Students Take Virtual Field Trip to Michigan Orchard
Over 20,000 students participate in online field trip
LANSING, Mich. – This morning, the Michigan Apple Committee virtually welcomed a registered audience of over 20,000 elementary-aged students to Wittenbach’s Orchard. This was made possible through MAC’s partnership with Virtual Farm Trips®. The program, provided and produced by Shift•ology Communication, brings free, engaging, live and on-demand virtual farm trips from across the country directly to classrooms through Zoom and YouTube.
This live-streamed “field trip” followed Elizabeth Pauls, a fifth-generation apple farmer, as she showed students how an apple grows, from grafting to planting and blossom to fruit. Pauls also took the time to discuss the different varieties of apples, how pollinators help farmers during blossom time, and how apples are picked and packaged to be ready to eat. Students were given the opportunity to ask questions and receive instant feedback.
“Virtual Farm Trips has developed a unique method for bringing together a lot of students and giving them virtual access to an orchard. We are looking forward to hearing from the participants about their experience with this engaging topic,” says Diane Smith, executive director of the Michigan Apple Committee.
A recording of the live-streamed field trip is now available for all viewers on the MAC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MichiganApples. MAC will be producing two more Virtual Farm Trips over the course of the next two years.
“We have been seeking new and innovative ways to reach children and educate them about the Michigan Apple industry, along with their health benefits. We recently heard about this program and decided to give it a try with today’s tour. We are certainly thrilled with the response in terms of classrooms registered,” said Smith.
The Michigan Apple Committee is a grower-funded nonprofit organization devoted to marketing, education and research activities to distinguish the Michigan apple and encourage its consumption in Michigan and around the world. For more information, visit MichiganApples.com.