There are some clear distinctions between the classes in classrooms versus classes on a field trip. First of all, the learning in most cases is way more kinesthetic. Your actually physically involved in the lesson. Similar to coaching sports, you can only accomplish so much through talking, writing, or showing videos. At some point you have to get out in the field and start doing. In mathematics or physics, field trips can be a great way to accomplish this. Secondly, the learning is more attached and relational. Not only because field trips are less frequent, but also because of the hands on experience. Finally, field trips are simply a different venue. You need change to see growth in your students. Much like in weight lifting your not going to see any gains if you keep doing the same thing over and over again. You need to be constantly shocking the body so that it doesn't get used to the routine and doesn't peek/flat-line. Field trips provide this "shock."
I think field trips are a great tool for education for various reasons. For one, the repetitive nature of a classroom lecture can be quite boring and uneventful! Field trips are something new and exciting, they disrupt the everyday routine and they are a great way to "hook" students in. Students learn in many different ways, field trips have the ability to easily hit on all learning aspects, visual, kinesthetic etc. I remember in grade 12 we went to play land for our physics class and we had a simple worksheet to work on that dealt with kinematics and momentum. Of course it was fun because it was play land, but we had a lot of fun actually doing the worksheet itself. Going from doing problems and having to imagine it in your head or seeing a diagram on a sheet of paper versus actually going out and physically seeing the problems on such a large and real scale is something that a classroom can't provide. Another benefit is that field trips can act as way to teach new concepts or reinforce those previously taught. Not only are field trips a good way to hook students in, they are also a good way to provide real connections between the material in class and the applications to a real environment. There are some obvious problems with field trips though. The logistics and administrative aspects are one hurdle, and the amount actually learn't by students is another. Are the students having fun while learning. Or just having fun? Or neither?
I thought the orchard garden was not as useful as the math out loud performance. It was a great idea to try and connect biology, botany, art, and mathematics through using the orchard garden but I didn't seem to connect with it. I found myself caught up in the drawings themselves versus the applications they had to mathematics. I didn't connect with it. I think this type of problem regardless of field trip or not will present itself to certain students. You're not going to be able to connect with all your students consistenly. However I am sure this was and could be very helpful to a lot of students, especially those who already have an interest in the other disciplines. On the other hand, I found the math out loud performance to be amazing! Using drama to convey certain mathematical topics was something I have never experienced before. It had just the right amount of humour and entertainment to keep most students interested and it was the perfect length. From a teaching perspective this could be a great introductory hook to get kids to see the real world applications of mathematics and it can be a great way to connect those who are interested in fine arts. Going in as a student I actually learn't a few cool facts like the ratio of meandering river is pi!!! I was quite entertained.
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