在國家公園上自然課！

The National Park Service in the United States will mark its 100th anniversary in 2016. As it nears its second century， the Park Service plans to increase its educational programs for students and teachers.

The plans include transportation support for 100，000 students each year to visit national parks to learn about nature and history. Yellowstone is believed to have been the world’s first national park when it was established in 1872.

Other students will get a chance to see parks in faraway places through Skype and other online programs.

The National Park Service also works with partners to provide education. One of its partners is a nonprofit organization called NatureBridge. NatureBridge is celebrating its 40th anniversary， and says one million young people have taken part in its programs.

The organization works with students from kindergarten through 1）12th grade and uses national parks as its classrooms. It provides field science programs at Yosemite National Park and four other locations in California and the northwestern state of Washington.

Now NatureBridge is launching an East Coast center with a four-million-dollar grant from Google. Students stay for three to five days in NatureBridge programs. The activities are aimed at developing their science skills. For example， they learn about different soils and study water quality under a 2）microscope. When they are not sleeping， eating or in a laboratory， the students spend their time outdoors.

Julia Washburn is associate director of education and interpretation for the National Park Service. She says， in a time of budget cuts， the agency has to find ways to still meet its goals.

Julia： We’re not likely to get a lot of new money in this current economy. This is about doing different work with the money that we have， and redirecting resources into it.

Washburn says， one of the most important services that the Park Service provides every day is nature interpretation. 3）Park rangers try to make visiting the outdoors more meaningful. Julia： Interpretation is a form of informal education. Essentially， it’s a word that we use for the people in parks that explain the park or help 4）orient you. So park rangers are interpreters. They orient you to the place you’re in and help you make connections—emotional and intellectual connections—with the place.

美國國家公園管理局將于2016年迎來成立100周年的大日子。即將邁入第二個世紀之際，管理局準備新增各種面向學生和教師的園內教育項目。

在這一系列規劃中包括每年為十萬名學生提供交通服務，將他們送往各大國家公園學習自然和歷史知識——比如黃石公園建成于1872年，人們普遍認為這是世界上第一個國家公園。

別的學生還可以通過Skype網絡電話以及各種在線項目參觀其他地方的國家公園。

國家公園管理局還與多方機構進行合作，共同推出教育項目——其中一個合作方就是非營利組織“自然之橋”。據這個正在慶祝成立40周年的機構表示，已有100萬名年輕人參加過他們舉辦的項目。

自然之橋為從幼兒園到十二年級的學生群體提供服務，國家公園就是他們的教室。該機構在約塞米蒂國家公園以及其他四個分布在加利福尼亞州和美國西北部的華盛頓州設立了教學點，以提供實地科教項目。

現在，有了谷歌公司贊助的400萬美元，自然之橋東海岸中心即將投入使用。參加自然之橋活動的學生可以在這里住上三到五天，通過各種活動提高自己的科學技能。比如，他們要學會識別不同的土壤，還要用顯微鏡觀察水質。除了睡覺、吃飯或者在實驗室做實驗，學生們的時間基本都花在戶外活動上。

朱莉婭·沃什伯恩是國家公園管理局的教育與講解處副主任。她說，在這個各種預算都被削減的年頭，管理局必須另辟蹊徑才能達成既定目標。……