 |
Take the Kids on Virtual Field Trips
If your kids are like mine, now that it is August, they no longer beg to go swimming, they are done sweating their way through various camps, and they've seen their fill of movies. It’s time for something different—like a field trip. But if you don’t happen to live close to Williamsburg, Virginia; Florence, Italy; or Glasgow, Scotland, don’t despair—the Internet can take you on fabulous virtual trips. Just log onto the following sites:
One of the fun things about visiting Colonial Williamsburg is the historic re-enactments that help bring history alive. With this site, you and your children can experience three historic courtroom cases that were tried in Colonial Williamsburg. One involves a slave who allegedly stole some turkeys, another is about a woman who sang a bawdy song mocking the King of England, and the other is about the transport of tobacco.
|
|
Each of the historic participants in these trials is represented by a series of photographs of actors dressed in period clothing, speaking with talk bubbles. Kids can read the judge yelling “Order in the Court!” as well as what each witness said. After the proceedings, children are asked to rule on the case before the actual judgement is revealed.
|
|
While this is not quite as good as seeing a courtroom reenactment, it is a powerful way for kids to experience history. The reading level is appropriate for children ages 10-up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In this field trip sponsored by Sanford and created by the award-winning Eduweb Company, kids jump into a time machine and travel back to Leonardo DaVinci’s workshop in 1505. Someone has been messing with history and thus one of Leonardo’s great works is disappearing. As kids use their mouse to scroll over Leonardo’s workshop, they discover five areas where tampering has occurred.
|
In one area, kids will find tubes of acrylic paints sitting among Leonardo’s art tools. The narrative explains that tubes for paints weren’t invented until 400 years later and acrylic paints didn’t come on the art scene until the 1930’s. While exploring the workshop, kids will be asked questions about Leonardo and the Renaissance, and be challenged to solve puzzles. To help, an onscreen Renaissance Handbook is available.
|
|
When kids find and fix the five ways the workshop was disrupted, they head back through time to discover that they have saved Leonardo’s work. The site then offered free online art lessons, including how to draw using linear perspective.
|
Kid-testers loved solving the mystery, which is best played by
children ages 9 and up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A quick trip to the Hunterian Museum, located at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, becomes possible with this site. Children find themselves accidentally locked in the museum at night just as a mummy in the collection is waking up. Hearing his moans and racing against a clock set at 20 minutes, kids move through the rooms of the museum looking for clues to help them escape from the museum.
|
|
As children move through the Roman, Egyptian, Dinosaur, and Captain Cook rooms, their cursor will change from an arrow to a hand when there is a clue. Clicking on a clue zooms in on an artifact and reveals an interesting fact. To unlock the museum’s door, kids will need to answer four questions--one found in each of the four exhibits.
|
|
This field trip makes you feel that you are really in this Scottish museum. The mummy ruse adds spooky fun that motivates children to investigate and learn quickly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All software is judged on a five star scale by looking at the following five factors:
educational, fun, ease of use, value, technical.
Jinny Gudmundsen is the Editor of Computing With Kids magazine. If you have
questions or comments, please write to: .
© 2008 Computing With Kids
|
  
|
|
