Fairfield Elementary School
Rockbridge County, VA
This field trip started with the idea to take 4th and 5th grade students on a hike in their community. I wanted the students to better understand the beauty of the nature that surrounds them. To many students going to Walmart is the highlight of their week and I wanted them to see that their community offers so much more.
This trip would not have been possible without the help from Boxerwood. Boxerwood is an organization in Rockbridge County whose goal is to teach students how to care for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Boxerwood offered up a variety of sites to choose from located across the county. I choose the Laurel Run site at Goshen pass because most of the students live close to this area, but have never stopped and explored.
At first this location seemed to be the best and easiest choice. As the field trip approached I learned we needed an access pass from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Each adult who went on the trip would have to buy a pass to come. I was worried our trip would not run smoothly if parents had to buy passes to come. Luckily one of the students’ parents is a game warden and was able to waive the fee for the pass. He also came out and went on the trip with us, a pleasant addition I did not originally plan for.
I wanted the activities provided to cover all content areas. Selecting the activities was the easy part. The activities the students would do were Nature Journaling, Egg Carton Antonyms, Water Testing, Survival Scenarios, Hiking Math, and Crayon Color matching. The 5th grade teacher and I had to design and created all of the activities the students participated in. This took more time than I originally expected. Planning for a field trip where you have to pack everything but the bathroom took organization and time. Working with the 5th grade science teacher was helpful because I was able to use her experience and knowledge of creating field trips to help plan our trip.
Overall planning the Laurel Run hiking trip would not have been possible without knowledgeable and experienced teachers to help guide me through the process.
This trip would not have been possible without the help from Boxerwood. Boxerwood is an organization in Rockbridge County whose goal is to teach students how to care for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Boxerwood offered up a variety of sites to choose from located across the county. I choose the Laurel Run site at Goshen pass because most of the students live close to this area, but have never stopped and explored.
At first this location seemed to be the best and easiest choice. As the field trip approached I learned we needed an access pass from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Each adult who went on the trip would have to buy a pass to come. I was worried our trip would not run smoothly if parents had to buy passes to come. Luckily one of the students’ parents is a game warden and was able to waive the fee for the pass. He also came out and went on the trip with us, a pleasant addition I did not originally plan for. I wanted the activities provided to cover all content areas. Selecting the activities was the easy part. The activities the students would do were Nature Journaling, Egg Carton Antonyms, Water Testing, Survival Scenarios, Hiking Math, and Crayon Color matching. The 5th grade teacher and I had to design and created all of the activities the students participated in. This took more time than I originally expected. Planning for a field trip where you have to pack everything but the bathroom took organization and time. Working with the 5th grade science teacher was helpful because I was able to use her experience and knowledge of creating field trips to help plan our trip.
Overall planning the Laurel Run hiking trip would not have been possible without knowledgeable and experienced teachers to help guide me through the process.
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