• Granite mountains on islands along coast

    Acadia

    National Park Maine

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  • Park Loop Road opening

    May 17, 2013: The entire Park Loop Road and all other paved roads in the park open today. All dirt roads in the park, including the Seal Cove Road, will open on June 3.

  • Trail closures

    April 22, 2013: The Precipice, Orange and Black, Valley Cove, and Jordan Cliffs Trails are closed until further notice because of nesting peregrine falcons. All other trails in the park are open, whether accessible from the park or from state roads.

  • Hulls Cove Visitor Center

    May 17, 2013: The visitor center will open on May 19 and will be open 9-5 every day. All park passes are available there. There is an accessible entrance at the back of the building for those who have trouble climbing stairs.

Shoreline Discovery - Maine Learning Results

Acadia National Park Education District
Shoreline Discovery
Grade 5

PROGRAM GOALS:

  • To increase students’ knowledge of and appreciation for the natural history of Maine’s coastal ecosystems.
  • To foster a sense of respect and stewardship for Acadia’s shoreline.
  • To assist students in understanding the park’s role in preserving and protecting the coastal environment.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to:

  • Describe three factors affecting tides.
  • Compare and contrast the characteristics of three coastal ecosystems at Acadia.
  • Identify two challenges and two related adaptations of organisms found in each coastal ecosystem.
  • Name two ways the NPS protects and preserves Acadia’s coastline.
  • List three aspects of proper tide pool etiquette.
  • Understand and explain three ecological concepts.
  • Identify two plants and two animals by their physiological structure.

ALIGNMENT WITH MAINE’S LEARNING RESULTS FOR MIDDLE GRADES:

Science and Technology
A. Classifying Life Forms
Students will understand that there are similarities within the diversity of all living things.

Students will be able to:

  • Describe some structural and behavioral adaptations that allow organisms to survive in a changing environment (A-3).

B. Ecology
Students will understand how living things depend on one another and on non-living aspects of the environment.

Students will be able to:

  • Analyze how the finite resources in an ecosystem limit the types and populations of organisms within it (B-2).
  • Describe succession and other ways that ecosystems can change over time (B-3).
  • Generate examples of the variety of ways that organisms interact (e.g. competition, predator/prey, parasitism/mutualism) (B-4).

D. Continuity and Change
Students will understand that there are similarities within the diversity of living things.

Students will be able to:

  • Provide examples of the concept of natural and artificial selection and its role in species changes over time (D-3).

F. The Earth
Students will gain knowledge about the earth and the processes that change it.

Students will be able to:

  • Describe factors that can cause short-term and long-term changes to the earth (F-4).

I. Motion
Students will understand the motion of objects and how forces can change that motion.

Students will be able to:

  • Describe the motion of objects using knowledge of Newton's Laws (I-1).

Alignment with additional learning results may occur during programming.

4-2004

Did You Know?

From atop Cadillac Mountain, the sun is just starting to rise over the Porcupine Islands.

Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park is the tallest mountain along the eastern coast of the United States. During certain times of the year, it is the first place in the U.S. to see sunrise.