The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has opened the Discovery Center, a new interactive, educational exhibit at the Onconaluftee Visitor Center.

An opening ceremony was held Wednesday, Jan. 10, from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Visitor Center.
The center was made possible through a partnership between The Coca-Cola Foundation, the National Park Foundation, the Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the National Park Service and has been in the planning and development phase for almost two years.

“We are excited about this innovative exhibit designed to help children and families understand the Park’s amazing biodiversity through a hands-on approach. Thanks to a $100,000 grant provided by the National Park Foundation and The Coca-Cola Foundation and the Friends organization that provided an additional $12,000, the Park is able to offer visitors new educational opportunities that encourage them to interact with Park resources on a sensory level,” said Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Michael Tollefson.

Special guests at the ceremony were students and teachers from Cherokee Elementary School in North Carolina, who demonstrated for the first time the features of this fun and informative display. The students explored the colorful 8-foot panels that describe the Smokies’ natural world through such activities as studying small life forms under a microscope, using a crank to disclose the abundance of species, and hearing audio accounts of scientists’ field work.

The Smokies Discovery Center joins a national education initiative that is being funded through a $1.5 million National Park Foundation grant made possible by The Coca-Cola Foundation. The grant is enabling 12 national parks across the country to provide visitors a unique interactive learning experience that brings to life each park’s natural and cultural diversity.

The Oconaluftee Visitor Center is located 2 miles north of Cherokee on U.S. 441.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News