PARKS ARE CLASSROOMS: A PARK RANGER'S PERSPECTIVE

National parks provide exciting opportunities for geoscience education, particularly for integrating the earth sciences with other academic disciplines and with recreational and experiential opportunities. Many national parks were established in recognition of their geologic resources, and even more national parks contain important geologic resources related to their primary significance. “Geology of national parks” courses take advantage of the “natural classroom” aspects of parks. Incorporating interpretive principles into these educational programs helps ensure the quality, and the lasting impact, of these educational experiences. Interpretation is a philosophy of communication that aims to relate to the whole person and to reveal the significances of resources instead of conveying only factual information. Successful interpretation can be described as “PAIRing people with parks” and includes mastery of 4 different components: presentation techniques, knowledge of the audience, interpretive methods, and resource information. Using interpretive themes as a tool while designing courses, field trips, or other educational material may be the single most effective method to add to the interpretive value of the instruction of geology of national parks. Interpretive themes can organize course material into individual take-home messages. Using interpretive methods, such as tangible-intangible links and “demystifying geology,” can make geology more relevant, particularly to non-majors, and can help students understand the links between landscape and geologic processes, and the other natural and cultural resources of parks. Focusing on the origin of unique landscape features, Earth systems relationships, and the history of geologic research in parks, may also help elicit the compelling stories within park’s geologic resources. Tying parks together, either via their geographic proximity or similar geologic resources, is also an effective strategy in instructing larger geologic concepts.