<< Back 8/14/02 National park educational program offered to schools SMN Great Smoky Mountains National Park has announced its fall session for “Smoky Mountain Classrooms,” offered from September through November for students in grades 2-7. The program provides students in North Carolina schools an opportunity to participate in an outdoor education program that integrates the natural and cultural resources of Great Smoky Mountains National Park with North Carolina curriculum objectives. Resource Education Park Rangers provide instruction during on-site field trips to the park, with assistance from the classroom teachers. Lesson plans help the students learn all the educational disciplines, including science, language arts, social studies, music, arts, and mathematics. During activities the park becomes an outdoor classroom with hands-on learning experiences at several park locations, including: ° Mingus Mill Classroom (Second grade) takes children inside a grist mill to learn how corn was ground into cornmeal. The students will make a wooden toy and participate in a discovery hunt to learn how the forest was both a supermarket and drugstore to the mountain community. ° Habitat Diversity Classroom (Third grade). Students will be given clues to discover how specific animals are interdependent in a forest or stream habitat, and build their own habitat using a diversity of species. ° Clingman’s Dome Classroom (Fifth grade) activities provide students an opportunity to examine plant and animal interactions and weather in a high elevation forest ecosystem, as well as study about the impacts to the forest from non-native insects and air pollution. ° Deep Creek Classroom (Seventh grade). Students use the same scientific methods researchers use to study streams. Students conduct water quality tests and assess the watershed’s health while using waders and nets to discover stream creatures. All activities are conducted in a three-hour program, including lunch break. Class size is limited to a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 50. In addition to the on-site trips, the units include a pre-visit materials package with logistical information, a video and pre-site and post-site lesson plans for use in the classroom. Interested teachers can contact the park at 865.436.1713 to obtain a program flier and reservation form. Reservations are prioritized as they are received by mail. Parks as Classrooms is a National Park Service outreach initiative. The program, particularly directed at young people, uses the diverse resources of the National Parks for educational purposes — to promote understanding, awareness, and appreciation of the park service’s abundant natural, cultural, historic and human resources.