One of the landmarks Goff Middle School students traditionally visit on the 8th grade field trip is the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
Two of the biggest and most fun learning activities of the school year for Goff Middle School students are the 7th grade field trip to Philadelphia and the 8th grade field trip to Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, those events had to be canceled earlier this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today marks the day that 8th graders would be traveling by bus to Washington, D.C. While students cannot go on these trips in person, they can still learn all about these cities and their historical landmarks thanks to Goff Librarian Jamie Tobin.
Mrs. Tobin created Virtual Field Trips to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., using Google Earth and short youtube videos about the sites students would have visited such as the Liberty Bell, Congress Hall and the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia and the U.S. Capitol, Arlington National Cemetery and the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
“When I learned that all school field trips were cancelled, I wanted to find a way for our students to still have the experience of the Washington and Philadelphia trips,” Mrs. Tobin said. “After some research, I played around with Google Earth projects, and created these virtual field trips so students could view and learn about the sites and monuments they would have visited. It’s a really fun interactive experience that includes informational videos and street views. It’s not the real thing, but I hope that it’s a worthy replacement for our students. They were fun to create, and I also enjoyed learning something new!”
Virtual Field Trips
Please note: Students do not have access to Google Earth from their school accounts so if they would like to view a Virtual Field Trip, they will have to use a device other than their chromebooks.