The Plan: Teaching Kids About Culture, Geography & Natural Beauty

The America the Beautiful Quarters^® Program features a new, interactive lesson plan format that is easier to read and customize for students. The first 11 lesson plans will explore the first five sites in the program. The flexible lesson plan format may be applied to a variety of settings: one computer to a classroom, one computer per student, or the traditional "pen and paper" off-line approach. The plans also integrate technology into the core curriculum, which supports national education technology standards – models for 21st century learning.

The new America the Beautiful Quarters^® Program Lesson Plans are designed for grades K-12. All lesson plans are free and available at the United States Mint Web site, www.usmint.gov/educators. Created and reviewed by teachers to meet national curricular standards, the lessons draw on the new quarter reverse designs to inspire students to learn about the culture, geography, unique heritage and natural beauty of our national parks and sites.

The new lesson plan for kindergarten and first grade, for example, is called "Memories from Parks." With this plan, teachers introduce the concept of writing. Students will research the national parks and sites honored in a particular year. They will take a virtual visit to the sites and design and write a virtual postcard or create a virtual scrapbook of their trip. The lesson for grades four through six, "Working the Land – Natural Occupations," will help students research and understand different careers associated with national parks and sites.