Fifth graders from Richland Elementary School traveled to Georgetown and Waco, virtually, with an Education in Action Discover Texas Field Trip In a Box program to experience what they are learning in science. The students explored Inner Space Cavern, Waco Mammoth National Monument, and the Brazos River, virtually. 

In Georgetown the students experienced the Earth’s processes at work as they toured the highly decorated Inner Space Cavern. In Waco, Maggie the Mammoth led the students on a virtual tour of Waco Mammoth National Monument where the students saw the nation’s only recorded discovery of a nursery herd of Pleistocene mammoths and learned about the Ice Age, how the fossils were discovered, sedimentary rocks, and why the site is one of the most important paleontological sites in North America. Maggie also led them down the Brazos River to experience many of Texas’s diverse regions and ecosystems and the animals that inhabit them. Along the way, the students learned about watersheds, the water cycle, and the processes and rocks that created and make up the Earth’s surface. 

To add to the fun, each student and teacher received a box to keep, full of hands-on games, activities, and souvenirs, including an ‘I Discovered Texas’ T-shirt, a Maggie the Mammoth plushy, and a Virtual Travel Research Journal, to supplement their virtual visits to these notable Texas sites. 

“Education in Action’s Discover Texas Field Trips In a Box programs are based on the understanding that the most effective way for students to learn is through experience,” stated Jennifer Pasteur, Education in Action’s Executive Director. “Student activities during Discover Texas Field Trips In a Box programs reinforce and supplement Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) learning objectives in fun and interactive ways that bring the content to life.” 

Discover Texas Field Trips In a Box programs provide teachers with ready-to-go, entertaining, and educational social studies and science-based virtual field trips to the Texas State Capitol, The Alamo, Inner Space Cavern, Waco Mammoth National Monument, and more, with a box full of TEKS-based hands-on games and activities to supplement classroom learning plus trip souvenirs! With these turnkey programs, teachers are able to focus on making connections between the experience and what students are learning in the classroom. To learn more, visit www.educationinaction.org/FieldTripsInaBox. 

In addition to Discover Texas Field Trips In a Box programs, Education in Action offers summer Lone Star Leadership Academy camps for outstanding 4^th-8^th graders. During the weeklong, overnight camps, participants experience significant Texas sites in Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin/San Antonio, or Houston/Galveston with Texas educators and a focus on leadership. Educators may nominate their outstanding students for these camps at www.educationinaction.org/nominate.