The programs on these pages are designed to help families explore the natural world together. Course content will be geared toward families with young children. Each adult may register up to two children (ages 6-12) and will be responsible for them. Bring your favorite young friend and discover some of the wonders of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
POLLIWOGS, EGGS, AND SINGING FROGS
You and your children are in for a treat! Visit various ponds in Cades Cove and help find Spotted Salamander and Wood Frog eggs, tadpoles, and salamanders. Weather and frogs permitting, we’ll hear choruses of singing frogs. If we’re fortunate and have quick hands, we’ll catch and get a close-up look at three stages of amphibian development—eggs, larvae, and adults. We’ll discuss amphibian biology, ecology, and research throughout the afternoon. Instructor: Elizabeth A. Domingue, M.S., wildlife and conservation biology, has designed and conducted studies on salamanders and frogs. As a naturalist, she has gained extensive outdoor experience while hiking, backpacking, photographing, and observing wildlife and their habitats throughout the United States.
This course is no longer available. Please select another course.
Sat., March 28, 1:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet in parking area at Cades Cove Loop Road.)
Fee: $35 adults and teens
$25 child (ages 6-12)
WATERFALLS: SHARE THE SMOKIES’ WONDERS WITH CHILDREN
Share a waterfall with your child. David Morris and Charles Maynard, co-authors of Time Well Spent: Family Hiking in the Smokies and Waterfalls of the Smokies, will lead adults and children to some of the Smokies’ prized watery gems in the Tremont area covering three to four miles roundtrip. Bring a lunch along to experience the miracle of the mountains and to hear stories of those who once lived in them. Instructors: Charles W. Maynard and David E. Morris are experienced hikers, stargazers, and
storytellers.
This course is no longer available. Please select another course.
Sat., May 16, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet at Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont parking lot.)
Fee: $29 adults and teens
$19 child (ages 6-12)
TOTALLY BUGGY
Try your luck at catching insects as we go exploring! We’ll look under rocks and in logs, litter, trees, grasses, and streams in our journey of discovery of the wonderful world of insects and explore their diversity in the Smokies. We’ll find out about the differences between insects and their relatives, such as spiders and scorpions. We’ll learn about harmful and beneficial insects and what their role is in our world. Hey, it’s a bug’s life —enjoy it while learning about it! Instructor: Jason Robinson, M.S., zoology; Ph.D. student in the University of Tennessee’s Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department. Robinson’s current research project involves a biodiversity survey of aquatic insects in 17 national parks in the Blue Ridge, Cumberland Plateau, and Caroline Piedmont regions.
This course is no longer available. Please select another course.
Sat., May 9, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet in training room at Sugarlands Visitor Center.)
Fee: $29 adults and teens
$19 child (ages 6-12)
AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE SMOKIES
Have you ever seen a black-bellied salamander or held a spring salamander? If not, then this course is for you! We’ll have fun wading in streams and gently turning rocks and logs in search of woodland and aquatic salamanders. With some luck, enthusiasm, and quick hands, many frogs, turtles, lizards, and snakes also will be discovered. The program will begin with slides and a short introduction, but mostly we’ll be exploring in the woods. Kids young and old are encouraged to attend. Instructor: Matthew Niemiller is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee. His research focuses on the ecology, genetics, and conservation of amphibians, reptiles, and cave organisms.
This course is no longer available. Please select another course.
Sat., July 18, 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet in training room at Sugarlands Visitor Center.)
Fee: $29 adults and teens
$19 child (ages 6-12)
BIRDING FOR BEGINNERS
Spring is bursting with birds and after this day you may never take a walk again without enjoying the wonder of birds —even in your own backyard! We’ll cover the basics of binoculars, field guides, checklists, and Bird Song CDs. We’ll learn the simple steps to identifying birds, including common bird sounds. We’ll be outside 90 percent of the day, starting our walks at low elevation, then carpooling to mid- and high-elevation habitats to discover other species—from Wood Thrush to Veery, from Yellow-throated Warbler to Black-throated Blue. Resident birds are common, but so too the many colorful migrants from the tropics settling in to nest in the Smokies. Along the way we’ll discuss the miracle of flight and other bird traits, have a hands-on look at a bird nest collection, and offer ways to attract birds to your yard. Instructor: Carey Jones is a former Park Ranger naturalist who led educational walks for 14 years in the Smokies. Always the seeker and discoverer, his experience and M.A. help glean truths from nature to share with fellow learners. He is a naturalist for several organizations, including the annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in the Park, and is the narrator of the new Bird Songs of the Smokies CD set.
This course is no longer available. Please select another course.
Sat., May 16, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet in conference room at Park Headquarters Bldg.)
Fee: $49 adults and teens
$39 child (ages 6-12)
EXPLORING STREAM LIFE IN THE SMOKIES
Come and investigate the ecology of the cool, clear streams of the Smokies. See if you can be the first to find a water penny on the underside of a rock. Try your skill at catching dragonflies on the wing! We’ll catch and examine some of the organisms that live in and around the flowing waters and look at special adaptations of aquatic creatures. We’ll learn about food chains and discuss the impact of human activities on stream ecology. Instructor: Larry Wilson, Ph.D., professor, UT Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries. He teaches courses in fishery management, population dynamics, and aquaculture. In addition to reservoir and lake research, he has conducted research in streams in the Smokies and other East Tennessee areas, primarily with assessing fish and invertebrate communities.
This course is no longer available. Please select another course.
Sat., May 16, 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet at amphitheater near store at Cades Cove campground.)
Fee: $35 adults and teens
$25 child (ages 6-12)
ANIMAL TRACKS AND TRACES
Come and discover the goings and comings of our forest friends from the traces that they have left behind. We’ll go on a treasure hunt and find clues in the forest to tell what animals have been there, what they were doing, and when they may come back. We’ll look for tracks, bits of food, fur, even trails laid out to favorite spots. Learn from the animals a new language—the language of the natural landscape! Instructor: Wanda DeWaard, M.S., recreation and environmental education, is an outdoor educator who has shared Earth Kinship and Environmental Awareness programs with community groups, schools, colleges, camps, nature centers, and teacher conferences since 1974. Anything and everything in the natural world brings out her enthusiasm and contagious sense of fun.
Register now: COURSE #09FA890
Sun., Oct. 25, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet at Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont parking lot.)
Fee: $29 adults and teens
$19 child (ages 6-12)
SENSATIONAL SALAMANDERS
Salamanders will captivate the interest of your children. Join me for a fun day as we search high and low to get close-up looks at many different kinds of salamanders. We will learn about where they live, what they eat, who eats them, and lots more. After our day together, you will know why the Smokies is called the Salamander Capital of the World! We will drive and make several stops along Newfound Gap Road -- with some walking on trails. Instructor: Liz Domingue, M.S., wildlife and conservation biology, is a naturalist, educator, photographer, and writer. She has gained her outdoor experience while hiking, paddling, and backpacking. Through photography, observation, and research, Domingue has studied wildlife, plants, and the natural world throughout the United States and abroad.
This course is no longer available. Please select another course.
Sat., July 11, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet on porch at the Park Headquarters bldg.)
Fee: $35 adults and teens
$25 child (ages 6-12)
This apple denotes Knox County Teacher Center approval for in-service credit.
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