Exploring Creation Field Trip Journal

Field trips are one of my children's favorite things to do and since we homeschool, we have the flexibility to take them wherever and whenever. Recently, Apologia Educational Ministries came out with an all new book called Exploring Creation Field Trip Journal that we had the chance to review. We have loved Apologia's science curriculum's over the years so we were looking forward to seeing what this journal offered.

Exploring Creation Field Trip Journal


What Is It?

This journal is a 64 page book that has 6 different sections. It isn't like most typical journals as the pages are done up colorfully to present like a scrapbook. The book is spiral bound and the pages are made of a heavy card stock. The front and back cover are laminated making this journal durable to take with you even on fieldtrips.

The 6 sections of this journal are:

  • Preparing for a Field Trip
  • Field Trip Ideas
  • Places I've Explored Maps
  • Field Trip Pages
  • Special Spot Pages
  • As I See It Pages
Several of the sections also have a page or 2 before it listing specifically how to use that certain section as well as giving you ideas of things you could record or do.

The "Preparing for a Field Trip" section is 2 pages that give ideas of how to get ready for a field trip even a week beforehand. There are tips for teachers and students which would come in handy for a co-op group that is going together.

The "Field Trip Ideas" section is just that, 2 pages of field trip suggestions. They are divided by different topics that then give ideas of places to go and things to do, such as visit a recycling plant or start a garden, Also included in this section is a special link and password that takes you to a webpage that Apologia put together giving even MORE ideas of field trips as well as links to maps,  museums, virtual field trips, etc.

The "Places I've Explored Maps" has 2 pages dedicated to record where you've visited in your own state, 2 pages to list where you've traveled in the United States and 2 pages to list where you've traveled around the world.

The "Field Trip Pages" is a section where you can record about a specific field trip you took. This area is cleverly done up like a scrapbook with a place to draw a map (or maybe even print one out and tape it to this section.) There's a spot to record any books you may have read to prepare for this trip, a place to tape or draw a photo and then a whole section to record about your day in your own words. There are quite a few of these pages so you could use this for many different field trips.



The "Special Spot Pages" is a unique way to document a certain place during the 4 seasons of a year. The idea behind this is to pick a special spot at least 20'x20', whether this is in your backyard, a park or a field. It's supposed to be a place no one maintains. Then one time each season, you are to take a photo of this spot and write down on the specific page your observations noting what changes you see from season to season.

The "As I See It Pages" is a more general section for the student to record field trips or other observations. Some of these pages have prompts for an idea of what to observe and record such as "predators and prey" but many are left blank.

The first thing my children did when getting this journal was to list down the 14 countries they've visited so far. They hadn't realized just how long that list was until seeing it in writing. One of my daughters also started recording the growth in our large vegetable garden by taking weekly photos to attach in the book and writing down the changes she observes. Even though we had done most of our field trips right before getting this journal, we still went back and wrote about our cruise and some of the things we did and memories we made.



A neat thing to note about this journal is it can be used by just one student or you could use it as a family journal where everyone contributes to it. Not only is it a way to journal after you've already completed your field trip but it's a place to also write things down before going somewhere such as a wishlist of sights you might want to see while you are visiting a certain location.

We are looking forward to continuing to explore the list of field trip ideas this journal gave us as well as having a place to write down about what we did! This journal would be a great addition to the end of year portfolios as well.

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Check out my previous Apologia Reviews we've done:
Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics
Zoology 2
Exploring Creation Field Trip Journal Review
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