President’s Message

HERE’S A NEW WAY TO GO ON A FIELD TRIP

Each year, more than one hundred thousand students tour our exhibits, participate in workshops, and experience live science demos when they visit from neighboring schools. In 2020, the pandemic severely limited the ability for schools to have in-person experiences with us. We always say that the Science Center is in the inspiration business and these educational experiences are one of our major tools. Beyond the educational benefit, these visits expose young people to exciting STEM concepts that encourage innovative ideas to address some of the world’s biggest problems.

When we knew that students couldn’t come to us, we decided to go to them. Virtually. Since October, we have been offering live, facilitated virtual field trips to schools throughout our region and beyond. These STEM-focused experiences are available for students in kindergarten to high school and align to Florida state standards. They nurture essential 21st Century skills like critical thinking and collaboration with multiple topics from biology to engineering to physics and forensic science.

Students are immersed in a rich, virtual environment and receive instruction and support from our educators in real time. Then they proceed to breakout sessions where they work on hands-on STEM activities using materials found within the classroom or their homes. These workshops help students look at their surroundings in a new way. They learn how science can help them face real-world challenges and discover that STEM skills are essential to success, not just in school, but in life.

Another goal for this program is to simply create a fun and educational escape from pandemicinduced stress. Everyone has a lot on their plate these days, teachers and students included. If we can make someone’s day a little brighter by engaging with them virtually, then we have done well. For them to be able to forget whatever else is going on and just have fun learning science, even for a little while, is a worthy goal. And you never know where that path might take them. Maybe all the way to becoming the scientist that develops a vaccine for a future pandemic.

You can learn more about our virtual field trips by clicking here. There’s also a great video that explains what happens during one. Please check it out and consider recommending virtual field trips to your student’s teacher or thinking about booking a session for your class or co-op if you are an educator. These field trips might look different than usual, but the learning and discovery is still strong.

Sincerely,