Academic Emphases

Yosemite National Park offers a rich learning environment for supporting classroom curricula.  Yosemite Institute programs are multidisciplinary, including science, history, arts, literature, math, and more.  Activities feature active learning targeted to multiple intelligences and reflect our Core Educational Framework themes: Sense of Place, Interconnections, and Stewardship.  In our classroom, students have the unique opportunity to observe, experience, and personally connect with the knowledge and concepts outlined in the California Content Standards.  We work in partnership with our schools to choose academic emphases that most effectively transfer to and from the home classroom.  Our core academic emphases include:

Life Science

Earth Science

Cultural History

Scientific Inquiry

Humans and the Environment

Life Science

Ecological Concepts

• food webs
• predator/prey relationships
• energy transfer
• species diversity
• populations, communities, and ecosystems
• biomes and habitats
• adaptations
• fire ecology
• forest succession

Natural History

• life zones
• adaptations
• plant identification and observation
• wildlife identification and observation
• endangered or threatened species
• observation techniques                       
• migration patterns
• territory and home range
• life cycles

 Earth Science

 Geology

• weathering and erosion
• rock types, minerals, and soils
• formation of geologic features
• plate tectonics, earthquakes

 Hydrology

• sedimentation and succession
• water cycles
• watersheds
• significance of the Sierra snow pack

Meteorology

• climate and weather patterns
• cloud types
• air quality
• precipitation
• forecasting: wind direction, barometric pressure, temperature
• global climate change

 Cultural History

Native People's History And Culture

• relationship to their environment
• uses of plants, skins, etc.
• food and shelter
• legends and history
• cultural comparison
• current status

Yosemite Pioneer History

• John Muir
• Euro-American pioneers in Yosemite
• Cultural diversity in Yosemite
• National Park Service

Scientific Inquiry

• the scientific process
• observation techniques
• looking for patterns
• asking answerable questions
• dependent vs. independent variables
• creating hypotheses
• data collection techniques
• replication
• data graphing
• drawing conclusions
• presenting results

Humans and the Environment

• habitat destruction and diversity
• multiple land use needs
• climate change 
• population growth
• California water issues
• environmental justice
• sustainable development
• sustainable agriculture and society
• exotic vs. native species
• role of NPS in preserving natural ecosystems