Wind Cave offers a variety of wonderful opportunities to learn about the natural resources of the park. Teachers who want an educational opportunity for their students can participate in cave tours or in the park's Connections program. All field trips into the cave are ranger-guided and leave from the visitor center. Educational tours through the cave can be scheduled by calling 605-745-4600. For information about fees for school trips please call the number above.

"Connections" is Wind Cave National Park's environmental education program. The program allows students and teachers to discover relationships between the mixed-grass prairie, the ponderosa pine forest, the cave, the plants, and animals that live in these unique habitats, and themselves. 

The program introduces specific ecological concepts using activities that awaken enthusiasm, focus attention, allow for direct experience, and encourage students to share inspiration. These concepts are designed to match children's developmental stages. The concepts presented at each grade level include:

First grade          Similarities and Differences

Second grade      Homes and Habitat

Third grade  Adaptation in Nature

Fourth grade       Order in Nature

Fifth grade  Continuity and Change

Sixth grade        Interaction and Interdependence

Seventh/Eighth   Limiting Factors

High School Water in the Environment