Our Treasures: Our National Parks

Lesson Title: Our Treasures: Our National Parks

Author: Kelly Swanson and David Ashby

Author Info: Kelly Swanson -Senior High Geography Teacher at Johnson High School in St. Paul, Minnesota.
David Ashby - Senior High Geography teacher at Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, Tennessee.

Grade: AP Geography 9-12th Grade

Learning Style: Auditory, Visual, Tactile

Continent: North America

Outcomes: 1. Develop a knowledge base regarding the National Park System.

Develop a sense of ownership and appreciation for the resources within the National Park System.
Understand the impact of urban geography through hinterlands and the National Park System.

Key Words: North America, National Parks, Regions, Urban Areas, Transportation, Environment, Conservation, Preservation, Population, Pull factors, Land use and planning, Endangered species and habitat, Impact, Development, Hinterland, Marketing,

Time Needed: 7-8 days - 1-2 days for preparation on National Parks. 2-3 days of research and readiness. 2-3 days of presentations of travel consultants.

Overview: Students will examine the benefits of different national parks within the United States. They will try to understand why people choose certain areas over others, and what financial measures people are likely to use to satisfy their appetite to visit these areas. These questions will be examined through a study of the National Park System. Each student will become a travel guide for a specific park and will have to promote visitation. They will advertise to a target area to maximize visitor use, and must determine how to use limited financial resources to obtain ultimate revenue for the specific park they represent.

Definition of Key Terms:
National Park - An area designated by the national government for preservation due to its unique physical, natural, historical, cultural, or geographic characteristics.

Urban area - an area of over 2,500 people.

Metropolitan areas - An area consisting of three counties with over 50,000 people living in them.

Objectives: Students will be able to:
1. Evaluate the national parks in their regional context.
2. Analyze visitation trends in certain national parks and how that has affected the specific park.
3. Evaluate environmental impact of development around certain national parks.

Materials:
1. Map of the United States for each student, including population maps
2. Map of the United States National Park System for each student, from the National Park Service via phone: 202-208-4747 or internet: http://www.nps.gov/
3. $1,000 or more in fake money, dependent on determined amounts
4. Information regarding significant items preserved by each park
5. List of the 75 most populated cities in the United States
6. Visitor statistics for each national park

Sources for information:
1. National Park Service, Washington, D.C.
202-208-4747 or http://www.nps.gov/.

2. National Park Foundation, Washington, D.C.
202-785-4500

3. National Parks and Conservation Association, Washington, D.C.
1-800-NAT-PARK or http://www.npca.org/
E-Mail: natpark@aol.com or npca@npca.org

4. Exploring Our National Parks , Devereux Butcher, 1995 edition

5. The National Parks , Freeman Tilden, 1968 edition

6. National Geographic Guide to National Parks of the United States, 1997 edition

7. Sierra Club Guide to the National Parks , (5 volumes),1997 edition

8. Fodor's Complete Guide to America's National Parks , 1996/1997 edition

9. Map: National Park System, 1997 edition

10. Map: Michelin's U.S.A. Recreational Sites, 1997 edition

11. Census statistics and National Park visitation statistics for 1990 and 1996

12. Bureau of the census statistics from 1991

Preparation:
Students should have some knowledge of population distributions in the United States, and knowledge of the National Park System.

Activities:

Each student is the travel director for one national park. They must locate that national park and its relationship and distance to major metropolitan areas in the United States.
Students must decide how to spend their money to attract the largest number of visitors to their national park to produce revenue. Students must also remember that more land use could deter visitors seeking a solitary experience in the national parks. During the past 20 years, park visitation has increased by 55 million to 1996's 265.7 million. During that same period, 79 units have been added to the entire National Park System.
Students must look at the 54 National
Parks in terms of their location to the top 75 populated cities, and should understand that budgeted money for "park outreach" is related to population targets. For this exercise, students should plan higher marketing budgets for cities with larger populations, thus using $100 for cities in the top 10 population rank, $90 for cities ranked 11-20, $80 for cities ranked 21-30 and so on. Additional factors must be considered, including visitor impact, federal budget constraints, and annual park visitation.
Students should take into consideration that National Park funding is often tied directly to numbers of individuals who visit each park. Therefore, while it is imperative that visitations increase annually to ensure adequate funding. Park personnel must maintain proper protection, preservation, and conservation measures. Comparing visitation figures from 1990 and 1996, students must decide if their park faces a budget increase or decrease. If visitation has declined or remains the same, add $10 to the marketing budget, and if visitor use has increased, subtract $10 from the allotted marketing budget.
Students should prepare a five-minute presentation detailing features of their park. Information should include but not be limited to: specific location, annual visitation, size, features, issues, and outlook for future park development. Money must be used to target selective audience for advertisements, and to construct materials used for this purpose. Each $10 is equivalent to roughly $1000 in budgeted funds which would be used for "park outreach" programs. Students should decide if printed or visual materials will best target their audience, and should prepare visuals accordingly. Multi-media presentations may be used, but must remain within the time constraints. Charts or graphs should be used to show budgeted expenditures.
Students must complete choropleth maps for each of the following: A. Stages of National Park Development (western, eastern, Alaskan wilderness, current)
B. Size (in terms of acreage)
C. Visitor use comparing 1990 and 1996
D. Location in relation to major population centers
E. Current issue(s) and impact(s) facing parks

National Park Statistics 1996: