America's national parks are becoming very popular vacation destinations.
A national park is an area of land that is owned and protected by the federal government because of its natural beauty or its importance to history or science. We have several right here in Ohio.
New numbers show more people visited national park sites in 2015 than ever before. Parks across the country hosted a record breaking 307 million visitors. And 57 of the 59 sites officially classified as national parks -- set new records for visits last year.
The most popular spot was the Great Smoky Mountains, with more than 10 million visits. The Grand Canyon saw five million visitors in 2015, while Yellowstone and the Rocky Mountains each had more than four million tourists.
Instructional Links
Website: National Park Service
Virtual Field Trips: National Park Foundation, National Park Electronic Field Trips
http://www.nationalparks.org/our-work/programs/electronic-field-trip
Website Article: Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Become a Junior Ranger
http://www.nps.gov/cuva/learn/kidsyouth/beajuniorranger.htm
Website Article: National Park Service, Calling All Fourth Graders. We Need You!
http://www.nps.gov/kids/features/2015/everyKid.cfm
Online Inteactive Website: National Park Service, WebRangers
http://www.nps.gov/webrangers/entry_gate.cfm
Students have the option to sign up.