As I was flipping between football games on a lazy Sunday, I stumbled on The National Parks: America’s Best Idea on PBS. This film looks to be another masterpiece from Ken Burns. PBS has put together a detailed site for the film that is brimming with resources.

I was also impressed to see a page for educators. This page has 10 Lesson Plans designed for grades 7-10. Each lesson plan has a downloadable pdf and a web-based component.

Applications for Science Teachers: While the lessons seem to focus on social studies content, there is definitely an opportunity to integrate social studies with life science concepts and systems thinking. The lessons are intended for grades 7-10 but could be modified for upper elementary.

See the embedded clip below:

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