Kirsten 0:00

Hello there. Happy September. I hope you're having a wonderful day. We are basically in the nitty gritty with school. Either you've been in school for a couple weeks or you are about to start school very, very soon. And I wanted to share specifically about some field trip ideas for anybody living in Texas. This topic came to mind during a recent drive from Arkansas back into where we live in Texas, and we passed by the Audie Murphy Museum, which I had no idea he had a museum for him. It reminded me of the variety of rich educational opportunities that are available for students in Texas, and I wanted to share some of them with you. These activity ideas are all over Texas, and also, at the end, if you're not from Texas, I'll share with you ways you can find some field trip activity ideas.

Kirsten 1:47

One really great source, a few really great sources that I'm going to also link in the show notes is field trip directory.com you can type in some different prompts, and it'll give you a list of ideas. This is for any state, so I specifically linked some social studies Texas related activities. But if you go to the website, you can just check out just whatever state you live in, and then click on statewide, and it'll share with you some field trip ideas. So it doesn't matter what state you're in, go to field trip directory.com, and if you also are in Texas, there is a resource called education in action, where you can book a TEKS based discover Texas field trip. So I think those are some really great ideas. This is a service - they handle the charter bus transportation, meals, reservations, shirts, TEKS based curriculum and also activities. So you can always check out which ones they have available and where they might be. There's a lot of fun ones, like leaders, laws and legends, capital rocks, leaders of the Lone Star State, and water rocks. So there's some that combine science and social studies, and it's applicable for upper elementary and middle school. So I will link that as well. All right, let's go ahead and dive in. I'm just gonna go kind of not in order. There's not really an order, it's just by city. So those are basically, that's basically how it's going to be formatted for this episode.

Kirsten 3:21

So first up, I gotta start with what I first mentioned is in Greenville, which is right outside of Dallas, East of Dallas is the Audie Murphy Museum. This celebrates the life and achievements of Audie Murphy, one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War Two, as well as a successful actor and songwriter. When you visit here, you can have students get the chance to learn about his bravery military history and the impact of war on soldiers and society. It was a big proponent of, like, veteran getting veteran resources and just like, you know, PTSD kind of stuff. So he was a very big advocate, outspoken advocate about that.

Kirsten 4:02

Next up in Fort Worth, you can go to the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. This highlights the contributions of women in the American West. It features stories of pioneers, ranchers and performers. It's a great way for students to learn about women's roles in history, which were often in the past, overlooked. Additionally, in Fort Worth, you can go to the Fort Worth stockyards. You can take a tour. This is a great place where students can experience the Wild West come to life. They can watch a cattle drive, explore historic buildings, and even learn about the history of the cattle industry in Texas, which was a very important industry that rose in the 1800s and beyond.

Kirsten 4:49

All right, going into Waco, we're traveling down the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum can share fascinating look into the history of the Texas Rangers, which were a legendary law enforcement agency during the Republic of Texas. Students can explore exhibits on famous Rangers, historical artifacts and the role the Rangers played in shaping Texas. Some fun fact that I learned as I was creating my Texas history curriculum is that you might have heard of the show Walker Texas Ranger. There was a real Walker. His name was Samuel Hamilton Walker, and he was a Texas Ranger during the Republic of Texas. And there is a county in Texas called Walker County named after him. Also in Waco, you can check out the Waco Mammoth National Monument, and students can see the remains of mammoths that lived 1000s of years ago. This is a really great destination for exploring ancient history and also the science of paleontology. That's a really great kind of connection, especially if you're in middle school and you have science students.

Kirsten 6:07

Okay, going into Dallas, we're going back up a little bit. Dallas has the African American Museum. This showcases African American artistic, cultural and historical contributions. The museum also features a wide range of exhibits, including art historical documents and cultural artifacts. This is a really great way for students to get a deeper understanding of African American History and its impact on Texas and the nation as a whole. Moving east to Houston, I'm going to recommend the George Ranch Historical Park in Richmond, Texas. This is something that we've taken our kids on, and it is so much fun. It gives students a look at 100 years of Texas history, from early settlers to the mid 20th century, and it's a great way to explore Texas's cultural heritage. It's like a live History Museum. People are dressed in the decade based off of which option you choose. There's one from the 1830s there's like a sharecroppers farm, and there's also, you can see them roping cattle, and you can even taste some. They'll make, like biscuits in front of you. And kind of taste it, you can taste it, and it's a lot of fun. It's a it's a really interesting and fun experience.

Kirsten 7:21

There's also taste of Texas. This is something at our school, fourth graders did a tour on. It's a restaurant, and it's, I think, close. It's in closer in Houston, I think, close to Katy. And it provides students with, if you do the tour during the day, provides students with a culinary journey through Texas history. It combines food with the lessons on state heritage. It's a really fun experience, from what I've been told, going into Austin, there's the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. This offers exhibits on the history of Texas from early indigenous tribes to the present day, and it is a comprehensive resource for understanding the diverse and complex history of Texas. I've been there several times. It's an amazing museum located in downtown Austin. There's also pioneer farms, which gives a glimpse into life in the 1800s very similar to George Ranch Historical Park. Students can experience pioneer life through interactive exhibits, historical buildings and live demonstrations.

Kirsten 8:32

And then, if you go east of Austin, you can head to McKinney Falls State Park. This is a great opportunity to explore the geology, ecology and the natural history of Texas. This is also a great spot for a nature hike or a lesson on the geography of Texas as a whole, if you're kind of in that area of talking about different landforms in Texas, and speaking of landforms in Texas, if you go north of Austin in Georgetown, there's the inner space caverns. There are stunning limestone caves that give a unique learning experience about the natural history of the area. And students can explore the underground world. That's right, it's underground, and they can learn about the formation of caves and fossils found within them.

Kirsten 9:20

Moving into San Antonio, the Alamo of course, is a great site for learning about the Texas Revolution and the state's fight for independence. And there is also the witty museum where you can learn about the natural history science and South Texas heritage. It offers interactive exhibits and programs that engage students about learning about the region's history and its natural environment.

Kirsten 9:49

All right, I've got a few more field trip suggestions. One that I've been to in College Station is the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum. This is a great in depth look at the life and Presidency of George H W Bush, students can explore exhibits on political history, leadership and the events that shaped the late 20th century.

Up in Amarillo, the American cowboy museum celebrates the cowboy culture and its impact on American history. This is a great place for students to learn about the lifestyle skills and contributions of cowboys to the development of the American West.

And last but not least, if you go or live in El Paso, there's the El Paso Museum of History. This is a great comprehensive view of the region's history, from its indigenous peoples to present day. This exhibit covers a wide range of topics, including the border region's unique cultural and historical significance.

So to recap all of those field trip locations, there's the Audi Murphy Museum in Greenville, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, the Fort Worth stockyards, the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, the Waco mammoth National Monument, the African American Museum in Dallas, the George ranch Historical Park in Richmond, Texas, Taste of Texas in Houston, the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, Pioneer farms in Austin, McKinney Falls State Park in Austin, interspace caverns in Georgetown, the Alamo in San Antonio, the witty Museum in San Antonio, the George Buch Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, the American cowboy Museum in Amarillo, and the El Paso Museum of History. So that is 17 total, if I did my counting right, hopefully you got some good ideas that you can add to your bucket list of where you want to take your students.

And if you're not in Texas, don't worry. Finding great field trip ideas in your area is easy. Start by exploring local museums, historical sites and natural parks, and you can also reach out to cultural organizations and educational institutions for recommendations. Another idea is to join educator groups and forums to share and discover new ideas. Reddit, amazingly, is a pretty good source for finding some field trip ideas. Then you can also, additionally go to field trip directory.com All right, thanks again for listening to this episode. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week.