Impact of Environmental Science Field Trip on Third Grade Students

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to assess the impact of an environmental science field trip (ESFT) on the science learning of third grade students. The ESFT program was designed to enrich the science learning for third grade students and was aligned with state science standards for the grade level. This standards-based program was 3 hours long and offered to extend the science learning to the participant students during the field trip on four chosen concepts. The concepts were the following: understanding a bear’s habitat, how bears use rocks and soil, how scientists study bears, and science study stools. Five hundred third grade students from three different schools in North Georgia were chosen for the study. This study assessed the science learning of students with the use a pre and post-test. Classroom teachers were asked to administer the pre-test prior to attending the field trip and the post-test immediately following the field trip, which utilized a “draw and write assessment” tool. A t-test was used to test for a significant gain in science learning for the pre and post-test scores. The results showed that there was a significant improvement in the students’ understanding of the chosen concepts after completing the ESFT program.