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NEW! Virtual Reality Field Trip Program
Take a virtual trip to the landfill, explore restored prairie filled with native plants and animals, and discover where your recycling goes once it leaves your curb, all without leaving the classroom. These experiences are part of Metro Waste Authority's new virtual reality field trip program.
About the Program
Teachers in eligible communities* can reserve a kit of 15 virtual reality goggles and a teacher tablet for one-week time blocks. Each kit features virtual field trips to Metro Waste Authority’s numerous locations, where we handle garbage, recycling, and hazardous materials that come from households across the metro.
The virtual reality kits allow students to visit sites in 3D, while supplemental resources like interactive virtual tours can be explored using your personal tablets or computers. These supplemental resources include 360-degree interactive photos, videos, games, phenomena, and multimedia resources that educate about diversion, management of solid waste, and sustainability.
These age-appropriate experiences are tailored to grade spans K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12, and can easily be aligned with Iowa Core Social Studies and NGSS science standards. These plug-and-play kits also include a wireless router with all the devices pre-connected, making it a snap to get your students started on a virtual adventure – no internet required!
Supporting Resources
Planning to use the kit with students? Check out our supporting resources here, including teacher guides, student guides, and work pages:
*Eligible communities include Altoona, Alleman, Ankeny, Bondurant, Carlisle, Clive, Elkhart, Grimes, Hartford, Johnston, Mingo, Mitchellville, Norwalk, Pleasant Hill, Polk City, Prairie City, Runnells, Urbandale, West Des Moines, Windsor Heights.