There are many scientific resources that our Northern California area has to offer. Yet, the only way students can experience these resources is through a field trip. Many secondary teachers, however, are reluctant to take field trips for two primary reasons: 1) the high financial cost associated with the transportation of the students to the field trip site, and 2) the academic cost to the student in that he/she misses their other scheduled classes for the day.

My Toyota Tapestry project serves to eliminate these two barriers by allowing students to experience the field trip through the use of videoconferencing technology. These virtual fieldtrips will involve 8-10 students, equipped with computers and video cameras, traveling to a local scientific facility and conducting a live webcast tour for their classmates back at school. Viewing the webcast on a projector, the students in the classroom will have the opportunity to interact with the traveling group, ask questions of any expert scientist, view equipment and processes, and even assist in data and sample collection. Seven different field trips will cover topics including astronomy, art glass fabrication, stream study and digital recording of sound, each field trip employing a different group of students conducting the onsite webcast. This rotating model will allow for maximum student participation and exposure to all seven experiences, while each student only misses one day of school.

Each webcast has been recorded, edited and posted on this website for viewing by other science classes.