Virtual Programs

A woman in a park service green sweater & ballcap sits before two laptops & a computer screen
Virtual learning brings Paterson to your classroom, coast-to-coast!

VIP Terry McKenna

Virtual Programs

Can't make it to Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park with your class? Looking for a pre-park visit activity? Consider one of the virtual programs listed below!

Program Offerings:

 
A colored illustrated map of Paterson NJ from 1880, a bustling city seen from Garret Mountain full of homes, large buildings, and bustling industries. Examples are featured: breweries, silk mills, iron rolling factories, ornate buildings, and banks
A planned city of industry, Paterson's factories produced an unimaginable array of products which helped shape the nation.

Library of Congress

Paterson & American Industry

Appropriate for 4th - 8th grade, high school, and college/adult groups. Please specify age range and focus when reserving so we may best match your curriculum needs.

Primary matched curriculum standards:

Social Studies: 6.1.2.Geo.HE.4, 6.1.2.EconNE.1, 6.1.12.HistoryCC.6.b, 6.1.12.HistoryCA.11.a, 6.1.5.HistoryUP.1, 6.1.5.GeoGI.4, 6.2.12.HistoryCC.3.[a]b

As the first planned industrial city in the United States, Paterson NJ is incredibly innovative! With this program, explore Paterson's role in the Industrial Revolution and discover how the natural world inspired a founding father, entrepreneurs, immigrants, poets and artists to build the nation's first industrial city and changed the world.

 
A rainbow forms over dark basalt cliffs as a waterfall cascades 77 feet, an overlook & buildings surrounding the water
The Great Falls of the Passaic are a natural wonder, one which provides life for countless organisms & powered an industrial society. Energy, ecology, & environmentalism are all a part of its story.

VIP Terry McKenna

Learning the Land/The Passaic River & Water Power

Appropriate for 4th - 8th grade, high school, and college/adult groups. Please specify age range and focus when reserving so we may best match your curriculum needs.

Primary matched curriculum standards:
Learning the Land: Social Studies: 6.1.2.HistoryCC.3, 6.1.5.HistoryUP.1. Science: 4-ESS2-1, HS-ESS3-1
The Passaic River & Waterpower: Science: 6 K-ESS2-2, K-2-ETS1-1, 4-ESS3-1. ELA/Literacy: RI.4.3

This two-part environmental science program invites students to examine the health of the Passaic River. "Learning the Land" focuses on geoscience themes and the formation of the Great Falls; "The Passaic River & Waterpower" explores ecology, water quality, and waterpower physics.

Note: these programs can be offered individually; please indicate this in the "Special Request" section of the reservation form.

 
A yellow America the Beautiful 4th grade interagency public lands pass with an image of a young girl looking at plants with a magnifying glass
The Every Kid Outdoors program fosters an appreciation of our nation's natural & historic resources, with a free, special parks pass to jumpstart their public lands adventures!

NPS

Every Kid Outdoors (EKO)

This program is only for 4th grade students.

Primary matched curriculum standards:
Social Studies: 6.1.12.GeoHE.13.a, 6.1.12.EconET.3.a

Learn the special role played by the National Park Service in preserving our shared natural, cultural, and historical heritage! Completion of this program entitles fourth grade students to a free one-year pass to National Park sites.

This program highlights the special roles played by the National Park Service in preserving our shared natural, cultural, and historical heritage. Students will learn about their backyard National Park - Paterson Great Falls - and how the park's themes tie into the larger story of the U.S. Industrial Revolution. A hands-on drawing activity encourages students to consider what themes and ideas represent themselves and what they care to preserve and protect. Teachers will be instructed in printing special Park Passes for each of their students, which allow them and their families free access to all Federal parks, lands, and waters through August 31, (when they begin their fifth grade year).

Learn more about the Every Kid Outdoors program

 
The outline of a female park ranger at left is filled with icons of wildlife, landscapes, & structures representing all of the National Park Service sites, superimposed over a prairie landscape with mountains in the distance. An NPS arrowhead & "Find Your
In every state & US territory, National Parks preserve & protect natural, cultural, & historic resources for the benefit & enjoyment of the people.

NPS

Our National Parks

Appropriate for 3rd grade & below. Please specify age range when reserving so we may best match your student's level of focus.

Primary matched curriculum standards:
Social Studies: 6.1.12.EconET.3.a, 6.1.12.GeoHE.13.a

Learn the special role played by the National Park Service in preserving our shared natural, cultural, and historical heritage!

This program highlights the special roles played by the National Park Service in preserving our shared natural, cultural, and historical heritage. Students will learn about their backyard National Park - Paterson Great Falls - and explore the symbol of the National Park Service: the Arrowhead. A hands-on drawing activity encourages students to consider what themes and ideas represent themselves and what they care to preserve and protect.

 

Reservation Information

Virtual and/or Distance Learning can vary depending on the technical capabilities of the park and the school. In order to find appropriate accommodations for your learning experience, here are some categories to be prepared to discuss with the park:

  1. Internet Access
  2. Phone Access (speaker phone or conference line)
  3. Mobile or digital video conferencing capabilities
  4. Firewalls
  5. Hardware and Software Capabilities
  6. Classroom pre-work or assignments

If you would like to request a reservation for any of these education programs, please fill out our Program Reservation Request Form as soon as possible to ensure your place in the queue.

 

Virtual Programs Reservation Form

NPS Form 10-1750 (Rev. 04/2021)
National Park Service

OMB Control No. 1024-0228
Expiration Date 11/31/2025

Discussion Points for Virtual / Distance Learning Program

Virtual and/or Distance Learning can vary depending on the technical capabilities of the park and the school. in order to find appropriate accommodations for your learning experience, here are some categories to be prepared to discuss with the park:

  1. Internet Access
  2. Phone Access (speaker phone or conference line)
  3. Mobile or digital video conferencing capabilities
  4. Firewall
  5. Hardware and Software Capabilities
  6. Classroom pre-work or assignments

Disclaimer:

A park representative will follow-up to confirm group details once this request has been received and reviewed.


NPS Form 10-1750 (Rev. 04/2021)
National Park Service

OMB Control No. 1024-0228
Expiration Date 11/31/2025

Notices

Privacy Act Statement

Authority: Public Law 114-289 National Park Service Centennial Act and 54 U.S.C. 100701 Protection, interpretation, and research in System.

Purpose: To administer education programs for education audiences including but not limited to school groups, scouting groups, extracurricular groups, and home school groups.

Routine Uses: To effectively manage requests for education received by the NPS, the Education Reservation Request Form is used to collect basic education reservation information to facilitate operational aspects of scheduling groups for park education programs, including in-park education programs, ranger in classroom programs, and/or online distance learning programs.

Disclosure: Voluntary, however, failure to provide the requested information may impede the ability to grant your education reservation request.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

We are collecting this information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501) to provide park managers and educators the information needed to schedule and conduct education program activities. All applicable parts of the form must be completed in order for your request to be considered. You are not required to respond to this or any other Federal agency-sponsored information collection unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB has approved this collection of information and assigned control number 1024-0288.

Estimated Burden Statement

Public reporting for this collection of information is estimated to average 5 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, National Park Service, 1201 Oakridge Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80525. Do not send your completed form to this address.

Last updated: June 1, 2024

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Contact Info

Mailing Address:

72 McBride Avenue Extension
Paterson, NJ 07501

Phone:

973-523-0370

Contact Us