Why have field trips become a thing of the past?

Gone are the days of elementary school, when students were able to hop on a bus and travel to a zoo, museum or historical landmark to further their studies in school. It’s high school now; lunchables have been replaced by off-campus vehicular sprints, “hands-on” education by grade-stressing labs.

During elementary school, those ventures into the real world were wonderful. They achieved, perhaps, the perfect educational equilibrium-between of fun and learning. 

Although high school does have creative projects and simulations, none of these activities offer education insight as rewarding as field trips. Instead, we’re expected to enjoy learning by perusing through a seemingly endless stack of textbooks and notes. This form of torture neither appeals to nor benefits all students, hurting students whose learning styles don’t mesh with “reading from a textbook.” 

Field trips cater to a broader range of learning styles by incorporating hands-on activities, such as making Yurba Buena tea at a native American reservation. Any activity more involving than just reading a book benefits the “busy hands, busy brains”  phenomenon, which means that when students become engaged physically, they will also become engaged mentally. 

In the classroom, students learn about a concept in books, but at that point it is only an idea. To turn it idea into something tangible, students must be able to see that concept in real life. For example, engineers may often apply formulas learned in algebra, calculus and chemistry to their everyday jobs. 

Keeping students engaged is always a struggle for teachers. Why not break up the Monday-through-Friday routine with more field trips? For example, APUSH teacher Matt Torren’s seventh-period class went on a January field trip to downtown Saratoga to learn about Saratoga’s history. Students came back with not only a better knowledge of the history of their own neighborhood, but a fun experience.

Media Arts Program teachers also took students on a field trip in the beginning of the year in San Francisco at Fort Miley. It consisted of many rope courses that helped students build leadership and teamwork while having fun. 

Many teachers find field trips to be objectionable because students miss class time. However, substituting the field trip for the lectures sometimes will give students a much better understanding of whatever is being studied. 

At the end of students’ four years of high school, ask them if they remember their lecture about Dalton’s Law of partial pressure, the Open Door Policy of 1899, or any specific lecture or class period. Chances are they won’t. But they will remember the time they shared an exciting field trip experience with their classmates and learned how the textbook material relates to the real world.