Description
Book SynopsisOver the past 100years,visitorlearningat America's national parks hasgrown and evolved. Today, there are over 400 National Park Service (NPS) sites, representingover eightymillion acres. Sites exist in every USstate and territory and are located on land, at sea, in remote areas, and in major urban centers. Every year, more than 300 million people visit national parks, and several million of them are children engaged in one of many educational programs hosted by the NPS. America's Largest Classrooms offers insight and practical advice for improving educational outreach at national parksas well as suggestions for classroom educators on how to meaningfully incorporate parks into their curricula. Viaa wide collectionof case studiesranging from addressing inclusivity at parks and public lands to teaching about science and social issuesthis book illustrates innovations and solutions thatwill be of interest to nature interpreters, outdoor educators, and policy makers, as well as professors
Table of ContentsList of Contributors
Foreword. National Parks: “America’s Best” Outdoor Classrooms
Milton Chen
Preface
Acknowledgments
SECTION I. THE LONG VIEW OF LEARNING IN THE PARKS
1 Dynamic Learning Landscapes: The Evolution of Education in Our National Parks
Julia Washburn
2 Commentary: Perspectives on Heritage Leadership
Theresa Coble
3 Invoking the Spirit of History on the Journey through Hallowed Ground
James A. Percoco
4 Two Different Ways of Knowing the Glacier Area
Donal Carbaugh
SECTION II. FEEDBACK LOOPS: SYSTEMS AND SCIENCE LEARNING
5 Learning about Climate Change in Our National Parks
Shawn Davis and Jessica L. Thompson
6 Place-Based Education at Teton Science Schools: Inspiring Curiosity, Engagement, and Leadership in National Parks and Beyond
Kevin Krasnow, Nate McClennen, Amanda Kern, Patrick Leary, and Greg Peck
7 Three-Dimensional Learning: “Upping the Game” in Citizen Science Projects
Ana K. Houseal
8 Mentoring Mountain Raingers: Beyond Basic Hydrological Field Research in the Great Smoky Mountains
Douglas K. Miller
SECTION III. HEALTH AND SELF: EMPOWERING LEARNING IN PARKS
9 Learning Environmental Psychology in the National Parks
Donna K. McMillan
10 Can Signage Influence Healthy Behavior? The Case of Catoctin Mountain National Park
Mallika Bose, Lara Nagle, Jacob Benfield, Heather Costigan, Jeremy Wimpey, and B. Derrick Taff
11 Learning Historic Places with Diverse Populations: An Exploratory Study of Student Perceptions
Jenice L. View and Andrea Guiden
12 “I Felt Like a Scientist!”: Accessing America’s National Parks on Every Campus
Natalie Bursztyn, Richard Goode, and Colleen McDonough
SECTION IV. PARTNERING FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEARNERS
13 Place-Based Learning Fosters Engagement and Opportunities for Innovative Partnerships
Susan Newton
14 A Partnership Model of Education at Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Deb Yandala, Katie Wright, and Jesús Sánchez
15 Pura Vida Inspires Diversity and Engagement at Grand Teton National Park
Teddi (Hofmann) Freedman
16 What Really “Matters” at Stephen T. Mather Building Arts and Craftsmanship High School
Deborah Shanley and Lois Adams-Rodgers
17 Learning Historic Places with Diverse Populations: Making the Case for Teacher-Ranger Professional
Development
Jenice L. View and Paula Cristina Azevedo
SECTION V. STRATEGIC INTENTION FOR PARK LEARNING AND PRACTICE
18 Lessons Learned from Museums: Family Learning in National Parks
Colleen Bourque and Ana K. Houseal
19 Identifying Outcomes for Environmental Education at National Parks
Robert B. Powell, Marc J. Stern, and B. Troy Frensley
20 Valuing Education and Learning in the National Parks
Tim Marlowe, Linda J. Bilmes, and John Loomis
21 Commentary: National Parks as Places for Free-Choice Learning
Martin Storksdieck and John Falk
Afterword
Jonathan B. Jarvis
Index
