2020 – What a year! We are living in unprecedented times with a global pandemic.  Strict social distancing and hygiene rules have made school excursions almost impossible.  However, that doesn’t mean we have to stop experiencing other places together. A great way to hook your students’ interest in a new topic is through a virtual excursion. You can visit monuments, museums, other countries, the depths of the ocean, even the solar system with the help of a virtual excursion. They can be organised with your students safely at school or at home. Here is a list of 10 different virtual excursion options available. The best part? They’re all free!

Zoos Victoria

Zoos Victoria are offering free virtual excursion programs. You will be connected with an expert educator working remotely to talk directly to you and your class for 30 minutes. Some topics available include; Nature Play, Wild Explorers, Aussie Animals, Call of the wild, Predator Prey and Animal Classifications. Each excursion also includes a teacher resource pack. Find out more information by clicking here.

Buckingham Palace 

Take your class on a virtual tour around Buckingham Palace. You can access areas such as the Grand Staircase, the White Drawing Room the Throne Room and the Blue Drawing Room. Click here for the video link.

 Anne Frank House 

Here you can watch the Anne Frank video diary, look around the Secret Annex, explore using virtual reality using an app and even visit an online exhibition about Anne Frank’s life.  

Colosseum 

Bring Italy to your classroom with a detailed tour of the colosseum. Explore each level and look at the detail in this incredible building. Click the link here. 

Great Wall of China 

Explore the amazing Great Wall on China on this virtual tour. The scenery is incredible and it gives you an insight into the amazing landscape. There are also facts that pop up along the tour so your class can learn about the history of the wall along the way. Click here to view more.

Canadian Farm Tour 

Explore a wide range of food and farm processes. Your class can explore how milk and cheese are produced, study grain farms, sheep farms, mink farms, egg farm and processing facilities, oat farms, pig farms and an apple orchard. The website has fantastic engaging videos and facts to keep kids engaged, view more here. 

International Space Station 

Watch videos, learn about missions, and learn about life on the international space station. Astronauts take you on a tour so you can explore what life is like in space. Click here.

Mars 

The Mars Curiosity Rover takes you on a journey over the real surface of Mars. You can learn about Curisity Rover, and all about the red planet. You could easily spend hours on this site getting lost in the vast information available. See for yourself here.  

Under the Sea 

This is an hour-long video for students in primary school. It explores life in our ocean, how some physical aspects of the deep sea are hard to explore and what scientists have done to travel to our deepest trenches. It includes a teacher resource and an experiment to conduct after the video. See here for more information.

Australian Museum 

Take a virtual tour through the Australian Museum. You can click on a picture of an animal at the bottom of the page, and the tour will take you straight to that animal’s display. Click here to see.

 

All of these free virtual excursions can be done in your classroom or through remote learning at home. They are all a great way to hook your student’s interest before starting a topic, or could be a great way to end a unit of work

.