Field Trip

On April 4th, we took a class field trip to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. We started out by meeting at the Main Visitor Center in Porter. While there, we looked around at the bookstore and a room that was full of information about the Dunes. We also watched two short movies about the National Lakeshore as well. After that we drove to Gary to the Paul H. Douglas Center for Environmental Education. This is where we took a short hike through a section of the Miller Woods Trail and talked about the Savannah Oak.  It was absolutely beautiful to walk this short section of the trail.


After we walked the short trail, we went back to the building where we ate our lunch. After lunch, we drove to Bailly Chellberg. We took a short walk on the trail to see the farm and homestead. I think that this was a very neat experience. We talked about how when you book a field trip, a park ranger actually lets you into the home to look around. I think that this would have been a really neat experience to actually see what the house looks like on the inside. However, we were unable to see the inside of the house. Even though we did not see the inside of the house, simply seeing the outside of the homestead and farm was absolutely wonderful.

At Bailly Chellberg there was still a cemetery  and another homestead that could have been explored. However, I was frozen at this point so I did not continue any further exploration. This summer when it is warmer I would like to go back and explore more of these trails.

The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is a great place to go for a field trip. I learned a lot of different things that classrooms can do for a field trip. The best part of having a field trip: it's free! There are so many exciting aspects of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore that classrooms can explore. In my future classroom, I would love to be given the opportunity to take my class to this beautiful location for a field trip. It is especially great since it is close to us. We don't have to travel far to be able to experience this beautiful park.

To learn more about the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, click here.

Social Studies Blog Post #5