What would I need to do to adequately prepare my students before the visit?

Before the fieldtrip, I would prepare my students by mentioning a few of the exhibits inside the DSC. For example, I know that this time of year marks the beginning of the hockey season. Some of my students may take an interest in sports, particularly in hockey. There is a permanent exhibit in the museum entitled "The Science of Hockey" where children are given the opportunity to learn about Newton's First Law of Physics by playing the role of a goalie and as a shooter. The students can shoot or stop pucks while learning about motion and forces that work for and against the puck to score and stop goals. By presenting the students with some suggestions of exhibits to visit, their motivation to learn increases when they understand that there are exibits inside the museum of particular interest to them. Another way I can prepare my students for the field trip is to go over specific vocabulary words that were recently covered in the science curriculum and ask the students to search around the museum for exhibits containing these words. This would benefit English language learners who are learning academic language while learning grade level content as well as native English speaking students. I would also divide the class into small groups where students with special needs as well as English language learners are placed into groups with learners of all abilities. The groups would be required to stay together while discovering all areas of the museum. I would have a hand-out for the children to complete that would require a visit to each area of the museum. The children would have to collaborate to complete the hand-out and compromise to decide the sequence of exhibits to visit. By reading the hand-out before arriving to the museum, the students will be prepared and know what to expect.