- Lesson Plan (371)
- Field Trips (156)
- Student Activities (140)
- Distance Learning (92)
- Traveling Trunk (28)
- Other Education Materials (25)
- Teacher Reference Materials (18)
- Guest Speakers (15)
- Science Labs (6)
- Primary Sources (4)
- Media for Loan (2)
- Field Schools & Institutes (1)
- Teacher Workshops & Other Programs (1)
- Acadia National Park (67)
- Glacier National Park (35)
- Everglades National Park (29)
- Olympic National Park (26)
- Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park (20)
- Homestead National Historical Park (19)
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park (16)
- Cane River Creole National Historical Park (14)
- Fort Necessity National Battlefield (14)
- Show More ...
- Science (469)
- Social Studies (440)
- Literacy and Language Arts (194)
- Math (79)
Showing 835 results for Pre-activity ...
Glen Haven Pre-visit Activity
- Type: Student Activities
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Fort Pulaski Pre-Visit Activity
Pre and Post Field Trip Activities
Cows in the Campground - Pre-Visit Writing Activity
- Type: Field Trips
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade

Students will read about the community of the Niobrara Valley prior to their field trip to develop an understanding of the significance of development and its co-existence with preservation of a natural resource. Students will demonstrate their understanding of the interrelationships contained in the river system by writing a descriptive essay based on an essay prompt of their choice.
Horsin' Around: Online Pre-visit Activity
- Type: Field Trips
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade

Through this online pre-visit activity, students will learn about different breeds of horses. Then they will create a PowerPoint presentation that provides information about a breed of horse. The class will then take a field trip to the Grant-Kohrs Ranch NHS or other type of ranch to interact with and see different breeds of horses.
Thriving in Death Valley Pre-Trip Activity
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Students will research animals that live in Death Valley National Park and create a presentation about the animals’ adaptations. Students will share their presentations with their classmates. After these presentations, students will compare and contrast two animals and their adaptations using a Venn diagram.
Elevation Above and Below Pre-Trip Activity
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade

For this activity students will explore the way topographic maps are used to describe elevation such as “sea level,” “below sea level,” and “above sea level.” Students will compare and contrast side view diagrams of mountains and valleys to topographic maps. Students will use their own hands to create a topographic map of their own.
Prepare For Cold Air: SnowSchool Pre-visit Activity
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Influence of War Pre-Visit Activity 2: Research
Influence of War Pre-Visit Activity 3: Examine and Predict
Family Matters: The Life of a Slave Family Pre-Visit Activity
- Type: Field Trips
- Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade

Family was central to Harriet Tubman's life. As she wrote, "I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land; and my home, after all, was down in Maryland; because my father, my mother, my brothers, and sisters, and friends were there. But I was free, and they should be free." What compelled Tubman to return for her loved ones on multiple trips to guide them to freedom?
Prized Possession: Escaping on the Underground Railroad Pre-Visit Activity
- Type: Field Trips
- Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
15 years before slavery was abolished in the United States and a little more than 100 miles from the safety of Pennsylvania, Harriet Tubman operated on the edge of freedom. Born in Dorchester County, Maryland, in 1822, Tubman emancipated herself from slavery in 1849 at age 27. She earned the nickname “Moses” for risking her own life about 13 times to guide more than 70 people—many of them family and friends she had left behind—from lives in slavery to new lives in freedom.
Commercial and Non-Industrial Occupations Pre-Visit Activity 1: Entrepreneurs
I Think I Know About Slavery... Pre-Visit Activity
- Type: Field Trips
- Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
During the decades preceding the Civil War, when the United States struggled to define itself, no issue more divided and plagued its people than slavery. Even among those who had doubts about its morality, slavery was debated as part of a complex set of interlocking philosophical, social, economic, and political concerns too difficult to resolve and too intertwined with the fate of the nation to consider abolishing.
Commercial and Non-Industrial Occupations Pre-Visit Activity 3: Picture Taking
Commercial and Non-Industrial Occupations Pre-Visit Activity 2: Non-Mining Jobs
Hulihia Kīlauea – a Complete Change part 1, pre-field trip classroom activities
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Influence of War Pre-Visit Activity 1: Creating a Timeline of Wars and Conflicts from 1800-1980
Santafetrail.org Activities and Lessons
- Type: Lesson Plan
- Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade

The Santa Fe Trail Association, the official partner of the Santa Fe National Historic Trail, offers a plethora of activities and packets for grades K-8. This site also offers a number of additional resources, including an interactive trail map with detailed explanations of each stop on the trail. Resources could easily be adapted to fit any curriculum!