Day Tripping

by Gail Junion-Metz -- School Library Journal, 5/1/1999

When teachers start planning their field trips this spring, tell them they don't always have to endure long bus trips and soggy sandwiches. With so many quality museum sites online, teachers can take their students on virtual visits that they'll be talking about for days.

Start at the Top
The Exploratorium blows away the competition for coolest museum site on the Web. The Exploratorium is a real museum located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park and it is also a huge virtual museum for curious kids, ages 4 to 18. Start at the "Learning Studio," where students can visit "Temple Illusion," an optical puzzle about perspective, and "Bronx Cheer Bulb," an exhibit that encourages kids to make noise at their computer screens. (Visit the site to find out why.) Kids can also connect to science activities and experiments (such as how to dissect a cow's eye).

Returning to the Exploratorium's home page, go to "Sport Science" to learn about the "Science of Baseball" and play RealVideo clips of mountain biker Ruthie Matthes. Using a Java-enabled browser like Netscape or Internet Explorer 4, calculate braking distances and energy consumption.

Eye-Catching Exhibits
Plenty of museums have Web sites, but only a few offer truly outstanding virtual exhibits. The Science Learning Network, which started out as a three-year project funded by the National Science Foundation and the Unisys Corporation, is a cooperative project of 12 museums worldwide. The network's purpose is to help kids (ages 4 to 18) learn by providing them with Web-based tools and online exhibits that are developed by each of the member museums. From the site's homepage, click on "Explore Our Resources" and check out 24 of the best exhibits on the Web, including "Exploring Leonardo," about Leonardo DaVinci, and "The Millennium Bug," about the Y2K problem.

The Franklin Institute Science Museum is a member of the Science Learning Network. Learn more about Ben Franklin at "Franklin. . . He's Electric!" and visit "Earthforce" to get the lowdown on volcanoes and earth quakes.

Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry has standout exhibits for students ages 7 to 18. From the home page, get on board the "Silver Streak" -- a train exhibit where kids can send their friends e-mail postcards. They can also soar to new heights of exploration at the "Take Flight"exhibit. Students ages 7 to 18 who love airplanes and space exploration will also love the National Air & Space Museum exhibitions, especially "How Things Fly"and "Exploring the Planets."In addition to facts and graphics, these exhibits include downloadable science activities.

Not So Serious Sites
Not all kids want to surf virtual museums -- some just want to have fun. At the Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum, students ages 7 to 18 can experience a virtual archeological dig, learn to construct a dinosaur out of chicken bones, and make their own mummy.

A museum doesn't have to be big or well known to provide hip activities. Check out the Public Museum of Grand Rapids (MI), for another quality "Fun Stuff"page for kids ages 5 to 14. Kids can print out and decorate their own "Odwawa Canoe,"make a whale flip-book, or build an "antique" chair.

Tour de Force
Museums tours, of course, can be boring for kids. That's why cartoonist Phil Frank and the folks at the De Young Museum in San Francisco created the Ghost of the De Young. The site offers a comic-book story about seven-year-old Olive and her tour of the museum by Mr. De Young himself. I guarantee your students will love the tour as much as you will.

Web Addresses
For previous "Surf For" links visit SLJ Online at www.slj.com/links.html

Exploratorium
www.exploratorium.edu

Science Learning Network
www.sln.org

Franklin Institute Science Museum
sln.fi.edu

Museum of Science and Industry
www.msichicago.org

National Air & Space Museum
www.nasm.edu

Royal Ontario Museum
www.rom.on.ca./eyouths/funstm.html

Public Museum of Grand Rapids
www.grmuseum.org/fun-stuff.htm

Ghost of the De Young
www.thinker.org/fam/education/publications/ghost/index.html