Teaching Video

Using America’s National Parks as Classrooms

November 23, 2016 7:10

America’s national parks have been called the country’s “largest classroom,” in part because they provide millions of hours in free educational programming every year. The National Park Service has worked to encourage “experiential learning” through the creation of hundreds of lesson plans, virtual resources for schools, and professional development for teachers. Their “place based” learning programs — in subjects such as ecology, history, and geology — have academic, developmental, and health benefits. Sustaining such programming takes on greater importance, parks advocates say, in the midst of ongoing funding challenges and a need to draw more and more diverse visitors to parks facilities and programs. In this PBS NewsHour segment, Education Week correspondent Kavitha Cardoza reports from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area near San Francisco.

Video

Student Well-Being Video A Clinical Psychologist Offers Tips on Healthy Tech Use for Students
There’s a disconnect between parents and schools over who should take ownership of students’ tech use.
Classroom Technology Video In Defense of TikTok: A Teacher on the App's Power to Build Connections
This Texas teacher has built relationships through her TikTok platform, and worries what a ban will mean for her and her students.
2:25
Devotees of TikTok gather at the Capitol in Washington, as the House passed a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban of the popular video app if its China-based owner doesn't sell, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Lawmakers contend the app's owner, ByteDance, is beholden to the Chinese government, which could demand access to the data of TikTok's consumers in the U.S.
Devotees of TikTok gather at the Capitol in Washington, as the House passed a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban of the popular video app if its China-based owner doesn't sell, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Lawmakers contend the app's owner, ByteDance, is beholden to the Chinese government, which could demand access to the data of TikTok's consumers in the U.S.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Teaching Video Teachers, Try This: A Pen Pal Exchange to Improve Student Writing and Build Empathy
This class experiences so many benefits through the monthly letters they exchange with their pen pals at the local retirement home.
Special Education Video Inside an Inclusive Classroom: How Two Teachers Work Together
This model for inclusive education benefits students of all abilities, and the teachers instructing them.
1 min read