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Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute
of Popular Science (1939-1991) was contained in a
fairly small building: 40,000 square feet.
Consequently, the building was jammed with children
during the traditional school field trip months of
March, April, and May. Because the building was so
jammed with people during these months, extra staff
was needed to manage the crowds, and, inevitably, the
museum experience for each child suffered due to the
crowding of the building.

One year, in the late 1980s, Buhl Planetarium tried an
experiment to relieve the overcrowding while still
accomodating all of these school groups. We offered
the schools a discounted price if the school field
trip came to Buhl Planetarium in September or October
[September is the "deadest" month of the year for
museum visitation].

However, the experiment failed. Despite the discounted
price, the teachers continued to schedule field trips
in the Spring rather than the Autumn. It seems that
teachers plan their curriculum specifically for field
trips in the Spring. And, part of the reason for this
may be that they find that the children are less
attentive in class when the weather starts getting
warmer in the Spring.

I surmise that the discounted price offer may have
been transmitted to the wrong person--the teacher, who
does not have to worry about school budgets. Had the
discounted price offer been transmitted to the School
District Superintendent, or the School Principal, who
do have to worry about budgets, the result may have
been different!

gaw

--- Maija Sedzielarz <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 14:08:38 -0600 
From: "Maija Sedzielarz" <[log in to unmask]>  Add to
Address Book  Add Mobile Alert 
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Subject: barriers to field trips? 
To: [log in to unmask]

> 
> Has anyone done a survey with teachers in their area
> to identify  
> barriers that teachers perceive to doing field
> trips?  How and who  
> did you identify to survey?
> 
> This is always a challenge - how to identify who is
> not coming and  
> why they are not coming.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> Maija
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Maija Sedzielarz
> Coordinator, School Visit Programs
> Science Museum of Minnesota
> 120 W. Kellogg Blvd.
> St. Paul MN 55102
> 651-221-4554
> [log in to unmask]
> 
> Explorations - gallery self-guides for teachers and
> students
> www.smm.org/explorations

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh
Electronic Mail - < [log in to unmask] >
NEWS - Astronomy, Space, Science:
< http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: 
  < http://www.planetarium.cc > 
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago: 
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer & Optician John A. Brashear: 
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com > 
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: 
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc > 
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh: 
  < http://www.incline.cc >


 
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