Imagine you and your students walking a trail surrounded by some of the largest living things on earth. The sunlight feels warm on your skin and the smell of wildflowers fills the air. You find a pine cone on the ground and shake it to see if it still holds seeds. The crack of a twig makes you look up and you see a deer running across the meadow. Your students not only hear what you are teaching—they see it right in front of their eyes.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks make an excellent classroom for biology, ecology, history, geology, earth science, and a host of other subjects. The links above provide information on how you can bring your class to the parks.

Or bring the parks to your class through curriculum materials or ranger programs. For example, the Sequoia Fund's "Ranger in a Classroom" educational outreach program brings park rangers to local elementary school classrooms to communicate the story, values and mission of both Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The program, supported entirely by donations and fundraising endeavors, will closely follow the approved California State Curriculum in science and social sciences. For more information, call the parks at 559-565-3341.