Students & Teachers

Links to Learning

This web site provides links to educational information related to the National Park Service's mission of natural resource stewardship, preservation, and the protection of park natural resources.

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site

Visit the Environmental Study Area in Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site.

Acadia National Park

Teachers interested in including Acadia National Park in their classroom can visit the For Teachers section of the park's website, which includes descriptions of curriculum-based programs, teacher resources, traveling trunks, and more. Students can visit the For Kids section for fun activities and a list of things to do in the park.

Air Resources Students & Teachers Web Site

The National Park Service Air Resources Division and the Fish and Wildlife Air Quality Branch provide education materials for students and teachers, including educational videos and elementary and secondary education acid rain lesson plans for teachers.

Alaska Public Lands Information Centers

In Alaska, the Alaska Public Lands Information Centers offer Educational Adventures and are pleased to work with students and teachers throughout the state in providing educational assistance, programs, and materials about the public lands in Alaska.

Badlands National Park

Lesson plans, activities, and resources supporting education in geology, paleontology, prairie resources, and wildlife can be found in Badlands National Park's Teacher's Corner.

Big Thicket National Preserve

Big Thicket's education programs offer a diverse environment and diverse programs for teachers and students. The programs are listed by season and interest group.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area are in their third decade of offering outreach education programs . They offer education units for preschool, K-12, undergraduate and graduate programs, and life-long learners. All of the programs are curriculum based using state and national content standards. A four segment video series, in English and Spanish, for middle school students produced in partnership with Star Schools-U.S. Dept. of Education, SERC, OPEN, KLVX, the Weather Channel, and Parks as Classrooms is also available. Over 25,000,000 students, worldwide, viewed the original four segment satellite broadcast.

Blue Ridge Parkway

Working in conjunction with the local school curriculum, the Blue Ridge Parkway is offering Parks as Classrooms to put students on the parkway in touch with the natural world in a real and meaningful way.

Cabrillo National Monument

On-site Ranger Led Education programs are available at Cabrillo National Monument. Visit the monument's Cabrillo as Classroom web site for information.

Capulin Volcano National Monument

Capulin Volcano is available for educational visits for students of all ages. Find out about making educational visits to Capulin Volcano National Monument.

Channel Islands National Park

Do you know students who would like to take a close look at a sea star, examine a pygmy mammoth bone, learn more about "The Island of the Blue Dolphins," or set foot on one of the Channel Islands? Then the Parks as Classrooms Education Program is for you. Each year park rangers at Channel Islands National Park share the park resources with over 10,000 students in classrooms and nearly again that many at the park visitor's center. In-class programs cover a variety of natural and cultural history topics for grades 215 in local schools. Programs at the visitor center meet the needs of classes from preschool through university level. There is no charge for these programs and all programs are tied to the school curriculum.

Curecanti National Recreation Area

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area are in their third decade of offering outreach education programs . They offer education units for preschool, K-12, undergraduate and graduate programs, and life-long learners. All of the programs are curriculum based using state and national content standards. A four segment video series, in English and Spanish, for middle school students produced in partnership with Star Schools-U.S. Dept. of Education, SERC, OPEN, KLVX, the Weather Channel, and Parks as Classrooms is also available. Over 25,000,000 students, worldwide, viewed the original four segment satellite broadcast.

Denali National Park & Preserve

Denali National Park and Preserve's Education Resources page offers resources for teachers, students, and parents to learn about Denali's natural world and cultural heritage. Here you can find some excellent resources for teachers, suggestions for parents visiting the park with children, and some facts and games for kids.

Earth Science Teacher Resources

Various links to educational resources for teaching park geology.

Everglades National Park

Educational resources in Everglades National Park include on-line and on-site educational activities, including school visits with a ranger and school visits on one's own.

Geology Teacher Resources

Various links to educational resources for teaching park geology.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is an ideal place where scientific, artistic and cultural stories can inspire students of all ages. National park service employees and volunteers offer programs on a variety of curriculum compatible subjects that will help meet your curriculum needs and address state and national standards. Visit Glen Canyon's For Teachers web page.

Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA)

The Golden Gate National Parks-with their fragile indigenous habitats and historic landmarks, ancient redwood groves and dramatic coastal preserve are also settings for one of the largest and most inspiring urban outdoor classrooms. Deeply committed to young people, the National Park Service, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, and Presidio Trust partner with educators, students, and the community to design programs that encourage inquiry-based learning linked to school curriculum. Chrissy Field Center, located on the Presidio of San Francisco, is a partnership project of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and the National Park Service. The Center offers multicultural programs that actively engage us with our environments and promote collaborations in building a more sustainable and environmentally just society.

Grand Canyon National Park

The Grand Canyon Field Institute is dedicated to enhancing the understanding and enjoyment of the Grand Canyon through firsthand experience. Visit their website for course offerings, instructor biographies, information on academic credit and teacher workshops, and registration information. The Grand Canyon Environmental Education Program provides opportunities to acquire knowledge, build skills, and support attitudes and values that will enhance commitment and promote participation in the protection of Grand Canyon National Park, local communities, and individuals' own backyards. Programs offer both on-site and off-site environmental education activities to ensure reaching the largest audience possible.

Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site

The Education Program at Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site takes an interdisciplinary approach that combines history and biology into services geared to an array of grades that are designed to augment classroom instruction and on-site class visits.

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve curriculum

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve's Out of the Blueweb-based curriculum is a curriculum for teachers and students made possible by Parks As Classrooms. This educational site includes Lesson Plans for Elementary School Teachers, On-line Activities for Middle School Classrooms, and an Interactive Town Hall for High School Classrooms.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Parks as Classrooms uses Great Smoky Mountains National Park as an outdoor learning laboratory with programs for grades K-8.

Haleakalä National Park

In the natural laboratory of the park, students can experience first-hand the human history, geology, and biological wonders that make Hawaii and Haleakala special. These programs were designed to address Hawaii DOE standards for each grade level. While some walking is included in each program, educational goals are met through activities which attempt to involve every student.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

The Indiana dunes have a long and fascinating history of attracting scientists, teachers, and students alike to study and explore its globally rare ecosystems. Visit the Indiana Dunes Environmental Learning Center.

Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park's Education Outreach web site contains extensive on-line curriculum units and teacher resources.

North Cascades National Park Service Complex

North Cascades National Park staff are excited to present science based web pages, bringing this National Park to your classrooms world-wide. Salmon of the Skagit River Watershed and Threatened and Endangered Species of the North Cascades are curriculm publications which provide background information and learning activities on these topics. In addition, Newspapers in Education is a new computer based activities program with a broad perspective of interactive exploration of Pacific Northwest National Parks.

The North Cascades Institute, a non-profit educational institution working cooperatively with the North Cascades national Park, offers adult seminars and environmental education programs for children in and around the North Cascades.

Olympic National Park

Resources for Teachers in Olympic National Park include a hands-on curriculum guide for lowland and old-growth forests of Olympic National Park and the Pacific Northwest, educational trunks, ranger programs, teacher workshops, and an educational CD-ROM.

Ozark National Scenic Riverways

"More Than Skin Deep" is a teacher's guide to caves and groundwater. This online edition of our teacher's guide to caves is an abridged version of the print edition. Please contact us for a free copy of the print version. Ozark National Scenic Riverways also offers a variety of activities for teachers involving subjects other than caves. Please see our Environmental Education page for details.

Rock Creek Park

Guided nature walks and other environmental education programs take place daily at the Rock Creek Park Nature Center. The Nature Center encourages teachers and youth group leaders to use the facilities and staff during the week.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park is an ideal outdoor classroom. It has a diversity of natural resources in close proximity to the Front Range and Grand County communities. Rocky Mountain offers the availability of Moraine Park Museum, the Fall River Visitor Center, Kawuneeche Visitor Center, and a wealth of identified field sites that correlate to the Heart of the Rockies Teacher Activity Guides. The Park's Education Specialist can assist teachers and group leaders interested in using Rocky Mountain National Park's resources to incorporate environmental education into their curricula.

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is a Parks As Classrooms site with numerous Educational Resources and curriculum-based programs. "Parks as Laboratories" is a study of land, water, and air for middle school students. "The Chumash: A Changing People, A Changing Land" is a program for third & fourth grades. "One Land: Many People, Many Ways" is for fourth & fifth graders. "National Park Legacy" accommodates first through twelfth grades, and "National Park Labs" includes Studies of Wildland and Fire Ecology for high school students.

Vicksburg National Military Park

The Educator's Guide to Science provides educational activities that include a classroom activity where students research the plants and animals and "What's My Habitat?" where students learn how human activities can profoundly affect the natural world.

Virgin Islands National Park

The Friends of Virgin Islands National Park, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and preserving the natural and cultural resources of the park, offers a series of seminars intended to educate and inform visitors to St. John as well as island residents about the natural and cultural resources of this unique area.

White Sands National Monument

White Sands National Monument offers a variety of professional development workshops for teachers. In addition, the park's education programs offer curriculum-based programs that directly relate park resources to what is being taught in the classroom. A series of Education Fact Sheets is also available.

Wind Cave National Park

Wind Cave has two environmental education programs. Connections is designed for grades K-8 and helps students discover relationships between the mixed-grass prairie, the ponderosa pine forest, the cave, the plants and animals that live in these environments and themselves. Water in the Enviroment is a hydrology program designed for grades 6-12. Either program can be used to reinforce classroom studies and can be adjusted to coincide with particular school subjects. There are no fees to participate in these programs.

Yellowstone National Park

Windows into Wonderland is the name of the web section intended for use by teachers in their classrooms and for home-schooling parents. It offers numerous online field trips which help students learn concepts related to Yellowstone as well as to enhance their math, science, reading, and vocabulary skills. Each eTrip includes lesson plans that can be used before or after taking the field trip to enhance the learning experience. To view the eTrips, please visit windowsintowonderland.org.

The Yellowstone Association Institute also provides a year-round educational field program for adults and families in a series of short courses in natural history, cultural history, and humanity topics where people learn about and experience the wild, natural wonders of Yellowstone National Park.

Yosemite National Park

Students and Teachers web site includes useful information for students and information for teachers planning a visit with their class. Also curriculum-based materials for teaching about Yosemite in the classroom. Yosemite National Park’s Students and Teachers web site includes useful information for students and information for teachers planning a visit with their class. Also curriculum-based materials for teaching about Yosemite in the classroom.

Yosemite's Interactive Classroom: Yosemite National Park is an ideal learning environment, where visitors can learn about geology, biology, cultural history, hydrology, and much more. This site helps you learn (and teach) about Yosemite National Park, whether you plan to visit the park or not. Hosted by the Sierra Nevada National Park Service network, US Forest Service, and the BLM Wilderness Education, WildLink delivers science, language arts, and history lessons directly to classrooms via the WildLink website and brings culturally diverse students from your school to the wilderness of the Sierra Nevada on WildLink expeditions.

Zion National Park

Zion National Park offers curriculum-based in-class outreach programs in October, March, and April. The programs are offered to 2nd - 5th grade classes in Washington County elementary schools or schools within a 50-mile radius of the park. All of our outreach education programs incorporate Utah state core curriculum standards as well as park themes.