Instructions for students for Snapshot Bio

For this assignment we want you to have the opportunity to examine some of your own experiences and/or interests. You will design a Power Point presentation with seven slides containing specific information.

Please select one of the following topics on which to focus your Snapshot Bio.

  • My Childhood
  • My Favorite Pastime(s) or Hobbies
  • My Family
  • My Goals
  • My Life
  • My Favorite Memories

Next, choose the four most significant events from your life that involve that topic. This will require some thinking and reflecting.

When you design your PowerPoint, plan 2/3 of the slide to be text and 1/3 to be visual (pictures uploaded from Facebook, your personal webpage, the Internet, email, or clip art). Be creative with this project and take time to really reflect on your own experiences. If you are particularly adept at using PowerPoint you may want to stretch your abilities by incorporating additional features such as animations, sound, and/or video.

Follow the guidelines below to design your Snapshot Bio power point.

Slide 1: Title Slide - Write your full name, your topic, and include a picture of yourself.

Slide 2: Tell the story of your birth. (Include as much detail as you can)

Slides 3-6: Design these slides to show the four most significant events from your life dealing with your topic of choice. So if you picked “My Favorite Pastime,” what are the four most significant events in your life that are centered aroundthat pastimeor hobby? If you picked “My Favorite Memories,” what are the four most significant events in your life related to your memories? Include pictures and/or visuals to illustrate your main points.

Slide 7: About the author slide – think of this like the blurb about the author on a book jacket. Sum up who you are in a paragraph. Try to include some interesting things about yourself that you want others in class to know. Include a picture to help illustrate.

Special Note: If there is a traumatic event that is significant that you want to recognize but do not want to share with the class, change the color of that slide to black and leave it blank.

Sample Instructions for Producing A Geo-Hunt Powerpoint

After our class discusses places, locations, and geography, surf the Internet to find pictures to represent 6 of the following geographic terms as locations in North Carolina. Make sure the six terms are related to each other in some way. Write a caption for each picture that identifies the relationship with the previous picture.

  • Coastal Plain
  • Piedmont
  • Mountain
  • Lake
  • River
  • Coast/Beach
  • Forest
  • Field
  • Barrier Island
  • Sound
  • Ocean

GeoHunts may also be adapted for more advanced terms or more basic terms, expanded to other locations, and adapted to a variety of topics. For instance, assign a HistoHunt to search for information and images related to a particular historical event or period or person or a WeathoHunt to search for images and information related to different aspects of weather, climate, etc. Reading, Science, and Social Studies may all provide topics, vocabulary terms, etc. for designing a “Hunt.”

Why Take Field Trips? Suggestions and Ideas for Consideration

Field trips expand adult students’ learning through active hands-on experiences with the rich resources of the local community. Field trips increase student knowledge and understanding of a subject, provide a basis for contextualized learning, and add realism to the topic of study. In addition, field trips provide opportunities for adult learners to connect learning to work-related skills and knowledge.

Good planning must precede field trips. Careful attention should be given to trip selection, pre-visit preparation, the trip itself, appropriate follow up, and evaluation.
Trip Selection

  1. Identify the rationale, objectives and plan of evaluation for the field trip.
  2. Select the site to be visited. Contact the educational or PR representative for the site and arrange the date and time. Obtain a pre-trip information package if one is available. If one is not available, you may want to design your own. Record addresses, directions, contact persons, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.
  3. Conduct a pre-visit to familiarize yourself with the major features of the field trip. Purchase postcards and posters. Take digital photographs to share with students prior to the visit. Explore the places/exhibitions/sites you plan to visit to get ideas for pre-field trip activities.

Logistics Planning

  1. Apply for administrative approval from departmental chairperson.
  2. Make arrangements for transportation.
  3. If there is a cost, make arrangements to collect fees (or better yet get the money donated).
  4. Make arrangements for meal or sack lunch if needed.
  5. Develop schedule for the day.
  6. Arrange for special equipment -supplies, film, video camera, digital camera.
  7. Submit a list of students who will be attending the field trip to Basic Skills Office.
  8. If required, send the advanced fee to the field trip site.
  9. Create a list of all student names and phone numbers for use in an emergency.
  10. Make nametags if necessary.
    Preparing Students Before the Trip
  1. Discuss the purpose of the field trip and how it relates to skills/objectives.
  2. Introduce visual observation skills. Have students describe in detail ordinary objects, like a paper clip, paintbrush, clothespin, or comb to their classmates.
  3. Introduce vocabulary words that will be used during the tour or visit.
  4. Show photographs or posters of the field trip site or related to exhibits that will be viewed.
  5. Assign students "specialists" roles in one aspect of the topic that they will be studying during the field trip. Students could be grouped in different subject areas related to the field trip topic to research (e.g., history, art, religion, science, environment, etc).
  6. Explore the Website of the location you will be visiting, if there is one.
  7. As a class brainstorm a set of standards of conduct for the trip and discuss suggested spending money, lunch plans, appropriate clothing to wear for the trip including gear for rainy weather.
  8. Discuss with students how to ask good questions and brainstorm a list of open-ended observation questions to gather information during the visit. Record questions on chart paper or in student field trip journals.
  9. Overview the field trip schedule.

Conducting the Trip

On the day of the trip:

  • Pass out name tags if needed
  • Place a class list and student emergency forms in a folder
  • Have a cell phone available
  • Take along an emergency kit
  • Take inventory of food, specific equipment, and other supplies pertinent to the particular field trip.

  • Some Suggested Activities that May Occur During the Field Trip: Plan activities that allow students to work alone, in pairs or small groups. Activities might include:
  • Adventure game "Journey to the World of..."
  • Mystery with clues provided
  • Sketch pages with partial drawings of objects found in the exhibits for students to complete the drawings based on their observations
  • Peepholes in construction paper - cut different sized round holes in construction paper and have students view a part of the exhibition through the peepholes. Ask them to describe what they see, what they notice now that they missed before, and how their perspective changes with each new view
  • Field notebooks for recording answers to prepared questions based on clues
  • Hand drawn postcards to write near the end of the tour that will summarize the field trip visit
  • Field Trip Scavenger Hunt forms specifically designed to address objectives of the trip. Schedule a particular segment of the field trip for a scavenger hunt where students look for particular objects and record them in their Field book or on an observation sheet.

Provide time for students to observe, ask questions, and record key words, ideas and phrases as journal entries in their Field book after viewing each exhibit. Ask follow-up questions as students make observations and listen to presentations. Provide time for students to work in their Field Book writing questions, describing favorite displays or making sketches of artifacts, structures, scenery, etc. If they cannot complete their sketches, encourage them to label them for future completion as to color, detail, etc. Provide time for students to use (tape recorder, camcorder, digital camera) for recording important resources viewed/heard.

Polling Activity: Blue Ribbon - Your Choice
After careful observation, ask students to discuss a particular aspect of the trip. Then ask them to record one sentence in their Field book describing why they felt the object was of key importance.

Post-Field Trip Activities

Just as quality pre-planning is essential to the success of a field trip, planning for appropriate follow-up activities will facilitate student learning and multiply the value of hands-on experiences outside the classroom. The following activities provide a general guide when planning for post-field trip classroom experiences.

  • Provide time for students to share general observations and reactions to field trip experiences
  • Share specific assignments students completed while on the field trip.
  • Create a classroom bulletin board, power point, or website displaying materials developed or collected while on the field trip.
  • Develop a classroom exhibition or slide show that replicates and extends what students observed on the field trip. For example, if the field trip involved an art museum, develop a classroom art museum containing student artwork. If the objectives included math skills, have students develop word problems associated with the trip.
  • Link field trip activities to multiple curricular areas. For example, students can develop vocabulary lists based on field trip observations; record field trip observations in a classroom journal; complete math problems related to actual field trip budget planning; etc.
  • Share and evaluate student assignments/activities from the Field Book.
  • Have the class compose and send thank-you letters to the field trip site host and other persons that supported the field trip. Include favorite objects or special information learned during the field trip.
  • Send a news story highlighting the trip to a local newspaper. Send pictures.

  • Evaluating the Trip

Complete a "Teacher Journal" regarding the field trip. This will provide a good reference for future field trips.

  • What was of unique educational value in this field trip?
  • Did the students meet the objectives/expectations?
  • Was there adequate time?
  • Was there adequate staff and adult supervision?
  • What might be done differently to make this an even better experience in the future?
  • What special points should be emphasized next time?
  • What special problems should be addressed in the future?
  • What would improve a visit to this site in the future?

Share the evaluation with the students, volunteers, hosts from the field trip site, and department administrators.

Adapted from: For Teachers – Pre and Post Field Trip Planning Guide, “Why Take Field Trips?” , retrieved 4/18/2011