Earth Day Challenge

The National Parks MLI Summer Experience gives young people the chance to consider the importance of protecting our environment within the context of some of America’s most treasured resources: our American National Parks. In September 2009, PBS will air a new series from acclaimed documentarian Ken Burns and Florentine Films, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, which traces the birth of the national park idea in the mid-1800s and follows its evolution for nearly 150 years. In the process, this twelve-hour documentary chronicles the steady addition of new parks through the stories of the people who helped create them – and who saved these cherished public spaces from destruction.

The Earth Day Challenge National Parks Summer Experience provides 30 hours of contact time per student in morning or afternoon sessions spread over a two-week period. Students work in groups, learning about the historical, physical, and cultural details of the park and location they’ll be visiting. Each session includes two separate site visits, the first for exploration, the second for documentation. Participants work together to form their impressions, organize their observations, and complete their own digital presentations using digital media and mobile devices. All participants will automatically be eligible to enter the Earth Day Challenge Filmmaking Contest.

SUMMER CAMP SAMPLE SCHEDULE

Week One

• Monday | Introduction, Orientation, and Mixed Groups. Participants get to know each other, review the program schedule, and complete short free-writing exercises about the park they’ll be visiting.
• Tuesday | Research and Team Activities. The group focuses on site research and creating a plan for investigating the park the next day. Teams practice using voice recorders and texting functions on the mobile devices they’ll use to help record their impressions during the next day’s field trip.
• Wednesday | Site Visit. A day of exploration, journaling, and note-taking, with pen and paper and by capturing images and audio recordings with mobile devices.
• Thursday | Project Brainstorming. Groups work together to organize their topics and develop an approach for creating their projects. Teams look at websites presenting place-based work and view sample videos from last year’s Earth Day Challenge.
• Friday | Action Plan. Teams develop a plan and assign roles for their second trip to the park. Then they work with digital cameras and video cameras to prepare for asset gathering and present their plan and goals for the trip to the group.

Week Two

• Monday | Second Site Visit. Teams focus on their specific interests at the park site, working as digital journalists, gathering media, and capturing their own reflections to support their projects.
• Tuesday | Scripting, File Management, Introduction to Video Editing. Teams organize their media and finalize script material, and they practice video exercises using iMovie or Premiere Elements.
• Wednesday | Project Assembly. Teams work together to build their projects, organizing image and sound files and filling in a timeline.
• Thursday | Project Assembly. Teams complete their short videos, working with pacing, titles, sound edits, transitions, and credits.
• Friday | Sharing the Results. Teams finish their projects and share their work in a celebration showcase. When possible, they may also have the opportunity to embed finished presentations on a map and web page for distribution.

Need more information? Contact earthdaychallenge@pearsonfoundation.org.