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Badlands National Park Ranger leading a group on a hike
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Badlands National Park
Guest Speakers
ranger talks to children in classroom

A park ranger presents a classroom program.


Education Outreach Program

Invite a Badlands National Park ranger into your classroom. This program is offered, free of charge, to schools within 80 miles of Interior, South Dakota. Programs are offered as staff is available. Contact the park for more information about program availability.

Not within 80 miles? Check out our Distance Learning opportunities. A guest speaker will visit your classroom by video conference.

 

Badlands in Your Classroom, 2011 - 12 School Year
Teachers who have scheduled a Badlands in Your Classroom ranger program should prepare their students accordingly. Students should have some understanding of Badlands National Park (location, mission, ecosystem) and some general background knowledge related to their program topic. Teachers may use materials provided from the links below, the specific pre-visit lesson plans, or their own lessons to prepare students.

Background Information & Additional Resources
K-12    Badlands Virtual Experience
K-12    Curriculum Materials
K-12    Badlands in Brief Video Podcasts

 

Available Programs, K-12, Fall 2011

Each program includes a PowerPoint presentation, a hands-on activity, and a question and answer session with the ranger. All programs are aligned with the South Dakota Sciene and/or Social Studies Content Standards.


K-3: Prairie Puppets and Puzzles
Meet a cast of prairie puppet animals. Learn how they lived together in the prairie ecosystem of Badlands National Park. Students will also see and touch animal pelts.

Sugested Pre-visit Video

 

3-5: Bison Banquet
Discover Native American traditional uses of the bison. Students examine real bison props to determine which part of the animal it came from and how it was used.
Suggested Pre-visit Lesson

 

5-6: Can You Dig It?

Learn about the rocks and fossils of badlands National Park. Explore the job of a paleontologist through a hands-on fossil dig activity.

Suggested Pre-visit Lesson
Fossil Trading Cards

 

7-8: Where Did All the Water Go?
Review how sedimentary rocks are formed through the processes of deposition and erosion. Students complete an activity to illustrate the concepts discussed.  
Suggested Pre-visit Lesson

 

High School: Contact the park for more information about high school programs. 

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From a 1950 postcard, a black and white photo of the rugged badlands formations

Did You Know?
The 1928 bill originally proposing a park in the South Dakota badlands used the name -Teton National Park - in the hopes of avoiding the negative-sounding name of Badlands. Teton was a title later applied to Grand Teton National Park.
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Last Updated: October 05, 2011 at 13:51 MST