10 National Parks Service Resources Every Teacher Should Know About

When Yellowstone was designated the world’s first national park in 1872, early promoters and protectors of our national parks understood that education and public support would be key to ensuring their protection. As I wrote in my book The National Park Classroom, learning was so central to the success of the national park idea that they were considered to be (according to historian Robin Winks) “the single greatest university in the world” and focused on connecting with teachers and students almost immediately upon their establishment.

Today, with more than 430 units in a system that encompasses every state and territory of the United States, this century-long effort has resulted in an immense repository of learning resources, created by knowledgeable experts and available free of charge to educators across the world—provided you know where to find them.

10 ESSENTIAL Resources From the National Park Service

Here are 10 essential options from the vast library of resources created by the National Park Service (NPS) to help get you started.

1. The NPS Educator portal: If you’re new to exploring the educational resources provided by our national parks, then start with the official NPS teachers’ portal. This powerful search engine will connect you to hundreds of lesson plans, videos, and activities, and even give you access to unique educational resources like “Traveling Trunks” that are provided completely free of charge to schools or their hub for museums and collections that you can use to build your next virtual field trip around.

All these resources come aligned to national standards frameworks like Common Core and the Next Generation Science Standards. Simply type in a topic, keyword, or standard to find potential activities and resources that you can integrate in your classroom to enrich your existing units.

Like the national parks themselves, the collection housed within the NPS Educator portal is vast. You can explore many different and excellent resources to become more familiar with what there is to offer.

2. Curiosity Kits: These are specially curated collections of history resources aimed at sparking interest and providing learners of all ages with articles and resources that lend themselves to inquiry-based processes and self-exploration.

3. Distance learning: National parks have always played host to school field trips for local students, but even if you can’t easily hop on a bus, you can still utilize our parks as places of learning. Distance learning programs hosted by park rangers on location at many of our most iconic national parks are a great way to connect your students to the wealth of information that only comes from a visit while still remaining “park’d” at their desks.

4. World War II Heritage City Program: World War II Heritage Cities is a historic designation program that seeks to lift up stories from the American home front related to the Allied victory. One city from every state has been highlighted for its contributions to the war efforts through lesson plans that emphasize the role that our nation’s diverse workforce played in the eventual ending of the war, providing a great way to explore this important event through a local to global lens.

5. Citizen Science: Science teachers are probably already familiar with the concept of citizen science—open projects that engage community support in monitoring or cataloging efforts aimed at gathering data. The NPS runs several of these studies that help students make authentic connections between the concepts learned inside the classroom and the important work researchers are doing in the field. You can look at the list on the NPS website or hop on iNaturalist to see all of the ongoing projects being run on public land in your area.

6. Park Science magazine: This publication outlines important research and scientific studies being conducted on public lands in a way that makes it accessible for students of all ages. It is another free and accessible resource that can help demystify abstract scientific concepts and how they show up in the world around us.

7. Junior Ranger Programs: If you’ve ever visited a national park with your own kids, chances are that you’re familiar with Junior Ranger Programs. These family-focused learning experiences reward young visitors who complete a series of puzzles and worksheets with the title of “Junior Ranger” and a badge to commemorate their achievement.

These programs are also great in a classroom setting; the good news is that many parks also have a remote option where a completed book can be mailed into the park in exchange for a badge. This is a great way of making sure that opportunities to explore parks aren’t limited to those who happen to visit.

All of the resources mentioned above are exclusively created by NPS staff themselves. Next, I’ll share some amazing educational resources that the NPS has created in partnership with another group.

8. Write Out: Created in partnership with the National Writing Project, this celebration of writing encourages teachers to guide young writers to seek inspiration from the world outside their classroom. The official website includes many different resources, information, and ideas like an Awaken the Senses Choice Board. If you’re not sure how to get your own students to write outdoors, Write Out offers a free downloadable guide with ideas for getting started and suggestions for overcoming common barriers to implementation.

9. Google Arts & Culture: Google’s official cultural arm has gone to great lengths to make park landscapes and historic collections accessible online. You can use Street View to wander the forests of Olympic National Park or the valley of Yosemite. Many of the items they house in their collections can be easily accessed through Google Arts & Culture, making even items not on display available for exploration through the platform.

10. Cyark: This incredible NPS partner uses cutting-edge, three-dimensional mapping technology as well as multimedia storytelling tools to create impressive learning experiences that are accessible for free from any computer. Through their website, you can tour the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, dig deeper into the secrets and symbolism of Mount Rushmore, or reflect on the price of freedom at the USS Utah Memorial at Pearl Harbor. 

Regardless of the grade or subject you teach, there are plentiful resources available that can help you bring “America’s Best Idea” into your classroom.