Virtual field trips allow students and people of all ages to explore places in Kansas without needing to physically travel there. These online tours use photos, videos, audio, interactive elements, and other multimedia components to digitally transport visitors to sites and attractions around the state. Kansas offers several fantastic virtual field trip options that provide detailed views into history, science, nature, and cultural institutions across the state.
These online trips require no permission slips, bus rides, or packed lunches. All you need is an internet-connected device like a computer, phone, or tablet. This allows teachers to easily incorporate supplemental learning activities and for anyone to embark on unique adventures exploring Kansas sites right from their homes.
The virtual field trip options recommended here cover various regions statewide and range from railroads to cowboys to plants. They utilize 360-degree images, expert narratives, mapping features, and other interactive engagements that feel like you are actually at the site itself versus just passively viewing.
Dodge City / Historic Forts
Two “Historic Forts” virtual field trips transport visitors to the western half of Kansas to experience what life was like in the early cowboy days of Dodge City. These multimedia tours from Google Expeditions let you move through modern-day and late 1800s Dodge City to compare landscapes across time. Key sites explored include:
- Boot Hill Museum / Front Street: See where the first settlers established Front Street lined with saloons, dance halls, and shops to entertain cowboys passing through after long cattle drives. Boot Hill itself served as the burial place for many early residents who died from violence or illness.
- Fort Dodge: Pop back to the 1860s to walk through Fort Dodge when it protected settlers from conflicts with native tribes distrustful of newcomers. The fort also helped Kickapoo tribe members safely relocate to a reservation.
- Santa Fe Trail Ruts: Still visible today just west of Dodge City are wagon ruts etched into the terrain from heavy wagon use bringing settlers and supplies along the Santa Fe Trail. These preserved tracks stretch for miles and let visitors visualize intensive historical trail use.
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge
Trek through the unique rock formations, prairie lands, and roaming buffalo herds of this nature refuge near Lawton, OK along the southern Kansas border using this virtual field trip compiled by Google Expeditions.
- Bison Range: Get an up-close view of the refuge’s resident buffalo herd as they graze on the open grasslands and euonymus shrubs native to the refuge.
- Charon Gardens Trail: Hike up the granite rock formations and forested foothills lining this nearly 2-mile trail that includes signs describing the unique plants and trees that grow in the region.
- Wildlife Overlooks: Peer out over the expanse of prairie grasslands that provide habitat for the free-roaming buffalo herd along with other animals like coyotes, deer and longhorn cattle.
Strataca Underground Salt Museum
Journey 650 feet beneath the Earth’s surface to explore an active rock salt mine dating back to 1923 near Hutchinson. This virtual field trip produced by Discovery Education takes you deep inside the mine tunnels to view salt formations upclose and learn about the salt mining process.
- Mining Displays: Examine historical artifacts used by miners along with models showing how they use special equipment to safely extract salt deposits. Compare early 20th century hand tools to today’s advanced electrical powered machines.
- Underground Mine Views: Get a firsthand look at the extensive miner-carved tunnels stretching for over 2,000 acres while miners work. See geological core samples that show the different salt layers deposited under central Kansas over 275 million years ago when it was covered by a shallow sea.
- Model Trains: Admire over 80 feet of model train displays handcarved from salt by miners. Scenes depict towns, carnivals, the Kansas prairie and more with tunnels, tracks and tiny figures all intricately sculpted from rock salt.
Kansas Wetlands Education Center
Investigate diverse wetland ecosystems found at this nature preserve near Great Bend through their multi-part virtual field trip experience geared for middle school instruction. It comprises:
- Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area: View Kansas’ largest inland marsh that provides critical habitat for over 300 bird species migrating along the Central Flyway. Compare current conditions to historical photos.
- Wildlife Observation Building Virtual Tour: Get a 360 degree view from inside this onsite building offering prime panoramic views of the marshes using an interactive map. Click on highlighted animals to learn details about each species commonly seen.
- Great Bend of the Arkansas River: Study this crook of the Arkansas River via historical images to analyze how the river course has changed over the last 150 years as settlers controlled water flows.
- Wetlands Worksheet: Reinforce learnings with a downloadable worksheet to define terms like “riparian,” explain wetland services, and describe common Kansas wetland wildlife.
Key Details on Kansas Virtual Field Trip Options
| Virtual Field Trip | Location | Site Type | Interactive Elements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dodge City / Historic Forts | Dodge City | prairie lands, cowboy history | 360 photos, historic vs. modern comparisons |
| Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge | Lawton, OK | nature preserve | rock formations, wildlife, trail hike |
| Strataca Salt Mine Museum | Hutchinson | active underground salt mine | mining tools/process, model salt sculptures |
| Kansas Wetlands Education Center | Great Bend | wetlands preserve | marsh ecosystem, wildlife building tour |
Conclusion
Virtual exploration enables people to discover the history, nature, and attractions of the state of Kansas without needing to visit in person. Online multimedia tours provide detailed views of things like prairie lands, cowboy culture, wetlands, salt mine tunnels, and more that let you immerse into sites across Kansas just like you were actually there. Teachers can easily access these digital field trips for instructional aids while anyone interested in expanding their understanding of Kansas can take their own journey without even needing to travel. These featured virtual tours offer just a sampling of interactive websites digitally transporting people to places statewide for memorable educational experiences about the diverse offerings to be found across Kansas.
