Lessons and Curriculum
Our lessons emphasize hands-on exploration of the national park and are generally three hours or longer. Most lessons can be adapted for all age groups. Contact our school program coordinator at (865) 448-6709 to learn more.
A Tremont Teacher Naturalist will teach cooperatively with your school’s staff as well as assist teachers with materials, trails, and questions.
Day Classes
Make observations, ask questions, and do initial explorations of the national park. This is every group’s first class at Tremont.
Wrap up your time at Tremont through reflections and nature art. This is every group’s last class at Tremont.
Uncover questions, follow curiosity, and design student-driven investigations to learn more about salamanders.
Use a map and compass to navigate through an orienteering course both on Tremont’s campus and off-trail in the wilderness.
Investigate water quality through the collection of bio-indicators (aquatic macro-invertebrates) and abiotic water quality testing. Stream class – students will get wet!
Stream Physics
Measure the flow rate of the Middle Prong without a stream flow meter and explore the power of water in shaping the landscape. Stream class – students will get wet!
Stream Life
Catch aquatic organisms and discover how their structures and behaviors enable them to survive. Stream class – students will get wet!
Aquatic Salamander Monitoring
Participate in a long-term salamander population study by catching salamanders, collecting data, and discussing results. Stream class – students will get wet!
Season Seekers
As a closing class, explore how the changing seasons affect organisms. Reflect on how they, too, will change over time. Middle and high school only.
Geology Hike to the Falls
Hike to a scenic waterfall, piecing together the geologic story of the Smokies through evidence found on the Falls Trail.
Life in the Forest
Explore the vast, diverse hardwood forests of the national park…
Air Quality
Monitor air quality in the Smoky Mountains through citizen science projects and investigations.
Explorations
Build shelters, pack for expeditions, and discover the unknown.
Biodiversity Blitz
Count and cataloging every living thing in a small plot of the Smokies forest to cultivate an understanding of biodiversity.
Walker Valley Living History
Interview inhabitants of Walker Valley in 1926 to see how their lives would be affected by the creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
All Day Trip to Walker Sisters Cabin and Little Greenbriar Schoolhouse
Explore a historic schoolhouse and cemetery and hike to the most famous homesite in the park to gain a deeper understanding of the lives, values, and people of the past. School arranges for transportation to Metcalf Bottoms.
All Day Trip to Cades Cove
Explore home-sites, church yards, fields, and forest to relive life in the late 1800s in the Cades Cove community. School arranges transportation to and from Cades Cove. 60 students max.
All Day Hike: High Country Exploration
Head up to the high peaks of the Smokies to explore and understand the unique ecology of the ridge line forests. School provides transportation. 60 students max.
All Day Hike
Set off on an empowering all-day adventure on the trails. Choose either a 4 or 8-mile hike.
