Free Virtual Field Trips
Introduction
In this part of the website, you will find links to some self-guided, immersive virtual field trips you can use in your teaching.
These were produced as part of the More Inclusive Fieldwork project and are offered merely as examples. They are not presented as exemplars, however, because virtual field trips can take many different forms.
On each virtual field trip home page, you will find the following:
✺ brief details of location and themes
✺ a link to the virtual field trip itself
✺ a short commentary on the details of the resource
We also provide, elsewhere on this site, links to download some of the images used in the creation of these virtual field trips. These can be used to practise the desk-based part of virtual field trip creation.
We do not provide links to download the final web-based versions of the virtual field trips because of large file sizes. For example, the Coire Ardair virtual field trip occupies 2.73 GB of disk space, and comprises 33,942 files in 5,429 folders!
A reason for the size and complexity is that these virtual field trips are based around multi-resolution image tiles, with more detailed versions loading as you zoom in (or view on a higher resolution monitor). This is the same approach as Google Earth.
Table of Contents
We have created VFT for popular, well-known fieldwork destinations. We hope staff leading fieldwork to these locations will find the VFTs useful. Please do get in touch with the project team with any feedback.
Even if you do not run fieldwork to these locations, you can still use our immersive, self-guided virtual field trips in your teaching. You can tailor the student experience through worksheets and other activities.
Virtual Field Trips produce by the More Inclusive Fieldwork Team
Glen Roy Virtual Field Trip
This classic site is internationally renowned for its visually impressive ice-dammed lake shorelines. Produced during the Loch Lomond (Younger Dryas) Stadial (12.9–11.7 ka BP), these shorelines played an important part in the development of the glacial theory in the 19th century, and they continue to be studied today. Other features present include gravel fans, moraines, slope failures, and a range of fluvial features. This virtual field trip can also be used to consider geoconservation and land management.
Imagery acquired: April 2022
Coire Ardair Virtual Field Trip
This is a northeast-facing corrie located in the Monadhliath Mountains of Scotland. It was last occupied by ice during the Loch Lomond (Younger Dryas) Stadial (12.9–11.7 ka BP). This site is notable for its well-developed recessional moraines and impressive corrie. A range of slope and river features are also visible.
Imagery: April 2022
Slapton Virtual Field Trip
Located in South Devon, Slapton shingle ridge separates a freshwater lagoon from the sea. It is a product of postglacial (Holocene) sea-level rise, which transported predominantly flint and quartz shingle onshore. Today, storm events and littoral drift continue to supply sediment to the ridge.
Vegetated shingle is a relatively rare habitat, and the plants and insects on this ridge are of high conservation importance.
Prawle Point Virtual Field Trip
This coastal virtual field trip extends from Prawle Point to Gorah Rocks in South Devon (SW England). It features a sequence of shore platforms, intertidal wave-cut platforms, exposed solifluction (head) deposits, and tors. In addition, there is a notable contrast in biological communities between the relatively sheltered rocky shore of Gorah Rocks and the highly exposed Langerstone Point.
Seatown Virtual Field Trip
This coastal virtual field trip covers the area to the east of Seatown in Dorset, SW England. This area, which is part of the Jurassic Coast, is well known for its landslides. Around Seatown, the occurrence of a thick cap of sandy sediments (Lower Cretaceous) on top of clays is an important factor in slope failures. The soft, impermeable clay increases groundwater pressures and acts as a failure plane.
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