BRINGING THE FIELD TO THE CLASSROOM THROUGH VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS: THE G-CAMP APPROACH

Teaching Earth science, especially in a field-camp environment, has been enhanced by technology. G-Camp for Teachers is an outreach program for 4^th through 12^th grade Texas science teachers. Thirty teachers are invited to participate in the 15-day program each summer. Social networking, facebook (FB) and a blog were used to “connect” the teachers with each other several months prior to the beginning of field camp. A public section of the FB Site was created to connect students and other interested parties to G-Camp activities of the teachers. A GPS, using a ten-minute update sequence, provided almost instant location on the progress of the trip. Photographs were continually added to FB. Teachers were instructed on the basic principles of geology and geomorphology in the field, as well as learning observational techniques and collecting data. Teams representing 4^th-6^th; 7^th-8^th, 9^th-12^th grades were created and assigned a team leader who organized the members and oversaw the development and production of a virtual field trip. The teams created virtual field trips to illustrate specific Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) science objectives for their respective grade levels. Each virtual field trip used still photography, HD video, geologic maps, aerial photographs, Google Earth images, data collected in the field and selected references. The concept of our virtual field trips is to closely mimic the learning experience and excitement gained from being on an actual field trip. Each team began by identifying specific TEKS that could be incorporated in the virtual field trip based on knowledge, visual media, data collected during G-Camp. Once these were identified, teachers developed story-boards to provide story-structure to the virtual field trip. Virtual field trips are posted on the G-Camp web site and available to all teachers in Texas and elsewhere.