By Meaghan Bowman
It’s the most wonderful time of the year—field trip day! Actually, at my elementary school, it was sometimes more than one day. We visited so many places. I recall visiting the Indianapolis International Airport, the fire station, the local wildlife refuge, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Connor Prairie, Spring Mill State Park, Marengo Cave, French Lick, the Indianapolis Zoo, Pizza Hut, the local historical museum, the Louisville Science Center, and the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. There was even an overnight trip to Kentucky to see horse farms, the old capital, the Cumberland River, and Mammoth Cave. Like many children, I looked forward to these trips because they were fun and allowed us to get out of the classroom for a while. It was nice to break away from the routine. When I look back, I realize that we probably went on more field trips than other students. Out of my sixth grade class of 55 students, only 4 went on to college directly after graduation. Many never moved from the area. This makes me realize how insightful my teachers were, hoping to introduce us to new places and experiences that we might have otherwise never known.
The average school district spends 2% of its budget on field trips (Pace, 2). With smaller budgets, rising gas prices, more standards to cover, days taken from instruction and given to testing, and higher security measures, field trips could become a thing of the past. Should they? "The field trip is education's oldest technique, it is also one of the least understood" (Pace, 2). Although sometimes seen as frivolous, I believe that field trips can be a great learning opportunity.
Aside from being a curriculum novelty, with proper selection and planning, field trips can also aid in building information fluency (KW1), helping "learners become independent, productive thinkers" (http://www.virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/inquiry6.htm). Field trips give students a chance to experience new things, but they can also be fertile soil in which to plant those seeds of inquiry. School library media specialists can take advantage of this opportunity to collaborate with classroom teachers and develop curricula that encourages students to formulate questions, organize ideas, explore and evaluate information, analyze and synthesize data, and communicate findings and conclusions (http://www.virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/inquiry1.htm) (KW2).
As a school library media specialist, you may overhear complaints about planning field trips. This is the perfect time to offer your assistance. If done correctly, field trips take much planning, so your assistance may be welcome here, even if it has not been with other projects. Even if done incorrectly and haphazardly, field trips still require a lot of paperwork in most school systems. Of course, you may not hear anyone utter the words "field trip" at any time. In this case, you may have to bring up the subject. When approaching a teacher about a collaborative field trip (one in which you and the teacher will be involved and work together on), you may want to have some particular standards in mind (KW3). If you have worked with classroom teachers to create curriculum maps, it will be easy to nail down curriculum standards and approximate times (P3). Suggesting a field trip to the zoo in the fall when a teacher does not cover that standard until the spring will not earn you any points. You need to show the teacher that a field trip (and collaboration with you) is not a waste of time - that it can help them cover several of their content standards. Describing the information literacy standards that it may encompass and the importance of these standards to their students is also a good approach. (P2, P1, P4)
We’re Really Going Places Incorporating the traditional field trip into your curriculum There are many places to go on field trips. Most popular destinations include zoos, museums, and historic sites. Last year I took my "little sister" from the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program to Ball State University. She was amazed. She had no idea that a university was not just one building, but many. As she described it, it was "a town, just with school." Upon entering the art museum there, she ran up to a woodcarving of Christ, circa 1300, and stuck her finger in the hole in his feet, exclaiming "That's where the nail was!" I was impressed by her knowledge of early Christian history, but not as impressed with the guard who promptly and sternly came to tell us not to touch items in the museum. My "little sister" was not a child. She was 15 years old. Still, she did not know that she shouldn't touch items in a museum. She had never been inside one. When planning your field trip, be sure to go over expected modes of behavior and guidelines. Some of the issues that may seem to be simply common sense for you may not be for your students. Even if someone else gives the tour, you are still the official tour guide. You are introducing them to something else, a larger community than they may have known before (P10). 
If you and the classroom teacher allow a field trip day to be a "goof-off day," then it most certainly will be. "Studies have shown that presvisit agendas strongly influence how much of an impact a field trip can have on participants' information retention"(Pace, 3). If the students keep journals in class, this is an excellent time to utlize them. If not, this is a good chance to introduce them. Having them write about what they expect to see, what they already know about the trip, and any questions they may have will prepare them for the trip. You may also consider taking the journals along. During the trip, take a break and have the students sit down and write in their journals. You may give them questions to answer or concepts to consider, or just allow them to write on their own (KW4). In addition, concept mapping before, during, and after a field trip will help with retention. Use of a simple graphic organizer can help students utilize prior knowledge, consider what they need to learn, and identify and analyze what they have learned (KW5). This also utlizes Information Standard 1.1.2 Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning.
 Going My Way Destinations close to home There are field trip destinations that are close to home. After some research, you may be surprised by what is located around the block or just across town. If your school system is undergoing a transportation crisis, you are not alone. While student teaching at Wilson Middle School in Muncie, Indiana, my classes took field trips to the local library. The city bus picked us up at the school and took us to the public library. Arrangments had to be made beforehand, but the cost was minimal. This was the only type of field trip being approved at the time I was there. The school administration was gaining a reputation for denying field trips to places that were open on Saturdays and could be visited by students on their own then. The library was a preapproved destination. At the library, we were able to use a better computer lab than we had access to at school, and we were also able to utilize circulating and reference materials. These resources were especially valuable when completing projects about countries and biographies. In Indiana, fourth grade Social Studies standards focus on Indiana History. What a great opportunity to incorporate a field trip to a place nearby! Don't just plan field trips where you will "see things." Plan hands-on activities. Field trips with hands-on activities have a positive impact on students' ability to recall information learned on the trip. Trips with hands-on activities are typically enjoyed more by students, helping motivate them in their personal learning process (KW6) (Pace, 2). However, just because a trip has "hands-on" activities does not mean that it is valuable. You have to ask yourself if the activity has both classroom and real world connections. For instance, churning butter is a hands-on activity - but will students use the knowledge learned from it in the real world? Taking students to a homeless shelter and spending time organizing the food pantry - students will remember that experience and relate it to their future lives. They may later relate the importance of service or the state of the economy to this experience. This authentic learning is vital in the inquiry process (KW7).
Again, even if your destination is close to home, organization is key. Perhaps you have been to this place many times. Your students may have visited it, too. This gives you all the more reason to add some structure. This is a great time to incorporate cooperative learning (KW8). Breaking students into groups (typically with an adult for safety reasons) and conducting a scavenger hunt is a good way to get students thinking and exploring. Of course, "repetitive, superficial, and vaguely designed assignments [leave] students believing that research [is] a formulaic process for compressing regurgitated information into vapid prose," so care should be taken when creating these scavenger hunts (Abilock, 9). A day or two before the field trip, have students help create the scavenger hunt they will use. For instance, have them brainstorm about things they might see on the trip. Have them think about what they already know about the destination and what they would like to know. In groups, they might review one another's ideas for the scavenger hunt, further utilizing cooperative learning and Information Standard 1.1.9 Collaborate with others to broaden and deepen understanding (P8).  What a gem! Located two blocks from a rural elementary school,
this gas station has been restored to its 1940s glory.
Come a Little Bit Closer Bringing field trips to you Your field trip is denied. It is not in the budget. It is too far away. You still have options. I call it a "reverse field trip." Most call it a "classroom visit." Having a guest speaker come and present to the class is a way to introduce students to audience analysis. This requires students to interpret the information given in an oral presentation (KW9) (P6). Students can also hone their questioning skills. Instruct them to develop questions to ask the speaker. You may begin with this questioning, or the speaker may present first. From the questions the students have already formed, students can cross off questions or write the answers to those answered by the speaker's initial presentation. Students could also be given a short time to create questions after the initial presentation and then ask the speaker these questions. The questions that may not be able to be answered by the presenter can be further researched in the school library and media center (KW10). This also meets with Information Standard 1.1.3 Develop and refine a range of questions to frame the search for new understanding. You may also encourage your speaker to bring "stuff" along with them. As a public librarian, I usually take a crate of flashy books with me on classroom visits. The classes aren't able to come to the library, so I bring the library to them. This will give students a good visual. Also brainstorm those hands-on activities. Your presentor does not have to simply talk. Visual literacy is very important, but other literacies can be addressed, too. Media and technology literacy can also be addressed by the presenter. Make sure that these visits aren't just "show and tell." You need to work with the presenter to include an experience that will suit a variety of learning styles (give students chances to watch, listen, do hands-on activities, use graphic organizers to record notes, draw pictures to describe information, etc.) or you may have to create these yourself that can follow or precede the speaker (P7).
Traveling the Information Highway Create virtual field trips and adapt those already out there Virtual field trips are also an option for you and your classroom teacher. The variety of places you can visit via the World Wide Web is amazing. You may not be able to fly your students to Rome, but with a computer, you can still take them there. There are many sites out there that offer free virtual field trips. There are also software choices in which to create your own virtual field trips. Upon some examination of these programs, if creating my own field trip, I think I would prefer to use Microsoft PowerPoint. In many cases, this program will already be on your computer. An alternative to the virtual field trip is a Webquest. A webquest can show your students the photos and information that you would intend them to see, but in a more interactive, information inquiry-based way (KW11). Instead of just clicking through some photos, webquests can encourage them to consider your questions or form their own and conduct research to find the answers. This also meets with Information Standards 1.1.6 Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g., textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning and 1.1.8 Demonstrate mastery of technology tools for accessing information and pursuing inquiry (P9).
You may not be able to actually step foot inside the White House, but you can tour it! http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/tour/
 Bring it Home Assessment and application You may have heard the phrase "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." This should not be true for a field trip. Once you are back home, the trip should not be forgotten. You should follow up on the information learned, or the trip was a waste of time, money, and resources. For a classroom teacher to want to work with you again on a similar project, they should be able to see long-term results. Encourage them to connect the trip with later curriculum. You may compile a temporary classroom collection of books and other materials that pertain the the field trip. Also, if information inquiry devices were used during the field trip, they need to be used again in the classroom (P5) (P1). Implementing inquiry, collaboration, and field trips will not be an easy task. However, with a lot of hard work, it will pay off in the end. With each success will come more openess toward collaboration with you and more opportunities for you to implement information standards.
Sources: Abilock, Debbie. Beginner's Blind Spot. KnowledgeQuest, September/October 2004. Callison, Daniel, and Leslie Preddy. The Blue Book on Information Age Inquiry, Instruction and Literacy. Libraries Unlimited, 2006. Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning. American Library Association. 1998. Pace, Stefanie and Tesi Roger. Adult's Perception of Field Trips Taken Within Grades K-12: Eight Case Studies in the New York Metropolitan Area. Education, 2004. Virtual Information Inquiry. http://www.virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/inquiry6.htm
Graphic Organizers taken from: Piper, Carla. Planning an Integrated Thematic Curriculum Unit. http://www1.chapman.edu/univcoll/faculty/piper/2042/themeunit.htm
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