BUDS, BRANCHES, AND BARK: WINTER IN THE FOREST 
Enjoy spectacular scenery and become familiar with the pre-spring forest on this leisurely two-mile walk. Learn to use sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound to identify trees and shrubs without leaves. Discover how to appreciate the subtleties of plant life, such as the patterning of bark and the arrangement of limbs, branches, and twigs. Pick up a few tidbits about birds, rocks, and insects along the way. Instructor: Edward E. C. Clebsch, Ph.D., professor emeritus, UT, Botany.
COURSE #282869 FEE: $49
Sat., March 1, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet in training room at Sugarlands Visitor Center.)
INTRODUCTION TO ORIENTEERING
In the simplest terms, orienteering is the process of using a map and compass to travel from one place to another. Traditionally, orienteering has been associated with competitive events where participants race cross country with map and compass to find targets in the shortest period of time. Through lectures, classroom activities, and field exercises, you will learn the fundamental skills of both competitive and wilderness orienteering. Instructor: Neal Buckingham has more than 15 years experience in training civilian and military groups in land navigation, orienteering, and search and rescue techniques.
COURSE #282867 FEE: $49
Sat., March 15, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet in training room at Sugarlands Visitor Center.)
ADVANCED WILDERNESS ORIENTEERING
If you have some outdoor and/or orienteering experience, here’s a chance to get in-depth instruction on using a map and compass to navigate in remote areas. Lectures and classroom exercises will emphasize the advanced aspects of map reading, using an orienteering compass, declination, route projection, and improvisation. Practical field exercises will enable you to learn first-hand how to navigate from one point to another in the wilderness. Prerequisite: Introduction to Orienteering. Instructor: Neal Buckingham.
COURSE #282867-1 FEE: $49
Sun., March 16, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet at amphitheater at Cades Cove.)
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.
COURSE #282919
Sat., March 29, 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)
TRACKING AND NATURE OBSERVATION
Every clue or sign that an animal leaves behind is a track. Tracking is an ancient skill, but for us it can be a new language. It is a way to be more aware, to experience, and see much more in the woods. We don’t have to see the animals to tell they were there, what they were doing, and when they may come back. We will learn their stories from the traces they have left behind. Slow down, look closely, ask questions, and accept the challenge of tracking in the Smokies. You’ll be surprised at what you may find! 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, environmental centers, and teacher conferences since 1974. Anything and everything in the natural world brings out her enthusiasm and contagious sense of fun.
COURSE #282892 FEE: $49
Sun., March 30, 9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(Meet at Abrams Fall trailhead parking lot.)
The apple denotes Knox County Teacher Center approval for in-service credit.
Question? E-mail us at Smoky@utk.edu