Field trips enhance learning for Lourdes students

Friday, Oct. 24, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — The group field trip is a time-honored tradition beloved by students and educators alike. Over the past month, Lourdes students from kindergarten through sixth grade participated in an array of field trips and studies that reinforced lessons being taught in the classroom.

Students in the younger grades visited Wheeler Farm where they learned about different farm animals, made butter as a group, watched a blacksmith practice his craft, and took a wagon ride.

“It’s important to take learning out of the classroom, to show that learning happens everywhere,” said kindergarten teacher and Lourdes alum, Ms. Agatha Maxwell.

Field trips are more than a fun day off campus with friends. Coupled with meaningful and relevant lesson objectives, a field experience can engage students in learning and leave a lasting imprint.

Students in second through fifth grade took a field trip to the Utah Geological Survey’s Core Research Center to celebrate Earth Science Week. The students split into groups and rotated through five hands-on activity stations.  From erosion to the rock cycle, examining dinosaur fossils to testing minerals, and the popular “panning” troughs for minerals, the students learned that the earth sciences are fun and play a vital role in society’s use of resources and interaction with the environment.

Third grader Kaden Merrills said that he liked the paleontology prep lab best because he got to touch real dinosaur bones. “They [UGS Core Research Center] recently had found a new dinosaur in Utah with 18 horns!” he exclaimed.

“School programs are fundamental to our mission, particularly to have them be engaging and interactive,” said Principal Christine Bergquist.

The sixth graders, who have been studying astronomy in class, visited the University of Utah Observatory and, with the use of filters on the telescope, the students were able to see sunspots and solar flares on the suns surface.

“I was amazed I could look at the sun and not be blinded,” said Madeline Halteh. “There were two filters, one of them made the sun look pink and other orange. Some of us got to see prominences. They look like small, thin bursts in one section of the sun. They rise up and down and disappear fast, so not everyone saw them.”

There is no question that every field trip or experience requires more time and coordination, especially on the part of the teacher, but the benefits far outweigh the challenges. Lourdes students gained meaningful, hands-on experiences directly tied to their course objectives and content standards. The best part was that the students would long remember the “what” and “why” even after their class ended.