Featured Sites Week of: Aug 16, 2026 - National Park Service Founders Day
Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive
Yellowstone National Park Virtual Tours - National Park Service
Grades
K to 12
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Yellowstone's official virtual tours site lets students explore the park's main attractions without leaving the classroom, including Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris Geyser Basin, Fountain...more
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Yellowstone's official virtual tours site lets students explore the park's main attractions without leaving the classroom, including Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris Geyser Basin, Fountain Paint Pot, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Each map-based tour pairs photos and background info with details on visiting in person, and there's a story map on protecting Yellowstone's water for a deeper dive into conservation.
tag(s): national parks (29), virtual field trips (147)
In the Classroom
Set up small groups to rotate through different tour stops (Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris Geyser Basin, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, etc.), with each group recording observations and sharing one interesting fact with the class afterward. Have students explore the "Protecting Yellowstone's Water" story map and write a short reflection or create a poster on why water conservation matters in national parks, connecting it to conservation efforts in their own community. Have students use Canva for Education reviewed here to create a poster, story map, or other project.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Action Citizen - Indiana University
Grades
6 to 12
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Action Citizen is an educational platform designed to engage students and teachers in civic education and participation. The website offers resources to empower young people to become...more
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Action Citizen is an educational platform designed to engage students and teachers in civic education and participation. The website offers resources to empower young people to become informed and active citizens through lessons, tools, and projects related to social issues, democracy, and government. The site encourages students to explore their societal role and take meaningful action on issues that impact their communities. If your district blocks YouTube, then the videos may not be viewable.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): civics (130), democracy (29), environment (250), national parks (29)
In the Classroom
Ask students to develop a detailed community action plan to address a social issue they're passionate about. In this activity, students design and implement a campaign to raise awareness about a chosen issue. Have students choose a current social issue (for example- climate change, education reform, or voting rights) from the Action Citizen resources. They can research the issue, create a poster or presentation explaining it, and propose solutions. Many projects can be completed using Canva, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Virtual Yosemite - Virtual Yosemite
Grades
K to 12
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If visiting Yosemite National Park isn't possible, a virtual visit is the next best thing! Virtual Yosemite offers interactive park visits to dozens of locations around the park. After...more
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If visiting Yosemite National Park isn't possible, a virtual visit is the next best thing! Virtual Yosemite offers interactive park visits to dozens of locations around the park. After selecting a location, use your computer's controls to move the viewing area around for a complete 360-degree look at the site. Click on the regions featured within each location to view a pop-up description of the featured area or to move to a new location. Find complete information on using the tools available on the site by selecting the Tour Instructions link at the bottom of each page. Visit the education link for examples of integrating Virtual Yosemite into classroom lessons.
tag(s): glaciers (18), landforms (36), mountains (9), national parks (29), virtual field trips (147)
In the Classroom
Offer students time to explore Virtual Yosemite on their own. After some exploration, use FigJam, reviewed here to encourage students to share information they discovered by adding notes to FigJam. Add categories to Jamboard slides to encourage students to think about different features of locations they found, or add the name of specific areas and ask students to share what is shown on the virtual tour at that location. Ask students to create interactive images containing information about Yosemite National Park using the free creation tools available from Genially, reviewed here. Find many other ideas for virtual field trips at the TeachersFirst Special Topics Page, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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25 Best Parks in the United States - Anna Smith, HTownBest
Grades
K to 12
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Do you have a favorite US national park? Did it make this list? This article shares the author's top 25 national parks and briefly introduces what makes them great. In ...more
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Do you have a favorite US national park? Did it make this list? This article shares the author's top 25 national parks and briefly introduces what makes them great. In addition to information about the top parks, this article also shares some general tips to follow when planning a visit to a national park. Be sure to scroll down to near the bottom of the page to find an interactive map of the parks created with Thinglink, reviewed here. Click the map image to open and access in Thinglink.
tag(s): geology (60), national parks (29), states (128)
In the Classroom
Share this article to engage students as they learn about the states and geographic features of the United States. Start with either the descriptions in the article or the interactive map as an introduction to your unit. Using the interactive map, take students on a virtual trip around the country by visiting the links shared to the national parks. If using the descriptions, use Google Earth, reviewed here, to locate each park. Many of the parks offer virtual tours provided by Google Earth. After introducing students to the parks, ask students to choose a national park that interests them as a starting point for a research project. Share resources with students on a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here. As students gather information, ask them to use Ideaboardz, reviewed here, to organize information. For example, have students create three sections on their Ideaboardz to organize information by animals, plants, and geography facts about the location. Extend learning by asking students to become national park project creators and share information from their research. Offer various multimedia options for student presentations, such as creating an interactive image using Genially, reviewed here, or video presentation created with Clipchamp, reviewed here. Once students' national parks projects are completed, use Google My Maps, reviewed here, to create a virtual class visit to the featured parks.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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KidCitizen - Congress, Civic Participation, and Primary Sources Project
Grades
K to 5
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KidCitizen is a series of interactive episodes for students in grades K-5 using primary source documents to explore and learn about civic matters. Also, the KidCitizen Editor lets you...more
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KidCitizen is a series of interactive episodes for students in grades K-5 using primary source documents to explore and learn about civic matters. Also, the KidCitizen Editor lets you customize existing episodes or create game-based activities with primary sources you choose. The Getting Started Guide provides an excellent overview of the online tools and how to get started producing your episodes.
tag(s): american flag (9), communities (37), congress (37), game based learning (320), national parks (29), symbols (20)
In the Classroom
KidCitizen works across all devices, share a link to episodes on classroom computers for students to watch as a learning center activity. Flip your classroom and have students view at home before discussing concepts in class. As students interact with content in the episodes, take advantage of the many resources found at Classtools, reviewed here, to create concept maps, quizzes, and online games. If you teach younger students, create additional interactive games with your own content using oodlu, reviewed here. Ask older students to create their own games using oodlu. As a final project, have students create books using WriteReader, reviewed here. Write Reader is a very easy to use tool for even young students and includes features for sharing invented writing along with correct spelling. For older students, consider using Book Creator, reviewed here that features more robust digital storytelling tools.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Park Service - National Park Service
Grades
5 to 12
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Celebrate and learn about America's national parks through the home page of the National Park Service. This site provides comprehensive information on planning a park visit, exploring...more
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Celebrate and learn about America's national parks through the home page of the National Park Service. This site provides comprehensive information on planning a park visit, exploring nature, and volunteering. Choose from a variety of lesson plans in the Eductors section of the menu. Lesson plans are sortable by subject, grade level, and Common Core Standards. Most lessons will have a download button to print the lessons using the link to the PDF file. The National Park Service also offers several resources to loan to classrooms, such as traveling trunks. Although traveling trunks ship for free, you pay for return shipping.
tag(s): animal homes (54), animals (283), habitats (106), national parks (29)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site to use with a wide variety of language arts, science, and social studies activities. Take advantage of the free lesson plans to include with your classroom activities. Include the section for kids with your other bookmarks on classroom computers for students to explore during science centers or during free reading time as a non-fiction selection. Share images from the media gallery with students as you study biomes, states, or historic areas of the United States. As students learn about different parks around the country, ask them to modify their technology use to create infographics using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, to share facts and information. Transform student technology use even further by asking students to use Google My Maps, reviewed here, to create a virtual field trip to a national park or across different biomes found in the United States. Include this site with your history lessons, then ask students to use Google My Maps, reviewed here, to create an animated map telling the story of historic events, including text, images, historical maps, and more.
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Anyplace America - AnyplaceAmerica.com
Grades
4 to 12
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Anyplace America provides an extensive resource of free topographical maps of the United States. Choose maps by water, land or man-made features, or browse maps featuring each state....more
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Anyplace America provides an extensive resource of free topographical maps of the United States. Choose maps by water, land or man-made features, or browse maps featuring each state. Maps include local information as well as nearby points of interest, weather statistics, and photographs. Most also have a link to download a color PDF of the featured map. Google and the U.S. Geological Survey provide the maps used on this site.
tag(s): bridges (9), glaciers (18), landforms (36), maps (221), mountains (9), national parks (29), natural resources (33), rivers (17), volcanoes (60), water (106)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site to use when teaching about landforms, bodies of waters, or geographic features. Be sure to create a link on classroom computers or your class website for students to access at any time. Have students use a mapping tool such as MapHub, reviewed here to create a map of local landforms with audio stories and pictures included.
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The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks - Google Arts & Culture
Grades
4 to 12
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Follow National Park Rangers on a remarkable journey in these 360-degree videos. Guides take viewers into the most interesting, yet unknown, places in six different park locations....more
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Follow National Park Rangers on a remarkable journey in these 360-degree videos. Guides take viewers into the most interesting, yet unknown, places in six different park locations. Choose a park to begin your journey, and explore locations by dragging the mouse or cursor around to view these sites from every angle.
tag(s): alaska (22), florida (12), hawaii (9), landforms (36), national parks (29), states (128), utah (2), virtual field trips (147)
In the Classroom
Share this beautiful site and images on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector, then have students explore on their own. This site can be included with many different geography units to teach landforms found around the United States. Use as a starting point to learn more about our National Parks and the National Park Service. Enhance learning by having students create an annotated image of other interesting geographic locations using a tool such as Google Drawings, reviewed here. Google Drawings allows you to annotate an image with links to videos, text, websites, and more. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create videos using FlexClip, reviewed here, of behind-the-scenes information from your hometown, then share them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Open Parks Network - Clemson University and the National Park Service
Grades
4 to 12
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The Open Parks Network offers over one million digitized images of cultural heritage objects and 1.5 million pages of literature from the National Park Service. Use the keyword search...more
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The Open Parks Network offers over one million digitized images of cultural heritage objects and 1.5 million pages of literature from the National Park Service. Use the keyword search to find specific information, or scroll through the home page to browse by parks or collections. Also, use the Explore tab to find resources located on maps. Use the "Draw Bounding Box" option to narrow your search to any particular boundary.
tag(s): images (273), national parks (29), primary sources (146)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site to use throughout the year to find images and other primary sources for United States locations. Encourage your students to use this tool for projects. Include this site on your class webpage for students and parents to access as a reference. Challenge students to find a photo (legally permitted for reproduction), and then narrate the photo as if it is a news report. Have students create a multimedia presentation using Visme, reviewed here. Visme allows you to narrate a picture. Challenge students to find a photo (legally permitted to be reproduced), and then add music to their narration. Here is a royalty free music site, Joystock reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The National Parks: America's Best Idea - PBS
Grades
4 to 12
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Ken Burns has been busy again, this time creating a film about the US National Parks. This site carries many clips and even the full length film. There are many ...more
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Ken Burns has been busy again, this time creating a film about the US National Parks. This site carries many clips and even the full length film. There are many resources here about the US National Parks. To make the site more collaborative, you can submit a story and pictures about a visit to a national park. There is an extensive bank of other web resources as well. There are also lesson plans available at the "Educators Link."
tag(s): national parks (29)
In the Classroom
Share the film (or clips) on your interactive whiteboard or projector. One section of the site enables you to design a national park postcard to email to a friend. Groups of students might research individual national parks (links to the NPS site appear on this site) and circulate their own postcards to other groups. Students can also "collect" national park badges that can be cut and pasted into personal or class websites. You could also have cooperative learning groups create multimedia projects about various National Parks. Alter student learning by having students create online posters or do it together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here or PicLits, reviewed here. If you are near a park, your students could redefine their learning and create an online park tour to share with others far away! Try a tool such as Adobe Express for Education, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Geology and Ecology of National Parks - USGS
Grades
1 to 12
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Make landforms and geology REAL to your students. This site offers a rich collection of 3D photography and tours of the geology of U.S. National Parks. Use these activities with ...more
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Make landforms and geology REAL to your students. This site offers a rich collection of 3D photography and tours of the geology of U.S. National Parks. Use these activities with a variety of ages of students. Choose National Parks to view or print pictures. Pictures (anaglyphs) are best viewed with cheap 3D glasses (just like the movies!) Non 3D images are also found on the site. Pictures are not copyrighted and can be used for any presentation or format as long as you give credit to the site and the USGS. Each National Park has a link to the 3D image, regular image, link to the park website, and a link to other information that includes stratigraphy, virtual tours, or other links.
tag(s): geology (60), images (273), landforms (36), national parks (29)
In the Classroom
Students can look at pictures and decide upon common features they see. Display images side by side on your interactive whiteboard and note the features using the pen tools. Research or explanations about the features can lead to additional research into the natural processes that created them. Students can write "what is it?" clues to identify specific National Parks for others to identify. Share them on your class wiki for others to solve. Since the images are in the public domain, students can download them to include on the "answers" page of the wiki!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Park Service - Photos & Multimedia - National Park Service
Grades
4 to 12
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The National Park Service manages both an incredible inventory of natural wonders and many of America's most historic places. This site makes professional-quality images of these -...more
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The National Park Service manages both an incredible inventory of natural wonders and many of America's most historic places. This site makes professional-quality images of these - searchable by park - available for classroom use. In a world where copyright is always an issue, this site is a welcome addition.
tag(s): images (273), national parks (29), photography (136)
In the Classroom
Use this site to search for images of a particular region being studied in a Physical geography class. These images can be incorporated into lectures, projects, displays, etc. Just research beforehand what parks are in the specific area, and search away!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Park Service - Educators - National Park Service
Grades
1 to 12
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The National Park Service Resources for teachers is a site you won't want to miss. First, find resources by subject, grade level, or common core standards; or use the search ...more
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The National Park Service Resources for teachers is a site you won't want to miss. First, find resources by subject, grade level, or common core standards; or use the search bar for specific topics like Virtual field trips, George Washington, biology, geometry, or any topic you need. Then, scrolling down the page, find resources for Teaching with Historic Places, Teacher Ranger Program, Every Kid Outdoors, and even Spaceflight Explorer Junior. Under these topics, find additional resources for educators.
tag(s): national parks (29), virtual field trips (147)
In the Classroom
Whether you want your students to go on a virtual field trip, are studying American history, you're using blended or distance learning, you want to give your students a different take on math, science, art, or many other topics you will find something here for you and your students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fort Raleigh - National Park Service
Grades
1 to 12
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Introduce your students to colonial times through this Fort Raleigh background and info site from the National Park Service. Click the tab for "About the Park" for many educational...more
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Introduce your students to colonial times through this Fort Raleigh background and info site from the National Park Service. Click the tab for "About the Park" for many educational resources such as Photos & Multimedia, History & Culture, Kids and Youth and other pertinent topics.
tag(s): colonial america (86), national parks (29)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site to the class on a whiteboard or with a projector. Once the students have been given a brief introduction to the sections you want them to learn about, divide the class into small groups. Give each group a topic to explore and become the experts. Engage students using the cooperative classroom technique Jigsaw, and have student groups share what they know with the other groups. Need a refresher for Jigsaw? See Jigsaw Classroom, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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