As president, Theodore Roosevelt created five national parks, 18 national monuments, 51 bird sanctuaries, began the National Wildlife Refuge system and set aside more than 100 million acres for national forests. Now, you can learn about all of the national parks and monuments with NPS’s educator resources including audio, video, blogs, and more. The lessons can be searched by topic or by type of resource.
Type of Material:
Collection
Recommended Uses:
This collection is a rich resource. Example of recommended uses of this Collection includes STEM activities to support technology, supporting 21st century teaching and learning for media and digital learning for grades 6-8 and 9-12 schools. Also, infusing the content into the curriculum to support technology and integrating technology for 2-year community colleges, undergraduate foundation of education course settings in Higher Education. For example, mastering digital media might include an activity such as finding a timeline for the month and year when a German journalist compared FDR to Hitler. Students could provide evidence to support or disprove this stance, which requires critical thinking.
This site is vast and full of learning treasures! The material can be used by educators to prepare rich lessons, units, investigations, and assignments for students kindergarten through university. Students would be able to use the material for work in-class, for homework, for individual and team research. Exploration of topics and subjects could also be set-up for self-paced work.
Technical Requirements:
Internet access, ability to view video clips
Identify Major Learning Goals:
The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world. This collection of Education resources helps to extend the benefits of our many national parks.
Some possible uses of the materials:
Two example of target goals might include:
(1) Students will access the digital collection of the and craft two paragraphs that explain the difference between digital and non-digital media. Objective: student will access digital collection of museum artifacts and explain the difference between Presidential Library and a Library in general.
(2) Students will be able to increase their understanding of vertical research and interactive technology. Objective: Students will locate a photograph that relates to a particular month in history. Then, find the timeline for a historical document and share your findings. Reflect on the importance of this timeline.
Target Student Population:
Grade School, Middle School, High School, University, Adult Ed, student teachers and faculty in teacher preparation programs
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
None, although having a topic or idea about what to investigate and knowing a bit about how to search on a computer would be helpful.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
This site from the National Park Service provide an extensive collection learning materials that address environment, location, weather, nature, habitat, animals, earth, physical science, and so much more. The content and material is well developed and presents significant concepts and models for the selected discipline. The material is appealing for both educators and learners. There is curricula content available at all levels for learning. Student teachers and faculty in teacher preparation programs will appreciate this site for its usability.
The digital Collection of resources course offers various ways to organize and revise the material such as renaming, remixing, and redistributing. Also, specific tabs are included which offers a detailed description of the selected content
Concerns:
There were no deficiencies noted in the content quality of this robust Collection.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
The material is presented in a vertical format and can quickly be searched by a particular location, subject, or grade level. The specific connections to the Common Core Standards is impressive. Proponents of STEM, hybrid instruction, multiple learning environments, and digital media will find many things to like and use here. The learning material can be readily intergrated into the selected curriculum or discipline. Learning assignments and research tasks can also be developed from the vast collection of material.
Concerns:
There were no deficiencies noted in its effectiveness as a teaching tool.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
First of all there is a huge collection of developed lesson plans based on aspects of national parks. The database of lessons is searchable by subject (math, science, social studies, language arts, etc.), grade (lower elementary through adult ed.) and the national Common Core (ELA) standards. Vertical content menu includes links within the site for other curricula including field experiences, classroom materials, professional development, distance learning, teacher reference materials, primary sources, and much more. There are multiple ways to find the information users seek.
Concerns:
There were no deficiencies noted during this review.
Creative Commons:
Search by ISBN?
It looks like you have entered an ISBN number. Would you like to search using what you have
entered as an ISBN number?
Searching for Members?
You entered an email address. Would you like to search for members? Click Yes to continue. If no, materials will be displayed first. You can refine your search with the options on the left of the results page.
Searching for Members?
You entered an email address. Would you like to search for members? Click Yes to continue. If no, materials will be displayed first. You can refine your search with the options on the left of the results page.
