Seven Islands For Educators
Seven Islands Educator Programs
Want a fun way to get your students excited about learning? Why not learn with a Park Ranger!
Tennessee State Parks offer accessible, discovery-based educational experiences aligned with Tennessee’s academic standards. Choose a program for your class, plan your day at a park, and request an experience today.
Our Programs
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Field Trips
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School Outreach
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Self-guided/Teacher-led
Seven Islands Programs
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Exploring Habitats Using the Five Senses
Students will play a game that introduces them to the differences between plants and animals and the habitats that they use. Afterwards, they will go on a short hike through various habitats using their senses to gather information about Seven Islands State Park.
Meets: K.LS1.1, K.LS1.2, K.LS1.3, K.LS3.1, K.ESS3.1, K.ESS3.3, K.ETS1.1, K.ETS1.2, K.ETS2.1
Location: Park or school
Grade Level: Primary Grades
Length: 60-120 minutes*
Capacity: 25 students
Cost: $5/student*The program is 120 minutes at the park, 60 minutes at the school.
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Plants
Students will play a fun game that introduces the function of each plant part, the lifecycle of a tree, and the needs of a tree. We will then go on a scavenger hunt/hike to search for plants in different habitats and gather information used to solve a mystery.
Meets: 1.LS1.1, 1.LS1.2, 1.LS1.3, 1.LS2.1, 1.LS2.2, 1.LS2.3, 1.ETS1, 1.ETS2
Location: Park or school
Grade Level: Primary Grades
Length: 60-120 minutes*
Capacity: 25 students
Cost: $5/student*The program is 120 minutes at the park, 60 minutes at the school.
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Who Lives Here?
Students will participate in a couple of interactive activities that demonstrate some of the various adaptations that birds have. We will also play a cooperative game to classify creatures and learn how scientists use taxonomy. We will then go on a short hike to find out who lives at Seven Islands and identify the adaptations that they use to survive here.
Meets: 2.LS1.1, 2.LS1.2, 2.LS1.3, 2.LS2.1, 2.LS2.2
Location: Park or school
Grade Level: Primary Grades
Length: 60-120 minutes*
Capacity: 25 students
Cost: $5/student*The program is 120 minutes at the park, 60 minutes at the school.
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Water Shapes Our Landscape
Students learn about the natural cycles in our ecosystem. We will then go on a short hike, using park maps to find and follow the water that is flowing through the park. At the river, they will participate in an activity that demonstrates how erosion shapes our landscape.
Meets: 2.ESS1, 2.ESS2.1, 2.ESS2.2, 2.ESS2.3, 2.ESS2.4
Location: Park or school
Grade Level: Primary Grades
Length: 60-120 minutes*
Capacity: 25 students
Cost: $5/student*The program is 120 minutes at the park, 60 minutes at the school.
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Adapting to Change
Students will participate in a variety of fun, interactive activities that illustrate the types of adaptations that birds have and how they have adapted to various habitats.
Meets: 3.LS2.1, 3.LS4.1, 3.LS4.2, 3.LS4.3
Location: Park or school
Grade Level: Primary Grades
Length: 60-120 minutes*
Capacity: 25 students
Cost: $5/student*The program is 120 minutes at the park, 60 minutes at the school.
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Where is the Water?
Students will participate in an active game that illustrates how water moves through the water cycle. We will then go on a short hike to look for water in the park and identify cloud types.
Meets: 3.ESS2.1, 3.ESS2.2
Location: Park or school
Grade Level: Primary Grades
Length: 60-120 minutes*
Capacity: 25 students
Cost: $5/student*The program is 120 minutes at the park, 60 minutes at the school.
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Energy to Grow
Students will explore the process of photosynthesis through interactive games and go on a hike to see how plants interact with their environment.
Meets: 4.LS2.1, 4.LS2.2, 4.LS2.3, 4.LS2.4
Location: Park or school
Grade Level: Primary Grades
Length: 60-120 minutes*
Capacity: 25 students
Cost: $5/student*The program is 120 minutes at the park, 60 minutes at the school.
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Webs We Weave
We will go on a short hike to look for different trophic levels and examples of how organisms find or create their own food. Students will then use the organisms found on our hike to create a food web model that represents the ecosystem at Seven Islands.
Meets: 4.LS2.1, 4.LS2.2, 4.LS2.3, 4.LS2.4
Location: Park or school
Grade Level: Primary Grades
Length: 60-120 minutes*
Capacity: 25 students
Cost: $5/student*The program is 120 minutes at the park, 60 minutes at the school.
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Investigating Inheritance
Students will play a game to determine whether traits of living organisms are inherited, learned, or caused by environmental factors. They will then explore the park as they conduct their own study on traits that they observe in plants and animals at Seven Islands.
Meets: 5.LS1.1, 5. LS3.1, 5.LS3.2, 5.LS4.2
Location: Park or school
Grade Level: Primary Grades
Length: 60-120 minutes*
Capacity: 25 students
Cost: $5/student*The program is 120 minutes at the park, 60 minutes at the school.
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Ecosystem Explorations
Students will play a fun game that illustrates the relationships between different species in an ecosystem. They will also go on a Ranger-led hike to explore and collect data on the wildlife using various habitats at Seven Islands.
Meets: 6.LS2.1-7, 6.LS4.1-2
Location: Park or school
Grade Level: Primary Grades
Length: 60-120 minutes*
Capacity: 25 students
Cost: $5/student*The program is 120 minutes at the park, 60 minutes at the school.
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Natural Cycles
Students will participate in an interactive game that models the process of photosynthesis, respiration, and the carbon cycle. They will then go on a hike to search for examples of animal and plant adaptations.
Meets: 7.LS1.6, 7.LS1.9, 7.LS2.1
Location: Park or school
Grade Level: Primary Grades
Length: 60-120 minutes*
Capacity: 25 students
Cost: $5/student*The program is 120 minutes at the park, 60 minutes at the school.
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Exploring Avian Evolution
Students will participate in several activities that illustrate the evolutionary history of birds and how natural selection played a role in developing the birds we see at Seven Islands today. We will also go for a short hike to look for examples of animal adaptations.
Meets: 8.LS4.1-4
Location: Park or school
Grade Level: Primary Grades
Length: 60-120 minutes*
Capacity: 25 students
Cost: $5/student*The program is 120 minutes at the park, 60 minutes at the school.
How to Request a Program
Program requests use the same form whether you are requesting funding support or not. Once you have submitted the form, allow 10 days for processing. Request educational program experiences at least four to six weeks in advance of the desired time frame for the program.
To complete the form:
Funding Assistance
Field trip funding may be available to remove barriers to participation.
The Tennessee State Parks Conservancy (501-C3) assists schools in covering the costs of scheduled programs at a Tennessee State Park. Funds can cover bus transportation costs, park program fees, and park shelter rentals. Partial funds may be awarded. Awards are given after the field trip is completed.
When applying for a program, select “yes” on the application form if you are interested in receiving funding support.
What’s Next?
Submitting the form begins the scheduling and funding process.
The request will be in Pending status until confirmed. Allow 10 days for processing. A park staff member will email confirmation of the program and notify you of any park-related fees.
If you requested funding, the Tennessee State Parks Conservancy Director will email the decision to award or deny funding. Funding is processed after the program as a reimbursement. Partial funds may be awarded. In this case, the school will be responsible for any costs above the amount written in the award email.
Submitting for Funding Reimbursement
To receive reimbursement, you must provide the following documentation:
- Bus invoice
- Park invoice
- Photos
- Number of students new to any Tennessee State Park
- Student and teacher feedback
Planning Your Trip
Field trips are offered based on availability.
- Request your program 60-90 days in advance.
- A single program has a limit of 25 students.
- A field trip has a limit of 75 students.
- School groups of more than 25 students are based on staff availability.
- Bus parking is available in our main parking lot.
- Contact the park to request an accessibility accommodation.
