1. Title of Grant: Target Field Trip Grant
Think Outside the Classroom
Learning opportunities extend far beyond the classroom. But schools are finding it more and more
difficult to bring students to museums, historical sites and cultural organizations. Field Trip Grants
help give children these unique, firsthand learning experiences.
Since launching the program in 2007, Target has awarded more than $16 million in grants —
providing 2 million students in all 50 states with the opportunity to enhance their studies in the arts,
math, science and social studies.
As part of the program, each Target store will award three Target Field Trip Grants to K—12 schools
nationwide—enabling one in 25 schools throughout the U.S. to send a classroom on a field trip.
http://sites.target.com/site/en/company/page.jsp?contentId=WCMP04-031880
Research Evidence
There is research that indicates that field trips are a valuable part of the
science education of elementary school children. Field trips have clear cognitive
and affective benefits. The major benefits of field trips are the development of
more positive attitudes toward science, the learning of certain science facts,
concepts, and related skills, and the improvement of the social climate in class.
Teachers should strive to take students on field trips which provide moderate

2. amounts of novelty. As students gain experience, more elaborate and longer
trips are needed. These are far more important than the short trip behind the
school (Falk and Balling, 1979).
Other investigations found the importance of hands-on activities during
field trips. Field trips that required hands-on activities seem to have a positive'
impact on student ability to recall information learned on the educational
excursion, and students tend to enjoy this type of experience when compared to
field trips that didn't encompass hands-on activities. Most participants revealed
that they experienced enhanced camaraderie with fellow students, teachers, and
chaperones via their participation. According to the study participants, science
and history concepts and knowledge was reinforced through experiences at
museums, zoos, and historical sites. This study found that field trips, which bring
students outside of the classroom and into the real world, are both educationally
and socially beneficial for the participants (Pace and Tesi, 2004).
When discussing suggestions for field trips that K-12 students could
potentially participate in, several of the participants recommended taking
students to hands-on science museums, outdoor trips working with nature, and
having students bake or create artwork in connection to a multicultural lesson at
a cultural site. This indicates that hands-on activities may be a beneficial asset in
reinforcing subject matter from the classroom according to the findings of Strauss
(2001), and Knapp (2000).
It appears that field trips can be both educational and social experiences
for students. Therefore, it may be beneficial to have more than one field trip per

3. year in order to expose pupils to a variety of activities pertaining to the curriculum
and to allow them to socialize outside of the classroom (Pace and Tesi, 2004).
Rationale
As a media specialist, I would like to be able to bring students to the
author/writer instead of having the author/writer come to them. I think the
experience of getting out of school to go hear an actual historian would be more
memorable for our students who rarely get that kind of opportunity.
According to research evidence listed above, it appears that class field
trips to museums, historical sites, and zoos are effective in reinforcing the
subjects of science and history. With this thought in mind, an outdoor fieldtrip to
Stone Mountain Park is the perfect spot for our fifth grade students. There is so
much history to be seen and discussed at Stone Mountain Park. Not to mention,
the science and geology with the actual granite stone rising out of the ground is
amazing and needs to be experienced. It is marvelous landform found in
Georgia and most of our students have never left our small town of Homer. Two
subjects can be seen first hand at an outdoor field trip at Stone Mountain, earth
science and Civil War History. Below are the proposed activities our students will
experience;
Hands on History with Peter Bonner
Atlanta Campaign
Students discover not only the good and bad of

4. the Civil War but the wacky, weird and funny, too! Peter Bonner is a local
historian, actor and author with a long history of writing and performing many
engaging programs for schools, television and historic sites throughout metro
Atlanta. Peter will lead students through an interactive program about the Atlanta
Campaign, featuring authentic items from the period that the students can touch,
as well as a self-guided tour through the artifacts and exhibits in the Discovering
Stone Mountain Museum.
At Stone Mountain Park students will discover not only the good and bad
of the Civil War but the wacky, weird and funny too! Peter Bonner, a well known
historian and storyteller, will lead students through an interactive program about
the Atlanta Campaign featuring authentic items from the time period that your
students can handle (Stone Mountain Park, 2010)
In addition to hands-on history, we also would like to incorporate science
and go to the top of Stone Mountain to explore earth science and geology
concepts in our curriculum. Landforms of Georgia are important in fifth grade
and weathering and erosion is part of our curriculum standards. Stone Mountain
is a wonderful example of weathering and erosion in action. Students would love
to see it in person!
Curriculum Objectives-
Social Studies-Historical Understandings-Civil War

5. SS5H1 The student will explain the causes, major events, and
consequences of the Civil War.
a. Identify Uncle Tom’s Cabin and John Brown’s raid on Harper’s
Ferry, and explain how each of these events was related to the Civil
War.
b. Discuss how the issues of states’ rights and slavery increased
tensions between the North and South.
c. Identify major battles and campaigns: Fort Sumter, Gettysburg,
the Atlanta Campaign, Sherman’s March to the Sea, and
Appomattox Court House.
d. Describe the roles of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses
S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.
e. Describe the effects of war on the North and South.
Earth Science-Includes Landforms of Georgia
S5E1. Students will identify surface features of the Earth caused by
constructive and destructive processes.
b. Identify and find examples of surface features caused by
destructive processes.
• Erosion (water—rivers, oceans, wind), Weathering, Impact
of organisms, Earthquake,
Evaluation
Students will return to school and write in their journals what they learned
from the outdoor fieldtrip. These summaries will be used by the teacher to

6. informally evaluate knowledge, thoughts, and feelings about the field trip.
They will also visit the library to conclude their experience with some
research questions that they establish for themselves. This research will be titled
“Things I still want to know about the Civil War.” The classroom teacher will then
allow students to conduct their own research projects for the classroom.
Follow up activities and discussions in the classroom will be used to check for
understanding. Students will finally participate in a performance assessment in
which they will be put into groups and plan a dramatized skit of the things they
learned in both social studies and science.
Budget
Hands on History Program with Peter Bonner- Atlanta Campaign plus the cost of
Summit Skyride to the top of Stone Mountain.
Cost of tickets per child $15.00 x 50 # Tickets= $750($12.00 + Summit Skyride)
Cost of school bus $1.00 x 136miles =$136(This includes there and back)
(Map quest, 2010)
Cost of bus driver 1 driver = $40 a day
Total cost of field trip = $926
The field trip that I am requesting funds for is a hands-on history program
about the Atlanta Campaign and a skyride to the top of Stone Mountain. The
total cost for tickets, school bus, and bus driver will be $926. A bonus for all

7. students will be that all Field trip attendees will receive one free child Adventure
Pass to return to the Park with a paid accompanying adult at a later date.
References
Falk, John H. and Balling John D (1979). Setting a Neglected Variable in Science
Education: Investigations Into Outdoor Field Trips. Smithsonian Institution
pp 105.
Knapp, D. (2000). Memorable experiences of as cience field trip. School Science
& Teaching. 100, 65-73.
Map quest (2010). http://www.mapquest.com/. Retrieved February 12, 2010
Pace, Stefanie and Roger, Tesi (2004). Adult's Perception of Field Trips Taken
within Grades K-12: Eight Case Studies in the New York Metropolitan
Area. Education 125(1) pp. 11.
Strauss, V. (2001). Going places with class: schools take students to
learn farther afield and more frequently. The Washington Post, p.BOl.
Stone Mountain Park. (2010).
http://www.stonemountainpark.com/school-programs/field-trip-options/.
Retrieved February 12, 2010