The Project
    Below is an outline and brief description of the project.  Teaching,
        organizational, and management tips are in italicized print.

1. Introduce National Parks to the class.
         What is a National Park?  Why do we have them?
         Who owns them?   Who manages them?
         Where does the money come from to run them?

2. Assign each student a National Park.
     Print and copy a selected list of National Parks.  Cut apart the list and have
        each student randomly select their own.  On a students’ list write the
        student’s National Park next to his/her name.
    Make some copies of the list.
    Have resource books ready for use.
    Have internet sites already bookmarked.
    Allow students plenty of time to look at and learn about their National Park and
         their classmates’ Parks.
    Discuss overall project.  Create a rubric or “score sheet” for assessment.
    Students must find their National Park on a United States map.  Label the
        National Parks on the map.  This may become a bulletin board.

3. Students write a letter to their National Park for information.
     Teach the proper form for writing a friendly and or business letter.
        With the class develop a letter to request the information.  Write a sample letter
        for the students to copy.
    Print labels for your return address to be placed on the letter and on the
        envelope.
    Use a word processor if desired.
    Use a word processor for students that have difficulty writing the letter.  To
        simplify the process, allow students to edit a letter with their National Park
        and print it.
    Students should sign only their first name.
    All information should be sent to you at your school.

    Teach students how to address an envelope.
    Students must find their National Park’s address.
     Use the internet or resource book.  Check the address.
    If necessary, draw light lines for the envelope’s address.
    Have students place the return address label and the stamp on the envelope.
        Place the stamp last.
    Using a student list check off the students as they complete each step.

4. Wait for the responses.
    As the materials come from the National Parks put the student’s name on each
        piece.
    Keep all the materials in the classroom.
    Allow all students to look at all the materials.

5. Write the report.   See appendix
    Students complete a written report based on one page of guidelines.
    Teach about “Main Ideas vs. Details” and what is important information.
    Give each student a folder to keep materials, notes, and report in.
    Glue report guideline inside the folder’s cover.
    Allow for cooperative work and learning.

6. Ranger Talk
    Students create and present a ranger talk relevant to their National Park.
    1) Students select a topic from their National Park for their ranger talk.
         Teacher approves the topic.
    2) Plan the talk - Gather information - Take notes - Write talk
            Set a time limit - one to five minutes.
    3) Make props or costume
    4) Practice  Students practice in front of one or two classmates.
            Teach students how to criticize the presentation appropriately.
    5) Present - Videotape  Be sure to allow time for the camera to start and stop.
    6) View videotape - This may be done soon after the presentations for
            assessment of presentations skills.
            View video during the last days of school.

7. Project Evaluation
    Use rubric or “score sheet”.

8. Allow students to take home all resource materials.

Related Topics
    As part of the study of Your National Parks many other topics may become
part of the curriculum or included in the student’s report.  They must first acquire
a knowledge base, learning about the environmental topic itself.  Then they may
look beyond this perspective and consider societal and political pressures.

 TOPICS: wildlife and conservation management
       land and recreation management
       buffer zones/farming adjacent to the Park
       development within the Park of roads, hotels, and other facilities
       pollution - water,  air,  noise
       transportation problems within the Park
       limit the number of visitors to a Park
       “Restoration” of artifacts
       Federal budget priorities
       Designating new National Parks and Monuments

    Many other topics exist, many specific to individual National Parks.  For example, Grand Canyon National Park is considering lowering the number of river expeditions allowed on the Colorado River [19,000 people visited the Canyon in this way in 2001], eliminating motorized rafts [making the trip less accessible] and possibly eliminating helicopters from bringing people into and out of the Canyon.  This will greatly affect the livelihood of the 16 concessionaires authorized under contract with the National Park Service to provide commercially guided trips on the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park.
More information and some great photos are at the Colorado River Management Plan site, http://www.nps.gov/grca/crmp/

    Students can learn how to take part in a discussion, explore these topics, and
participate in group decision making.

 Discussion rules: Everyone speaks.
                        Everyone actively listens
                        Everyone is allowed to give their point of view

Discussions (See Appendix for guidelines for these discussions)
 1)  Group Discussion:  Should we have more art projects or math projects in the
        classroom?
 2)  City Land Use:  Would you rather have an empty field or a new park and
        playground?
 3)  National Parks Discussion:  Should National Parks be further developed to
        allow easy access for more visitors?
 4) Water Discussion:  Given our limited water supply in south Florida, rank
        groups of people regarding who should have the priority of receiving
        the water.

Careers in the National Park Service

Volunteerism  Each year more than 120,000 volunteers donate over
4,000,000 hours of service in the U.S. national parks.

Everglades National Park
    From the official National Park Service Site http://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm

     Spanning the southern tip of the Florida peninsula and most of Florida Bay,
Everglades National Park is the only subtropical preserve in North America. It
contains both temperate and tropical plant communities, including sawgrass
prairies, mangrove and cypress swamps, pinelands, and hardwood hammocks,
as well as marine and estuarine environments. The park is known for its rich bird
life, particularly large wading birds, such as the roseate spoonbill, wood stork,
great blue heron and a variety of egrets. It is also the only place in the world
where alligators and crocodiles exist side by side.
     Everglades National Park has been designated a World Heritage Site, an
International Biosphere Reserve, and a Wetland of International Importance.

DESIGNATIONS
     National Park - December 6, 1947
     International Biosphere Reserve - October 26, 1976
     Wilderness Designation - November 10, 1978
     World Heritage Site - October 24, 1979
     Wetland of International Importance - June 4, 1987

Learn More about the History of the Park   http://www.nps.gov/ever/eco/history.htm

The Pre-Drainage System and Early Development
    Water in South Florida once flowed freely from the Kissimmee River to Lake
Okeechobee and southward over low-lying lands to the estuaries of Biscayne
Bay, the Ten Thousand Islands, and Florida Bay. This shallow, slow-moving
sheet of water covered almost 11,000 square miles, creating a mosaic of
Ponds, sloughs, sawgrass marshes, hardwood hammock, and  forested
uplands. For thousands of years this intricate system evolved into a finely
balanced ecosystem that formed the biological infrastructure for the southern
half of the state.
    Early colonial settlers and land developers viewed the Everglades as a
worthless swamp in need of reclamation. The dream of draining the
swampland took hold in the first half of the 1800s. By the 1880s developers
started digging drainage canals, which took place without an understanding
of the dynamics of the ecosystem and were generally inadequate for the task.
they caused localized silting problems, but overall the ecosystem was resilient
enough to sustain itself.
    The notion of draining the vast wetland persisted. Expanded  dredging efforts
between 1905 and 1910 transformed large tracts from wetland to agricultural
land. This abundance of  "new" land stimulated the first of several South Florida
land booms.  Railroads constructed by entrepreneurs like Henry B. Plant and
Henry M. Flagler made the region more accessible and attractive to tourists.
By the 1920s visitors and new residents flocked to blossoming towns like
Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Fort Myers. As they arrived, developers cut more
canals and built new roads. To ensure good ocean views, they removed
mangroves from the shorelines and replaced them with palm trees. little
by little canals, roads, and buildings displaced native habitats.
    The year 1948 marked an even greater change when Congress authorized the
Central and South Florida Project. This involved  the construction of an elaborate
system of roads, canals, levees, and water-control structures stretching
throughout South Florida.  Constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers, and
sponsored by the Central and Southern Flood Control District (later redesignated
the South Florida Water Management District), the project purposes were to
provide water and flood protection for urban and agricultural lands, a water supply
for Everglades National Park, the preservation of fish and wildlife habitat,
facilitate navigation and recreation, and the prevention of salt water intrusion.
While the project still provides many of the intended benefits, the alteration of
regional wetland areas, estuaries, and bays — combined with increasing population
pressures and changing land uses — has significantly degraded the natural system.
    Today 50% of South Florida’s original wetland areas no longer exist. The
numbers of wading birds, such as egrets, herons, and ibises, have been reduced
by 90%.  Entire populations of animals, including the manatee, the Cape Sable
seaside sparrow, the Miami blackheaded snake, the wood stork, and the Florida
panther, are at risk of disappearing. Exotic pest plants such as melaleuca,
Brazilian pepper, and Australian pine have invaded natural areas, choking out
native plants and altering habitats. Massive die-offs of seagrass beds in
Florida Bay have been followed by the extensive losses of wading birds, fish,
shrimp, sponges, and mangroves. These grim indicators warn of a system
under assault and in jeopardy of collapse.

Park Establishment - Dedicated December 6, 1947
    There is a growing consensus in South Florida that the economic and social
prosperity of the region cannot be sustained without a healthy ecosystem.  The
intermingling of plant and animal species from both the tropical and temperate zones,
plus the merging of freshwater and saltwater habitats, provide the vast biological
diversity that makes Everglades National Park so unique. As the first national park
to be established to preserve purely biological -- not geological -- resources,
its significant features and resources include:

Influential Conservationists
    Ernest F. Coe  “Father of the Everglades"   http://www.nps.gov/ever/eco/coe.htm
    Marjory Stoneman Douglas  http://www.nps.gov/ever/eco/marjory.htm
Her book, The Everglades: River of Grass, published in 1947 --  the year
Everglades National Park was established -- has become the definitive description
of the natural treasure she fought so hard to protect.

Internet Resources References
American Park Network http://www.americanparknetwork.com/welcome/index.html
CoolWorks.com   Seasonal Jobs in the U.S. National Park System
    http://www.coolworks.com/natprk.htm
Dr. Labush’s Links To Learning   http://www.netrox.net/~labush/
    Travel  http://www.netrox.net/~labush/travelinks.htm#advent
    Everglades  http://www.netrox.net/~labush/glades.htm
Great Outdoor Recreation Pages  http://www.gorp.com/gorp/activity/main.htm
    National Parks http://www.gorp.com/gorp/resource/US_National_Park/main.htm
Mapping the National Parks  Library of Congress
    http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/nphtml/nphome.html
Most Visited Sites in the U.S. National Park System
    http://www.kidcrosswords.com/kidoutdoors/when%20to%20go/
    most_visited_us_national_parks.htm
National Parks Conservation Association  http://www.npca.org/
National Park Foundation   http://www.nationalparks.org/npf/index.html
National Park Guide  Official U.S. Site http://www.nps.gov/parks.html
National Park Service  Home Page  http://www.nps.gov/
National Park System  Who We Are  http://www.nps.gov/legacy/index.htm
National Park Weather Almanac   USA Today
    http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/usa/wparkrec.htm
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  Environmental Education Center
    http://www.epa.gov/teachers/curriculum_resources.htm
U.S. National Parks Net  http://www.us-national-parks.net/
Yellowstone Online Animal Alphabet Book
Weather  Underground  Weather forecast and history for the United States
    http://www.wunderground.com/

Unofficial Links to National Parks
Grand Canyon Explorer  http://www.kaibab.org/gc_homef.htm
National Parks of the American Southwest  http://www.americansouthwest.net/
Rocky Mountain National Park  http://www.explore-rocky.com/default.htm
The Yosemite Web Index  http://www.yosemite.ca.us/
Yellowstone Net - Online Tours  Videos  http://www.yellowstone.net/onlinetours/

Related Topics Links
Area Parks Networks for the United States National Parks
    http://www.areaparks.com/
A Road Trip Through the National Parks of Utah includes worksheet
    http://socialstudies.com/c/@49gqLy9NTMOWM/Pages/article.html?article@parks
The Carnivorous Plant  http://www.sarracenia.com/faq.html
Conflict in the Wetlands  Thinkquest Site http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/4219/
Dr. Labush’s Links To Learning  http://www.netrox.net/~labush/
    Animals  http://www.netrox.net/~labush/animals.htm
    Everglades  http://www.netrox.net/~labush/glades.htm
    Science Links  http://www.netrox.net/~labush/scilinks.html
    Travel Outdoors and Adventure
        http://www.netrox.net/~labush/travelinks.htm#advent
Earthquakes for Kids  http://earthquake.usgs.gov/4kids/
Endangered Species Student Projects  K-12   Worldwide
    http://www.schoolworld.asn.au/species/reports.html
Everglades National Park  http://www.nps.gov/ever/
Everglades National Park: A Park in Danger
    http://www.nps.gov/ever/eco/threats2.htm
Ecosystems / Biomes  Huge resource of links
    http://members.aol.com/bowermanb/ecosystems.html
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission http://floridaconservation.org/
Florida Wildlife  Resources for Educators http://floridaconservation.org/educator/
Fossils and Fossil Collecting  http://web.ukonline.co.uk/conker/fossils/
The Geyser Observation and Study Association  http://www.geyserstudy.org/
Geysers  Yellowstone - Movies  http://www.gigagraphica.com/geyser/geysers.html
Highest Mountains in the United States
    http://americasroof.com/fourteeners.shtml
Kids Snow Page   Activities   Ideas http://www.teelfamily.com/activities/snow/
NASA’s Visible Earth  http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/
PlanetPals  http://www.planetpals.com/index.html
Teacher Zone  Park Visits, Tours and Ideas for Teachers
    http://www.nps.gov/interp/learnnps/teacherzone/teachers.htm
Virtual Cave  http://www.goodearthgraphics.com/virtcave/index.html
Volcano World  http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/
Waterfall Photographs - Gil T Photography  http://GilTphoto.com/wtr-fall-index.htm
Waterfalls WebRing  http://V.webring.com/hub?ring=waterfallsring&id=23&prev5

Materials - Where Available
Acorn Naturalist  Resources for the Trail and Classrooms
    http://www.acornnaturalists.com/store/
Carolina Biological Supply  http://www.carolina.com/
Harpers Ferry Center: NPS Sales Publications
    http://165.83.219.72/hafe/hfc/salespub-all.cfm
KC Publications: National Parks  Indian Culture  Videos   “For Young Adventurers”
    Calendars  http://www.kcpublications.com/
National Park Bookshops  http://165.83.219.72/hafe/bookshop/index.cfm
National Parks Live! A Student’s Internet Tour of the United States National Parks
 http://socialstudies.com/c/@VASr1TT7N7yjc/Pages/product.html?record@TF3899
National Park Trading Cards  http://www.jnpa.com/nptc.htm
The Parks Company - National Park Catalog  http://www.theparksco.com/
Smokey Bear at Woodland Gifts Conservation Gifts and Educational Materials
    http://www.smokeybeargifts.com/

Budget
3 ea.  Posters: Everglades, Denali, The Desert   ($3.75 - $9.50)        $20.00
3 ea.  Handbooks: Lincoln Memorial, Scotts Bluff,  ($3.50 - $6.50)    $18.00
            National Parks Index
2 ea.  Books related to Native Americans                                      $14.00
3 ea.  National Parks Activities and Projects Books                          $37.00
1 ea.  Everglades Activity Book                                                   $16.00
34 ea.   $.37 Postage Stamps                                                     $12.58
l ea.  The Interpreter’s Handbook                                                $17.00
2 sets    National Parks Collector Cards  Set I and Set II  ($24.95)     $49.90
1 ea.  Notebook and plastic pages for cards                                   $12.00
1 ea.     U.S.A. Map                                                                    $6.00
                                                                                            ---------
                                                                                            $202.48
Only the postage stamps are consumable materials.
Places to purchase materials are listed in the resources section.