A VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP THROUGH WYANDOTTE LAKE WATERSHED: AN EXAMPLE OF A MULTIPURPOSE EDUCATIONAL TOOL

Field trips provide students with opportunities to explore the natural world and experience natural processes in ways that cannot be managed in the classroom. Virtual field experiences can be designed using readily available technologies and a digital camera to accomplish the same goals as real field trips but without the expense and the difficulty of orchestration. The Wyandotte Lake watershed is an example of how a virtual field trip can be developed and used as a tool to teach middle school students the overarching ideas in environmental and Earth science. Wyandotte Lake watershed located on the western edge of the Kansas City metropolitan area is experiencing significant urbanization near its headwaters. Wyandotte Lake is an impounded reservoir located in a park managed by the unified government of Kansas City, Kansas, and has been long used for recreation by local residents.

The virtual field trip consists of 22 field stops within the watershed to be completed over several class periods. Locations were selected to cover the basic geology of the watershed, the watershed water cycle, Earth processes including erosion and deposition, aquatic ecosystems, and the impacts of human activities. Several trips were made to the watershed to collect digital photos and develop a field-trip guide. Google Earth was used to place each of the field-trip stops in a geospatial context. Lastly, artifacts from the field, including rock, sediment, and biota samples, were collected and made available as manipulatives for the students to use while they were on the field trip. The field-trip guide provides background information for each stop and may include activities or questions for the students to deepen their understanding of the watershed. Field guide and the virtual field trip are available on request.