Virtual Field Trips

Field trips are great. They're a chance to get out of the classroom and help your students experience something they are learning about first hand. But, because of cost or location, we can't always go on all the field trips we'd like to go on. For this reason, virtual field trips are great! If you have a projector or an interactive whiteboard (hooked up to your laptop or computer obviously), you can go on a virtual field trip.

Here's a few that I've used:
Ellis Island Tour- We've been learning about immigration in the late 1800's and early 1900's. This activity from Scholastic provides a great interactive "tour" of Ellis Island. There are real photographs, videos, and documents from the island.
Underground Railroad- Another great resource from Scholastic! This one takes you on a journey on the Underground Railroad. There are some great pictures with this one. And if you use the audio, it is read from the escaping slave's point of view. Very engaging!

Here's a few others:
AfriCam- This would be great if you were studying animals, habitats, etc. This website has live streaming video of different animals at a Bush Lodge in South Africa. A downside to this one would be the time difference. When  I was exploring the site, it was about 2AM there and there was not much visible on the cameras.
The Louvre- A field trip to France might be too expensive, but that shouldn't stop you from exploring the Louvre with your students from your classroom. The Louvre's website offers a virtual tour. You can explore the art and architecture of the Louvre online for free!
Museum of Science- The Museum of Science (in Boston, MA) offers virtual exhibits that can be viewed and explored through your computer.

My suggestion: Google "virtual field trips" or "virtual field trips for kids" or "virtual field trips for <subject>" and see what comes up. Also check out the websites for all those places you'd LIKE to go, but probably couldn't make it to and see if they offer virtual tours. Even if you don't have it in your budget to take your kids out the building for the day, you do have the budget to take them on a virtual field trip (FREE!).