In this article, we will explain everything about field trip, what it is, and what its goals are. It will begin with a short explanation of field trip reports and their objectives. It will focus on the stages necessary to create a trip report and offer the structure of one. Finally, it will provide a field report example.
What is a Field Trip Report
If you need to write a field trip report, let’s start with the field trip itself. It is a trip that requires students to utilize some practical or theoretical experiences they have gained from their education and to use them in the real-life setting. Thus, the trip report is written with the purpose of documenting the experience and the learning process. Essentially, field trip writing allows the students to use their knowledge when interacting with environments that can maximize their learning. Students on a field trip should document everything they see and find relevant (or even irrelevant) to make sure that their document relies on only objective information. Every university can have its all demands, but here are the most common demands for such a document that learners can use as a field trip report template.
How to Write a Field Trip Report
Do you know how to write a field trip report? Follow these steps:
- Prepare beforehand. To make a good report on a field trip, it is important to have a recording device or tool with you that will help you to see everything, write down the important elements of your experience, and still have proof of the major details. Make sure that you have everything near you.
- Record everything. Combine writing or voice recording with taking photos or taking some samples (for example, rocks, moss, not the pieces of protected objects) to give some substance to your document.
- Write down the facts. This step is crucial even if you don’t see many trip report templates doing that. It is the hidden work that many people will never even see. Include everything.
A professor Mr. Riggeston, who has been grading reports for more than ten years, highlights this:
“What is a field trip report? It is a tiny adventure of yours. Imagine seeing the world for the first time. Collect and observe everything. Imagine being Bilbo from “The Hobbit,” bravely walking through the woods. You have left your past academic endeavors. Not a single trip report example can prepare you for the joy of seeing and collecting hard facts. You can learn the basics of writing anything, but the main thing is to put your vision at everything and collect and analyze. It sharpens one’s mind like a knife. Once you compile a report, you have a lot of formalities to do, but before that, you are simply a kid in a world that offers you details to investigate.”
- Create a structure. In the section below, we will present you with a sample trip report that you can use. However, do your best to summarize the most important facts from your trip and divide them by sections.
- Write, edit, repeat. Don’t feel too tempted to write and never review the text. The best thing to create a good piece of such a document is to finish it and put it aside if your deadline allows it. Only after that can you read it again. It can be annoying and exhausting, but it has its value.
Structure of a Trip Report
A typical trip report has several critical steps that you can change based on your needs. However, a typical field trip report form is the following:
- Introduction. In this section, you can offer a short overview of the topic and the trip experience. Typically, it offers the readers an explanation of the trip and its main elements.
- Goals of the research. Just like most research papers, every field trip has its goals. Understanding the purposes of every such trip emerges once a student interacts with the teacher. Most educators explain the purposes of the field trip. However, a learner can have one’s own objectives that they can include as well.
- Methods of study. Every field trip includes collecting the information, but they are entirely different. Include the research methods you can use and that make the most sense, from observation to sketching the items.
- Findings. This part of the document includes a list of main data revelations a student has found. In many cases, it includes a topic-by-topic examination.
- Conclusion. This section repeats the previously stated and offers the suggestions for the future clarifications if the student has noticed any gaps deserving to be studied.
Sample Field Trip Report
Introduction
On the 22nd of January 2021, 15 students from my class, our teacher, my mom, and I went to London to get an excursion to Madame Tussauds Museum. We studied the history of European countries and their places of interest. When our teacher asked us to select the place to visit and investigate, we chose Madame Tussauds Museum because it dealt not only with a famous sculptor but with hundreds of outstanding personalities who we could take a picture with.
We decided to learn the address and working hours of the museum. We found out that there were other museums in Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. Even though we could visit other variants in Europe, we decided to select the origin in London. Its address is Marylebone Rd, NW1 5LR in London. According to Google Maps, the nearest subway station is Baker Street. So, we bought plane tickets on the 19th of January 2021 and booked tickets to visit the museum at noon. We arrived at 10.30 AM in London. Then, we had lunch and took a taxi to the subway. At 11.30 AM, we left the subway station and walked to the museum. For 15 minutes, we waited for our teacher and my mother to bring our tickets and enter the museum.
Objectives of the study
Our main goal was to learn the history of the museum and take a photo with the members of the royal family. Our additional goal was to jot down information about the founder of the museum and reflect it in our field trip report. Our teacher in English also asked us to write an essay about one of the personalities we saw in the museum or about our experience connected with the education trip.
Methods of study
Before we decided to visit Madame Tussauds museum, we bought an illustrated guide on Amazon to get ready for the excursion and be prepared to ask questions to satisfy our curiosity. Moreover, we visited different reputable websites to learn more about the museum, including encyclopedias and textbooks. We also interviewed students who had already been to Madame Tussauds before.
So, we used the following research methods:
- Interviews;
- Photography;
- Observing.
Both primary and secondary sources helped us to prepare for the research. Besides, we learned a sample of a field trip report. Our professional essay writers used the sample to know what we would have to introduce in our reports after the trip.
Findings
Our research and excursion let us learn the following information:
Story life of Marie Tussaud
Marie Tussaud was a French sculptor who moved to England at the age of 42. Her uncle was a skillful wax sculptor who used his talent to illustrate human anatomy and then portrayed people. He taught her everything he knew. Voltaire became her first sculpture. The royal family was impressed with her wax figure of the favorite of Louis XVI. They invited her to stay nine years in Versailles. Later, the government wanted to execute her for her loyalty to the royal family and the figures she did to protest. Her uncle’s friends released her, and she was asked to make death masks. Napoleonic wars made her move to London and transport her creations there. She spent 33 years in Britain and only then managed to open her exhibition together with her son in London, in Baker Street, where it is now. There is also her self-portrait at the entrance of the museum. This self-portrait is one of some sculptures that managed to survive in the museum.
History of the museum
Madame Tussauds museum was founded on the 23rd of March 1835. It displays wax figures of outstanding personalities of the world, including the royal family, actors, musicians, politicians, and scientists. In total, there are over 50 models. While Marie was still alive, the museum was famous for its Chamber of Horrors. It had models of murderers and other criminals that terrified the world at the beginning of the XXI century and the victims of the French Revolution. Unfortunately, we did not see that terrific collection because it was removed in 2016 due to its improper ‘taste’. Thus, we visited The Sherlock Holmes exhibition that replaced it. We all liked Conan Doyle’s works and took pictures of the famous characters. Unfortunately, many waxworks were destroyed by the fire in 1925, though many figures were reconstructed.
Wax models of the royal family
The royal family had a particular place. The exhibition included Queen Elizabeth, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Princess Diana, and Prince William. Prince Harry and Megan Markle were moved to another room together with other celebrities because they decided to leave their royal duties.
Each student asked a question about the royal representative that he or she was going to introduce in college essays and reports. I learned more about the British favorite Princess Diana. The catchiest facts included the following information:
- Diana first met her future husband when he was dating her older sister Sarah;
- Diana often visited a spiritual healer to discuss her troubles;
- Freddie Mercury (my favorite singer) was her good friend;
- The Princess walked through landmines in Angola. Afterward, the Ottawa Treaty against the use of landmines was signed, and other countries worldwide decided to join it;
- Diana changed the attitude of the world toward people who suffered from HIV when she gave a hand without a glove to an HIV-positive person in a hospital.
After the excursion, I decided to read other books about Diana because she inspired me.
Conclusion
Our excursion lasted for an hour and a half, so it ended at 1.30 PM. It was successful because all students learned the required information to write academic papers and support them with dependable facts. Moreover, that trip taught us to value life and be active, trying to change the world for the better. Marie Tussaud made not only wax figures. She reflected the history in her creations. Thanks to that, we could observe the most prominent representatives of various epochs. Today, Marie’s followers expand the collection to glorify the contribution of the French sculptor.
Sources
- “Definition of Field Trip.” Www.Dictionary.Com, www.dictionary.com/browse/field-trip. Accessed 1 May 2022.
- London, Madame TussaudsTM. “Hours and Opening Times.” Madame TussaudsTM London, www.madametussauds.com/london/plan-your-visit/before-you-visit/opening-hours. Accessed 1 May 2022.
- London, Madame TussaudsTM. “Our History | Madame Tussauds London.” Madame TussaudsTM London, www.madametussauds.com/london/information/our-history. Accessed 1 May 2022.
- “Madame Tussaud’s, Baker St., London – Illustrated Guide to Madame Tussaud’s: E.V. Gatacre: Amazon.Com: Books.” Amazon.Com, www.amazon.com/Madame-Tussauds-Baker-St-London/dp/B002B1965G. Accessed 1 May 2022.
- “Marie Tussaud | French Modeler.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Apr. 2022, www.britannica.com/biography/Marie-Tussaud.
- “Madame Tussauds: Meghan and Harry Waxworks Moved – CBBC Newsround.” BBC.Co.Uk, 14 May 2021, www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/57099859.
- Royston, Jack. “25 Facts About Princess Diana You Probably Didn’t Know.” Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2021, www.newsweek.com/facts-princess-diana-probably-didnt-know-royals-prince-charles-camilla-1618599.
Some Notes on the Sample
For a better understanding of a field report form and how to create it, you can read the trip report sample above. In this sample, the author used a formal and academic language to tell about an excursion to Madame Tussauds Museum. Notably, this sample trip report contains very strict dates and timeframes for the best prevision. The author lists the involvement of the English teacher and the clear strategies they chose for the task. The findings are easy to comprehend because the author divides them by theme to improve the navigation. Lastly, the conclusion makes the final overview and the ending of the trip. To maximize the trustworthiness of the article, the text lists references. The only disadvantage that could have been improved is the lack of scholarly sources and the use of the non-scholarly ones, such as Britannica.