• The dunes in soft light

    White Sands

    National Monument New Mexico

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  • Closures and Missile Tests

    Upcoming Missile Tests: From time to time the missile range that surrounds us performs missile testing that may require the closure of the park or Highway 70. Please follow the link below for up to date information on closures More »

Teacher Resource Bags

Looking for a fun and educational activity for your students? Sometimes we are not able to accommodate the request for a ranger to speak to students or your school group. In this event, we offer teachers hands-on, outdoor activity that students will be excited to do in the White Sands. Teachers can check out the Teacher Resource Bag at the visitor center information desk.

The Teacher Resource Bag is a resource to be used while hiking the Dune Life Nature Trail with their students. The trail is a one mile loop trail in the monument that features 'Katy the Kit Fox' and all the parts of her life: food, water, shelter, avoiding predators, and what she does to play. This trail is a favorite with kids and adults alike!

The Teacher Resource Bag is a tote bag equipped with several outdoor guides: birds, mammals, tracks, and plants as well as binoculars. Also included in the bag are the Dune Life Nature Trail Field Notebooks: one notebook covers kindergarten through 2nd grades and the other notebook covers 3rd through 6th grades. The field note questions are tied to New Mexico State Standards for the listed grades. A lesson plan with New Mexico State Standards attached and the correct number of copies of the student field notebook and golf pencils will be provided at the visitor center information desk when the Teacher Resource Bag is checked out.

No reservation is necessary but it is 'first-come, first-serve' basis. Please give us some feedback after you use this resource. We are always looking for ways to assist the teachers in the education arena and ways to make learning fun for the kids!

You can also bring your students to White Sands and request a ranger presentation. For more information about how to arrange for a ranger to talk to your students, click here.

Download the fact sheet for field guides

Download the Dune Life Nature Trail Field Guide for grades 1 to 3

Download the Dune Life Nature Trail Field Guide for grades 4 to 6

Did You Know?

Photo of ripples on a dune

The wind moves small sand grains by bouncing them along the surface in a process called "saltation." Saltating sand grains create a beautiful pattern of ripples on the dune surface. Larger sand grains are struck by saltating grains and slowly roll forward, a process known as "surface creep."