🔭 Science, nature and the world · 🏫 Classroom tools
Discovery Education Virtual Field Trips
By Discovery Education, Inc.. Visit Discovery Education Virtual Field Trips
Desk research from the maker's own pages. Not yet tried by us. Checked 2026-10-24.
Free video field trips that classes or families can watch live or on demand. Each one goes behind the scenes somewhere, such as a solar telescope, a national magnet lab, an NBA arena or a steel plant, and comes with an educator guide of standards-aligned activities. Topics span science, careers, health, financial literacy and social studies, with grade bands from early elementary to high school. Most are made with a corporate or agency sponsor.
Our take: A useful free extra for teachers and homeschoolers, with an eye on who sponsored each trip; kids looking for hands-on learning will want more than video.
Checked in a browser
A browser check on 2026-10-25: what loads, the ads and trackers we saw, and what a child meets first. Not a hands-on test.
| Child safety: 4 out of 5 | No ads or chat; Log In, sign-up and 'Request a Demo' links aimed at teachers. |
|---|---|
| Data: 2 out of 5 | Google's ad.doubleclick.net ad-tracking host loaded with Microsoft Clarity, Bing, HubSpot, Marketo, Bizible and New Relic before consent, though no ad was shown; the cookie notice itself says this may be 'a sale or sharing' under state laws. |
| Ease: 3 out of 5 | A large cookie notice covers most of the first screen, and the page is written for teachers. |
| Cost honesty: 4 out of 5 | The field trips are free; the page also pushes the paid platform with 'Request a Demo' and Log In. |
What we found
- Contacted 21 third-party sites, including doubleclick.net, clarity.ms, bing.com, hubspot.com, marketo.net and bizible.com.
- 36 cookies set, from 7 third-party domains including Bing, Clarity and HubSpot, before any choice.
- The cookie notice says identifiers are shared 'to measure ad performance and target ads to you'.
- This page is meant for teachers; each trip lists grades (for example 3-8, 9-12).
From the test: Free video field trips for classes, on a teacher-facing page that loads ad and marketing trackers before consent.
| Ages it suits | grades K-12 (each trip lists grades) |
|---|---|
| What its terms say about age | The website terms say you must be at least 13 to register on DiscoveryEducation.com; the field trips are meant to be shown by a teacher or parent. (terms) |
| Price | Free. Free (Oct 2026); Discovery Education's main classroom platform is a paid school subscription. |
| Works on | Web |
| Account | No account needed |
| Ads | None |
| In-app purchases | None |
| The AI in it | No AI |
What's good
- Free, high-production trips to places kids can't visit
- Educator guides with hands-on activities
- On-demand viewing any time
Watch for
- Most trips are sponsored by companies and show their brands
- Pages are built for teachers; families must pick by grade themselves
- Mostly watching, little interaction
Data and privacy
Discovery Education's privacy policy says it does not sell personal information and deletes data it learns came from a child under 13 without permission; it uses cookies and third-party pixels to advertise its services to past visitors. Read the privacy policy.
Does it work?
No independent study of the field trips found; the maker says each comes with standards-aligned activities.
In the Big Index
Alternatives to Discovery Education Virtual Field Trips
Desk researchFree, with paid extrasNo ads
99math
99math (Estonia) · ages about 5-14 (grades K-8)
A low-effort, free way for teachers to make fact practice lively; parents of kids who dislike timed competition may want a calmer tool.
Desk researchFreeNo ads
Adobe Express for Education
Adobe · ages grades K-12 through a school
A good free option for schools that want design and AI in one tool and will set the admin controls; families cannot set it up for a young child on their own.
Desk researchFreeNo ads
AI Literacy Lessons for Grades K-12
Common Sense Education · ages grades K-12 (AI-specific lessons start in grade 6)
A good free starting point for teachers and parents who want to talk about AI with middle and high schoolers; anyone wanting hands-on AI building should pair it with a project-based course.
Desk researchFreeNo ads
AI Unplugged
Stefan Seegerer and Annabel Lindner (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg) · ages about 10-18 (designed for lower and upper secondary; some activities adapt for primary)
A strong free choice for teachers or homeschool parents who want kids to understand how AI learns without using AI tools; families wanting a ready-to-run app should look elsewhere.
Desk researchThrough schoolsNo ads
Amira Learning
Amira Learning · ages about 5-14 (school product; listed studies run from kindergarten to middle school)
Worth asking about if your child's school uses it; parents cannot buy it, so home users should look at family apps instead.
Desk researchFree, with paid extras
Arcademics
Arcademics · ages about 6-14 (grades 1-8)
Fine for quick fact-fluency races at school or home; families who want no ad tracking or who have a child anxious about speed should skip it.
Where these facts come from
- https://www.discoveryeducation.com/community/virtual-field-trips/
- https://www.discoveryeducation.com/legal/terms/
- https://www.discoveryeducation.com/legal/terms/websites/
- https://www.discoveryeducation.com/legal/privacy/privacy-policy/
- https://nba.discoveryeducation.com/
Prices, terms and features change. Nobody paid to be listed, nothing here is an affiliate link, and Peabody never rates itself. Where we and the maker disagree, the maker's own pages are the ones to trust.