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New science education program brings Great Smoky Mountains National Park to classrooms



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Teachers and students will experience science outside the textbook and inside national parks. Image courtesy of GSMNP.
 

GATLINBURG, TN — Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont have been selected to participate in a new science education program, Citizen Science 2.0 in National Parks. Made possible thanks to a $1 million Veverka Family Foundation donation to the National Park Foundation’s Centennial Campaign for America's National Parks, this new program supports collaborations among select national parks, local environmental science education providers, and local middle and high schools over a three-year period.

“Private support from generous partners like the Veverka Family Foundation is making it possible for national parks — some of our richest learning environments — to offer new and innovative education programs like Citizen Science 2.0,” said Will Shafroth, president of the National Park Foundation. “Thanks to this $1 million donation to our Centennial Campaign for America’s National Parks, teachers and students across the country will experience science outside the textbook and inside national parks.”

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Teachers working with Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. Image courtesy of GSMNP.

Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont will partner with Great Smoky Mountains National Park and local schools to provide citizen science engagement for students and deliver professional development for teachers. This new teacher education program, Citizen Science 2.0: Equipping Educators to Inspire Future Environmental Stewards, will consist of a series of residential workshops at Tremont Institute and consults at local schoolyards to give teachers practice with experiential teaching and linking what they have learned to standards-based subject matter.

“Great Smoky Mountains National Park values the research conducted through citizen science,” said Park Superintendent Cassius Cash. “These science-based opportunities cultivate lasting connections between the public and their parks by establishing a fascination and love of science. We are thrilled to work with the National Park Foundation and the Veverka Family Foundation to implement this citizen-science based education project.”

The goal of the program this year is to:
• Establish a place-based, science-focused community of practice among national parks, schools, and education partners
• Equip classroom teachers with the tools, training, and opportunity to conduct high quality, experiential science education aligned with Next Generation Science Standards
• Create student-centered curriculum that connects students to their local national park through hands-on scientific study of water quality and watersheds

“We are truly excited to work with the National Park Foundation, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and our local East Tennessee teachers,” said Dr. Jennifer Jones, President and CEO of Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. “This partnership will allow us to innovate teacher education programs that bring citizen science to school yards as a powerful tool to engage students in meaningful research. We are thankful for the National Park Foundation’s vision in expanding the role of parks-based science education.”

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Student studies outside the textbook and in the National Park. Image courtesy of GSMNP.
 

In addition to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, this program is also kicking off this 2017-2018 school year at Cabrillo National Monument, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and Rock Creek Park.

This year’s projects are:

• Cabrillo National Monument (California)
The partnership with Ocean Discovery Institute will engage students in scientific inquiry in their local watershed and central San Diego neighborhood through the state-of-the-art facilities at the Living Lab. By collecting environmental data from the park alongside natural resource rangers and biologists, students will examine the impact of urbanization, resource management techniques, and the importance of maintaining biodiversity.

• Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Ohio)
The partnership with the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park will create a sustainable citizen science program that strengthens educators’ ability to teach scientific methods and protocols in conjunction with stewardship of the Cuyahoga River Watershed. The program will provide schools with workshops to develop the skills needed to incorporate citizen science into course curricula. More details can be found at www.forCVNP.org/education.

• Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee and North Carolina)
The partnership with the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont and local schools will provide citizen science engagement for students and professional development for teachers. Through a series of residential workshops at Tremont Institute and training events in their schools, teachers will gain skills and develop content for standards-based science teaching in an outdoor setting. Teachers will co-design lessons with their students and develop a citizen science research program that addresses a water quality need in their community. Tremont will provide toolkits for training and establish a local network of support for teachers to use the park. More details and application information for teachers can be found at www.gsmit.org.

• Rock Creek Park (Maryland and Washington, DC)
The partnership with the Audubon Naturalist Society and Montgomery County Public Schools will engage students in investigating watershed health in their own schoolyards and nearby Rock Creek Park. Through a new, hands-on, field-based module, high school chemistry students will explore real-world environmental problems and participate in citizen science water quality monitoring while learning about careers in the National Park Service.

The National Park Service and the National Park Foundation will continue to identify additional park locations, schools, and education partners across the country to participate in this initiative.

“Private support from generous partners like the Veverka Family Foundation is making it possible for national parks - some of our richest learning environments - to offer new and innovative education programs like Citizen Science 2.0,” said Will Shafroth, president of the National Park Foundation. “Thanks to this $1 million donation to our Centennial Campaign for America’s National Parks, teachers and students across the country will experience science outside the textbook and inside national parks.”

To date, the National Park Foundation’s Centennial Campaign for America’s National Parks, a comprehensive fundraising campaign to strengthen and enhance the future of America’s treasured places for the next hundred years, has raised more than $420 million.

For more information regarding Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont’s Citizen Science 2.0: Equipping Educators to Inspire Future Environmental Stewards please visit www.gsmit.org.

The National Park Foundation is the official charity of America’s national parks and nonprofit partner to the National Park Service. Chartered by Congress in 1967, the National Park Foundation raises private funds to help PROTECT more than 84 million acres of national parks through critical conservation and preservation efforts, CONNECT all Americans with their incomparable natural landscapes, vibrant culture and rich history, and INSPIRE the next generation of park stewards. In 2016, commemorating the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary, the Foundation launched The Centennial Campaign for America’s National Parks, a comprehensive fundraising campaign to strengthen and enhance the future of these national treasures for the next hundred years. Find out more and become a part of the national park community at www.nationalparks.org.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, located on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee, was established in 1934 with the purpose of preserving the scenic beauty, extraordinary diversity of natural resources, and rich human history found within the Southern Appalachian Mountain ecosystem. Today, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is world-renowned for its diverse plant and animal life, with over 19,000 species. It is one of America’s few International Biosphere Reserves and is also a World Heritage Site. Great Smoky Mountains National Park benefits greatly from its partnerships with public, private, and nonprofit groups for education, scientific research, and stewardship of park resources.

Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont has provided hands-on education through local, personal, and relevant programs within the 500,000-acre classroom of Great Smoky Mountains National Park since 1969. For many students, it is their first opportunity to learn outdoors, participate in hands-on science, and explore a national park. With a mission of “connecting people and nature”, Tremont Institute develops a personal connection between participants and nature to increase interest in science learning. They accomplish this through direct interaction with participants on their campus and the training of teachers within the community. In recent years, Tremont Institute has made it a strategic priority to provide these experiences for underserved communities in order to make meaningful education for all people.

Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization providing in-depth experiences through education programs that celebrate ecological and cultural diversity, foster stewardship, and nurture appreciation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Tremont welcomes all ages to step away from their daily routine to learn, reflect and grow while living in the heart of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Published August 10, 2017





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