Great Smoky Mountains
Environmental educational programs instructed by National Park Rangers and classroom teachers for students in grades K-8.
Preview your trip on the web: Great Smoky Mountains
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- NatureWorks Learn about animal adaptations, habitats and interdependence or go straight to the facts about North American animals and birds.
- Lesson plan: Dynamic dialect: Horace Kephart and our Southern Highlanders Students will read an excerpt from Horace Kephart's Our Southern Highlanders and explore how language and dialect have changed over the years.
- American Field Guide A collection of online videos that explore many aspects of America's wilderness from animals to earth and space to public policy.
- Lesson plan: Ecosystem problem solving Students will apply their knowledge of ecosystems and the interdependence of plants and animals to creatively solve problems.
- Explore the Fantastic Forest An interactive map and a virtual forest take kids through a treasure hunt for special forest "finds." After answering a mystery question, kids can assemble their own forest setting.
- Lesson plan: If a tree falls in the forest... Students will explore the role that forests play in their own lives by listing everyday products made from trees. Then students will research and categorize less common products that may be less familiar to them.
- Lesson plan: Mountain dialect: Reading between the spoken lines This lesson plan uses Chapter 13 of Our Southern Highlanders (available online) as a jumping-off point to help students achieve social studies and English language arts objectives while developing an appreciation of the uniqueness of regional speech patterns, the complexities of ethnographic encounter, and the need to interrogate primary sources carefully to identify potential biases and misinformation in them. Historical content includes American slavery, the turn-of-the-century, and the Great Depression.
Related pages
- Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area: Originally settled by the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, the Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area has a diversity of natural communities including undisturbed forest and a wide variety of wildlife species.
- Prairie Ridge Ecostation: A field station dedicated to learning about sustainable living and experiencing the natural world. It includes an outdoor classroom and 38 acres of wetlands, bottomland forest, and a Piedmont prairie restoration
- Lake Crabtree County Park: This park includes wetland areas, a floodplain forest, and various creeks. Environmental programs for school groups are available.
Related topics
- Learn more about North Carolina, Swain County, biology, ecosystems, environmental science, forests, habitats, mountain heritage, natural history, parks, plant and animal diversity, and science.
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Smoky Mountain Classrooms are environmental education programs available to area schools in North Carolina and Tennessee. The programs utilize Park Rangers as primary instructors with assistance from teachers. The Park’s outdoor "classrooms" become the teaching resource. These k-8 programs reflect North Carolina and Tennessee curriculum objectives and educational goals. There is no charge for these programs. Topics range from the interdependence between plants and animals in their habitats to learning how the forest was both a supermarket and a drugstore to mountain communities.
For more information, contact the Park’s education office at (865) 436-1292 or send e-mail to: GRSM_Education@NPS.gov.
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