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Sequestration Effects on the Parkway
On March 1, 2013, the Parkway was required to reduce its annual budget by five percent, in accordance with the sequestration provision of the Budget Control Act of 2011. Click the link to learn about visitor center, restroom, and services impacts. More »
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Portion of National Scenic Trail Near Tupelo Closed to Hikers
Part of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (NOT the Parkway) near Tupelo, MS, has been closed until 2015 due to construction under Tupelo's Major Thoroughfare Construction Project. Parkway travelers may expect delays, but no detours are expected. More »
Curriculum Materials
The Natchez Trace Parkway is a diverse blend of history, environment, and recreation. Its thousands of years of human history began with travelers who pre-dated the mound builders, and continues on through 20th century public works projects. The Trace contains diverse environmental features ranging from mixed hardwood forests on foothills, to prairie and swamps. The 444-mile corridor provides opportunities for a vast variety of outdoor recreational experiences. Our educational program reflects the diversity of the Trace and provides educational experiences that engage students and inspire learning.
We are currently updating our pages, so please be patient with our progress and check back as our lessons become searchable. Links to lesson plans are below and also at the bottom of the For Teachers page.
Browse Our Curriculum Materials
Results
Showing results 1-10 of 51
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Discovering Diversity
The students will visit a National Scenic Trail and investigate the diversity and adaptations of biological organisms along the trail. They will collect data on the trail and create and compare representative grafts in the classroom.
- Type:
- Lesson Plans
- Grade level:
- Fifth Grade
- Subjects:
- Biology: Plants
- National/State Standards:
- Life Sciences: 3a, 3b,3e
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Beavers on the Trace
On a National Scenic Trail students will observe how a keystone species can create an ecosystem used by a variety of different species, leading to an overall increase in biodiversity. The students will be visiting a National Scenic Trail and observing an ecosystem created by a keystone species (beavers).
- Type:
- Lesson Plans
- Grade level:
- Ninth Grade-Twelfth Grade
- Subjects:
- Biology: Animals
- National/State Standards:
- Biology I: 3b
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Bears on the Trace
Students will examine the system of classification developed by Carlos Linnaeus in the 1750’s. Students will develop a poster illustrating the Linnaean Classification System.
- Type:
- Lesson Plans
- Grade level:
- Ninth Grade-Twelfth Grade
- Subjects:
- Biology: Animals
- National/State Standards:
- Biology I: 6a.
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Scrapbooking the Natchez Trace
The students will create a scrapbook of the plants and animals of the Natchez Trace Parkway. Each student will be assigned a plant or animal that lives on the Trace. The students will perform research to find interesting facts about it. As the students are researching, they should also find a picture of the species. When all of the assignments have been turned in, the teacher will bind the pages together to make a classroom scrapbook of the animals and plants that live on the Natchez Trace.
- Type:
- Lesson Plans
- Grade level:
- Fifth Grade
- Subjects:
- Biology: Animals, Biology: Plants
- National/State Standards:
- Science:3, 3b Language Arts: 3, 3a, 3d
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American Indian Mound CSI
By pretending they are investigating a theft, the students will compare and contrast Native American mounds from two time periods. They will use deductive reasoning to determine which objects belong to which mounds in either of the two time periods. The lesson can be used with photos provided in the plan or teachers may check out imitation artifact kits by calling 662-680-4015.
- Type:
- Lesson Plans
- Grade level:
- Fourth Grade-Eighth Grade
- Subjects:
- American Indian History and Culture, Geography, Social Studies
- National/State Standards:
- Social Studies: 1, 3, 5
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Alien Invasion
On a National Scenic Trail, students will investigate how privet, a non-native plant species, out-competes and affects native plant species diversity. They will inventory the plants along the trail.
- Type:
- Lesson Plans
- Grade level:
- Ninth Grade-Twelfth Grade
- Subjects:
- Biology: Plants, Environment
- National/State Standards:
- Intro to Bio: 3b, 3d Biology 1: 3c Environmental Science: 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 3a,b,c
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America’s Earliest Highway: The Natchez Trace
A historical narrative and four independent lesson activities including mapping, persuasive letter writing, research, and “bridge building” are provided to teach students about the physical evolution of the Natchez Trace. This lesson will teach about the history of the building of the road now known as the Natchez Trace Parkway. Four separate activities are provided, including plotting the Trace on a blank map, writing a letter, learning about engineering, and building a bridge with cards.
- Type:
- Lesson Plans
- Grade level:
- Eighth Grade-Twelfth Grade
- Subjects:
- History
- National/State Standards:
- 8th grade: 1, 1b, 1f, 4, 4a, 4b Secondary: 9th-12th: MS Studies: 1, 1a, 1e, 3a, 3e, 3f, 4, 4a Local Culture: 1, 1a, 1b, 2, 2b, 3, 3b, 4, 4a, 4b Local Resources Studies: 1, 1b, 1c, 3, 3b, 4, 4a, 4b
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Alien Invasions (6th Grade)
On a National Scenic Trail, students will investigate how privet, a non-native plant species, out-competes and affects native plant species diversity.
- Type:
- Lesson Plans
- Grade level:
- Sixth Grade
- Subjects:
- Biology: Plants, Science and Technology
- National/State Standards:
- Describe & predict population interactions and their effects resources and on population growth. How cooperation, competition and predation affect population growth. How natural selection acts on a population.
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Study for A Worn Path by Eudora Welty
"A Worn Path,” is a short story written by Eudora Welty in 1940. The story is set on the Natchez Trace and the town of Natchez, MS. The protagonist is Phoenix Jackson an elderly African-American woman who goes on a heroic quest to procure medicine for her ill grandson. Students will read “A Worn Path,” complete a comprehension quiz, discuss the layers of metaphor, simile, allusion, and allegory utilized by Welty.
- Type:
- Lesson Plans
- Grade level:
- Seventh Grade-Eighth Grade
- Subjects:
- Language Arts
- National/State Standards:
- The student will apply strategies and skills to comprehend, respond to, interpret, or evaluate a variety of texts of increasing length, difficulty, and complexity. The student will express, communicate, evaluate, or exchange ideas effectively.
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Animal Populations Up and Down
Animal populations have natural cycles. Those cycles are frequently influenced by human pressures. Students will see animal populations grow and decline, and learn more about predator prey adaptations that classify animals.
- Type:
- Lesson Plans
- Grade level:
- Fourth Grade-Eighth Grade
- Subjects:
- Agriculture, Biology: Animals, Ecology, Environment, Recreation Ecology, Wildlife Biology, Wildlife Management
- National/State Standards:
- Environmental Science 2. Develop an understanding of the relationship of ecological factors that effect an ecosystem. e. Explain the causes and effects of changes in population dynamics to carrying capacity and limiting factors.
Did You Know?
The Mississippi Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) played a vital role in the preservation of the Natchez Trace by placing markers in each Mississippi county the old trace passed through.