Internet Databases

NPS Photo

A student and her teacher weigh a salamander captured under a "wood cookie".

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, through our partner, Hands on the Land, provides teachers and students an opportunity to search several internet databases for our most popular research projects. Students can ask and answer their own original research questions or teachers can use helpful resource guides that walk you through the data analysis process. Click any of the links below to explore our student citizen science research projects.

Are you doing a similar study in your own schoolyard? Add your location to the Hands on the Land database to track your own research findings. Just become a member of the Hands on the Land network of educators.

Salamander Study: This project has students collect data on the proximity of salamanders to a stream. During the field portion, students check under "wood cookies" for salamander locations. What are the abiotic conditions when salamanders are found further from the stream? Explore our data to find out.

Ozone Bio-monitoring Study: Ground-level ozone creates visible symptoms on sensitive plants that are exposed to this invisible air pollutant. Students collect data on the percent of ozone damage covering leaves on plants growing in our monitoring garden. Explore the data to find out what the symptom looks like, how quickly it progresses and how you might be able to monitor in your schoolyard.

Terrestrial Invertebrate Study: Changes in climate can result in subtle shifts in phenology (life cycle events such as when an insect emerges or when a plant blooms). Students collect data on insect orders found living in decaying leaves in our study plot. Explore the data to find out if the appearance of certain insects is shifting over time.

Water Quality Study: All streams in the Smokies originate in the park but even they are not pristine because of acid deposition and recreational activities in the park. Compare data collected by students in the park with a stream near your schoolyard. How does the pH differ, which location gets the most Stonefly larvae?

Hands on History: Search photos, transcribed interviews and other first hand personal accounts of life in the region before Great Smoky Mountains became a National Park. There is also a database containing information from every cemetery and every gravestone located in the Smokies. Check out the teacher resource section for classroom activities.