back to school. Other possible tasks might include:

• A single image that captures as many aspects of an ecosystem as possible. Students can later enlarge and label their image to illustrate their ideas.
• Create a digital photo collage of all biotic or abiotic factors observed during the field trip.
• Prior to the field trip, ask student groups to plan an outline for a possible web site that can serve to consolidate their learning about ecosystems. During the field trip ask them to collect digital images that document their learning and will serve as the basis of a virtual field trip web page that their group will design.