PAGO PAGO, American Samoa—Teachers throughout American Samoa have a new tool to help them engage their students in classroom and place-based learning.

The National Park Service (NPS) has launched a new online service for teachers that brings America’s national parks, including the National Park of American Samoa, into village classrooms.

The new “Teachers” section of the National Park Service website at www.nps.gov/teachers provides a one-stop shop for curriculum-based lesson plans, traveling trunks, maps, activities, distance learning, and other resources. All of the materials draw from the spectacular natural landscapes and authentic places preserved in America’s national parks.

“This new website offers teachers from around the world with resources to learn about and teach their students about the National Park of American Samoa,” said Superintendent Jim Bacon. “It also offers opportunities for students to enjoy ranger-led field trips to the national park.” Teachers are able to access over 20 curriculum-based classroom programs about the National Park of American Samoa. These programs can be presented by a ranger or by the teacher.

Two ranger-led field trips are also available that take students to the Lower Sauma Ridge and Pola Island areas and to Blunts Point. All programs are designed to meet American Samoa’s Department of Education standards.

The site is searchable by location, keyword, and more than 125 subjects, from archeology to biology, to Constitutional law. Teachers will, for the first time, be able to rate NPS-provided content. In addition to park-created content, the site also features educational materials created by NPS national programs like the National Register of Historic Places and its award-winning Teaching with Historic Places series of 147 lesson plans.