Take a virtual field trip to Kentucky’s urban and rural settings; mountains, rivers, streams, and wetlands; and karst and sinkholes to learn about watersheds, areas of land that catch rain and snow and drain into common waterways. Large watersheds are made up of many smaller watersheds, as demonstrated in an animation showing how all Kentucky rivers flow into larger and larger basins before draining into the Mississippi River and, ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico. Students learn about the most common forms of non-source water pollution and what individuals, families, and communities can do to prevent it.

The first of the two 15-minute programs is targeted to grades 3-5 and the second to grades 6-8. Produced 2008.

Program of Studies:
Earth/Space Science: The Earth and the Universe
Unifying Concepts: Interdependence

This fun and educational video celebrating 100 years of powered flight spotlights several exhibits at the museum, located at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, including the first aircraft built and flown in Kentucky and the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame. It also features segments on women in aviation and Kentucky aviation pioneers. A look at the Aviation Museum’s annual Summer Camp for students ages 10-15 demonstrates how the study of aviation fits into many curriculum areas, including science, math, and social studies. Produced 2003.

Program of Studies
Physical Science: Motion and Forces
Social Studies: Historical Perspective
Practical Living/Vocational Studies: Career Awareness, Exploration, Planning

Harrodstown (now Harrodsburg) and Boonesborough, two of Kentucky’s 18th century settlements, provide an intriguing glimpse into Kentucky’s pioneer past. Students will learn why early settlers moved to Kentucky as well as the routes they traveled. Early settlers encountered many barriers to exploration and settlement, experienced conflict and compromise in their interactions with Kentucky’s native peoples, and endured many hardships as they used the natural resources to survive and establish communities on the frontier. Along the way, these early pioneers created a unique culture and forever changed the physical environment of the land they settled.

Through the video and web site, students visit these recontructed forts and experience what daily life was like for pioneers as they watch re-enactors and craftspeople demonstrate the responsibilities and areas of specialization of the members of a settlement community.

The web site includes a virtual tour of the forts, a vocabulary review, and a guessing game, where students identify interesting objects in the forts. Teaching tools include a viewing guide activity and multiple choice quiz. Produced 2006.

Program of Studies:
Social Studies: Cultures and Societies, Geography, Historical Perspective

A simple hike through the woods turns into a learning experience when three teenagers meet up with a forester from the Kentucky Division of Forestry. Through their discussions with the forester, interviews with other experts, and a video exploration of the forest, our hikers and your students learn about the history of Kentucky forests, the natural and human influences which have shaped them, and their future. Content areas covered include: environmental science, life science, history, geography, and economics.

Visit the web site to find student activities such as a Habitats Game where students match plants and animals to the habitats best suited for them, fun facts about tree products and forestry careers, and a Chestnut slideshow where students learn about work to save the American Chestnut tree. Produced by KET, the USDA Forest Service, Kentucky Division of Forestry, and other partners in 2002. This series is correlated to a comprehensive forestry curriculum guide located at the web site.

Program of Studies
Physical Science: Structure and Transformation of Matter, Motion and Forces
Earth/Space Science: The Earth and the Universe
Biological Science: Biological Change
Unifying Concepts: Energy Transformations, Interdependence
Social Studies: Economics, Historical Perspective, Geography
Practial Living/Vocational Studies: Career Awareness, Exploration, Planning

A geologist and a science teacher show students how to identify and date rocks as they explore Jenkins Pound Gap in Letcher County. This is the first site in Kentucky designated as geologically significant. Geologist Frank Ettensohn and teacher Kim Alexander discuss how early settlers used the Pound Gap as an easy crossing through the Pine Mountain Ridge. As students see how layers of rocks formed and moved over time, they’ll see examples from the Devonian through the Mississippian to the Pennsylvanian periods, with lots of explanations and visible examples of aging. Produced 2000, updated 2002.

Students explore:

• how weathering and erosion caused the formation of a gap;
• what cultural and economic effects the gap had on the region;
• how environments move "in and out" through time;
• differences between shale, sandstone, coal, limestone and dolomite;
• how to identify properties of rock in terms of color, texture, and hardness.

Program of Studies
Science: Earth/Space Science: The Earth and the Universe
Biological Science: Unity and Diversity, Biological Change
Unifying Concepts: Energy Transformations, Interdependence
Social Studies: Geography

The Goggin family has owned and operated a beef cattle farm in Boyle County for three generations. During this one-hour visit, family members show us around the farm and answer questions like these:

• Why do they raise beef cattle?
• What role does the veterinarian play in the operation?
• How is artificial insemination used?
• How do cows digest grass?
• What’s a day on the farm like for kids?

Co-produced by KET and University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, 1997.

Note: The program shows real-life video of the intestines and digestive system of a cow.

Program of Studies
Physical Science: Structure and Transformation of Matter
Practical Living/Vocational Studies: Career Awareness, Exploration, Planning

During a field trip to Margaux Farm in Woodford County, students learn:

• what makes the Bluegrass region so good for raising horses and other livestock;
• what a farrier does;
• what a typical day on a horse farm is like;
• how a veterinarian knows that a mare is in foal; and
• how thoroughbred horses are bred (limited information).

Co-produced by KET and University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, produced 1996.

Program of Studies
Social Studies: Geography
Practical Living/Vocational Studies: Career Awareness, Exploration, Planning

Learn about the swine industry without leaving your classroom. Students whose experience with pigs might consist of watching the movie Babe might be curious to learn what life is like on a pig farm. At BLT Farm in Hardin County, students learn what makes Kentucky so good for raising pigs and other livestock, what a typical day on a pig farm is like, how a veterinarian clips needle teeth, and a little about the life cycle of swine. Collaboratively developed by KET, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, and the Kentucky Farm Bureau in 1997.

Program of Studies
Biological Science: Biological Change
Social Studies: Geography
Practical Living/Vocational Studies: Career Awareness, Exploration, Planning

Learn about the daily workings of a vet clinic on a field trip to Jessamine Veterinary Clinic. There William McCaw, Dan Bowling, and Stacey Burdick answer questions and give visitors a glimpse of their daily activities. Students:

• see how difficult it is to be a veterinarian;
• learn how a veterinarian cleans animal’s teeth;
• find out how veterinarians use computers and other technology;
• observe problem-solving skills used to diagnose non-verbal patients;
• discover careers available to people who want to work with animals;
• follow several cases from start to finish; and
• meet a variety of animals: cats, dogs, horses, cows, and some exotic pets.

Program of Studies
Biological Science: Biological Change
Practical Living/Vocational Studies: Career Awareness, Exploration, Planning

KET and the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture spent a year documenting the work of orchard owners Mark and Don Haney, who live near Somerset, Kentucky. Students learn about:

• the crucial role played by honeybees in fruit production;
• the importance of pruning trees in winter;
• how many apples are produced on one tree;
• the economics of operating a successful orchard; and
• the fun of visiting an orchard to pick your own apples.

Program of Studies
Biological Science: Biological Change
Practical Living/Vocational Studies: Career Awareness, Exploration, Planning

Tour the world’s largest cave system with National Park Service rangers. They provide fascinating information at each stop. See the beautiful Frozen Niagara, the blind fish, Native American artifacts, the “bottomless” pit, and unique passageways underground. Squeeze through some tight places while exploring Fat Man’s Misery and the Wild Caving tour, and learn about careers in park service and science. Produced 1997.

Teachers may choose to use the trip in the following segments:

1. Beauty and Diversity of the Cave
2. History and Geology of the Cave
3. Animal Species of the Cave
4. The Role of Water

Program of Studies
Biological Science: Biological Change
Earth/Space Science: The Earth and the Universe
Practical Living/Vocational Studies: Career Awareness, Exploration, Planning

The Battle of Perryville marks the last major attempt of the Confederate States of America to claim Kentucky. Learn how this battle changed this town forever by exploring what happened on that tragic day, October 8, 1862. The field trip includes descriptions of what life was like for soldiers in 1862, reenactments of war, and an archeological dig with high school students. Produced 1999.

Just beyond the Louisville skyline lies a geological and environmental treasure called the Falls of the Ohio. This area is one of the world’s largest exposed Devonian age fossil beds. Here, 265 species of bird and 125 species of fish now live in this nature preserve. On this field trip, students will:

• visit the outer fossil beds and see the fossils of many Devonian age creatures.
• learn how fossils are formed.
• find out how glacial actcion exposed the fossil beds and formed the Ohio River Valley.
• learn the importance of the falls to early Native Americans and eventually to the development of the Louisville area.
• see some of the animals that now call the Falls of the Ohio home.
• tour the Interpretive Center and get a behind-the-scenes look at how realistic displays were created.

Produced 1999.

Program of Studies
Physical Science: Structure and Transformation of Matter, Motion and Forces
Earth/Space Science: The Earth and the Universe
Biological Science: Biological Change
Unifying Concepts: Energy Transformations
Social Studies: Geography

The animals and staff of the Louisville Zoo host a very special behind-the-scenes tour for Kentucky teachers and students. See how training of animals makes caring for them easier for zoo staff. Learn about the successful captive breeding program for the black-footed ferret; watch a zoo veterinarian at work; and learn about an innovative rotation system which allows animals to move between different habitats. Produced 1999.

Program of Studies
Biological Science: Unity and Diversity
Practical Living/Vocational Studies: Career Awareness, Exploration, Planning

Take a trip through time to the nineteenth century in Eastern Kentucky. The Mountain Homeplace is an interpretive working farm in Paintsville, Kentucky. Local author, John David Preston, provides historical perspective on the development of the region. Re-enactors demonstrate what rural life was like from 1850-1875. Produced 1999.

• learn how wilderness can be turned into a mountain homestead;
• visit a one-room school house;
• meet the preacher and learn about customs of the rural church;
• find out how the blacksmith bends iron and makes a cooking fork;
• follow children as they dance folk dances and play dulcimers; and
• observe plowing, cooking, spinning, and carving the 1850s way.

Program of Studies
Social Studies: Cultures and Society, Geography, Historical Perspective

Located in Madison County near Richmond, White Hall was home to emancipationist Cassius Marcellus Clay (1810-1903), a naturalist, newspaper publisher, and well-known orator who served as U.S. minister to Russia from 1861-1869. Clay is credited with urging President Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation freeing American slaves. As students move through White Hall’s stately rooms, they learn about Clay’s long and varied career and his involvement in the Mexican-American and Civil Wars. They’ll also learn about his daughter, Laura Clay, who was active in the women’s rights movement of the 19th and early 20th century. Produced 2000.

Program of Studies
Social Studies: Government and Civics, Cultures and Societies, Historical Perspective

Tucked away in Kentucky’s cave country is a remarkable regional theater company: Horse Cave Theatre, which has been bringing both stage classics and original dramas to audiences from throughout the region since 1977. Go behind the scenes to explore what it takes to mount a theatrical production and meet the people whose professionalism and dedication to both theater and education make Horse Cave a vibrant part of its community. Produced 2002.

Program of Studies
Arts and Humanities: Structure in the Arts, Humanity in the Arts
Practical Living/Vocational Studies: Career Awareness, Exploration, Planning

KET takes students on an electronic visit to the Louisville office of the National Weather Service, one of three regional offices that provide services to Kentucky. Students learn about:

• the history and mission of the National Weather Service;
• professionals who work there;
• different types of forecasting, equipment and technology;
• Doppler radar and satellites; and
• safety precautions students should follow.

Program of Studies:
Physical Science: Motion and Forces
Practical Living/Vocational Studies: Career Awareness, Exploration, Planning
Health Eduation: Safety

Visit the Kentucky Opera in Louisville as the company prepares for a production of the American opera Susannah. A brief history of opera and descriptions of artistic styles help students develop an appreciation for this unique performance event. A backstage, behind-the-scenes tour shows the sets, costumes, lighting and make-up while providing insight into the many skills necessary to produce live musical and theatrical productions.

At the field trip web site, find a guide to Susannah, which includes a description of the acts, character guide, information about the composer, and more. There is also a guide to Die Fledermaus, which is also featured in the field trip, and information about careers. Produced 2000.

Program of Studies
Arts and Humanities: Structure in the Arts, Humanity in the Arts, Purposes for Creating the Arts

This field trip explores the Kentucky Center for the Arts in Louisville, Kentucky’s largest performing arts space, including the Center’s different theaters. Meet actors and musicians and follow a performance from the initial planning to the excitement of opening night. Produced 1999.

Program of Studies
Arts and Humanities: Structure in the Arts, Humanity in the Arts, Purposes for Creating the Arts

This field trip gives a behind-the-scenes look at the operation of the J.B. Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky’s oldest and largest art museum. Hosted by KET’s former Humanities instructor Liz Jewell, the program begins on the loading dock as crates arrive for a traveling exhibition of Rodin sculpture. From there students look at the many and varied professions that are required to mount an exhibit, care for the art, and make the museum an interesting and inviting place to visit. Produced 1999.

Program of Studies
Arts and Humanities: Structure in the Arts, Humanity in the Arts, Purposes for Creating the Arts
Practical Living/Vocational Studies: Career Awareness, Exploration, Planning