AY Honor National Parks and Heritage Sites - Advanced

National Parks and Heritage Sites - Advanced

Skill Level

2

Year

2021

Version

13.09.2024

Approval authority

North American Division

Overview

After learning about national parks or heritage sites, delve in deeper by learning more about a specific site of your choice!

The Challenging Part

The most challenging requirement of this honor is probably this:

3. Do the following while visiting two different national park sites, world heritage sites, or state-managed parks, and give a multimedia report about what you saw during your visits:

a. Determine whether each is a natural, cultural, historical or mixed-use park.

b. Compare and contrast them. Include such things as: landforms, wildlife, conservation or preservation efforts, cultural or historical artifacts being protected, tourist services available, fee vs free location, and number of visitors seen. Your instructor may need to substitute other forms of nature preserve areas depending on location.

c. Visit a visitors’ center. Learn about the history of the park.

i. When was the park established?

ii. Who established it?

iii. Why was it established?

iv. Before it became a national park, how was it used?

v. How much area does the park cover?

vi. What is the reason for protecting this site? What would be lost to history, culture, or nature if this site didn’t exist?

vii. What activities and/or recreational opportunities are available there?

d. Interview a park employee or ranger and ask questions such as:

i. What does your job entail?

ii. What do you like the best about your job? The least?

iii. Why is conservation & preservation important to this park?

iv. What can I do to help preserve or conserve national park sites/world heritage sites?