Bears of Yellowstone, Yellowstone Electronic Field Trip presents 40 photos of grizzlies and black bears fishing, traveling with their cubs, and in various other activities and habitats.

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) is prime grizzly and black bear habitat. GYE encompasses two national parks, portions of six national forests, three national wildlife refuges, private and state lands, tribal lands, and Bureau of Land Management holdings. Its18 million acres (28,315 square miles) are approximately the same land area as the state of West Virginia! Many factors determine the long-term survival of bears in this vast area. They include proper food sources, open spaces that are free of human development, diversity of landscapes, and sound bear management practices.

Climb aboard our virtual bus, look through its windows into wonderland, and experience the Bears of Yellowstone. Simply open your mind, post your questions on the message board, and see for yourselves how and why Yellowstone National Park is one of the last remaining strongholds of the magnificent grizzly bear in the lower 48 states. Truly, this is one field trip that "bears" a closer look and can save not only a bear's life, but your own!

Explorer Tom Murphy braves a ground blizzard during a winter night in Yellowstone as seen in this video segment from Nature.

A young, injured otter must find his way during the winter in Yellowstone National Park in this segment from Nature.

Op het einde van deze les kunnen cursisten na het bekijken van een video (of het lezen van de transcriptie) over aanvallen van wilde dieren het verhaal schriftelijk vertellen.

Featured here are three photographs, three posters, and three textual documents from the National Archives that relate to several of the 100 Our Documents. They are teachable documents that inspire creative methods for introducing students to the milestones and reinforcing their significance.

During the late 1800s, American industry's demand for more and more natural resources pushed Congress to recognize the need to explore and chart the geological characteristics and mineral wealth of the country. In 1864, William Brewer (seen third from the left in "Field Party of 1864"), chief botanist of the California Geological Survey, led the first state-sponsored expedition to survey, map, chart, document, and photograph vast, previously unexplored areas of California. The government sponsored several such expeditions to survey and map the territories of the United States. The many photographs taken on these expeditions were used to promote the geographic wonders and scenic beauty of the West to the rest of the country and led to a move to preserve areas of natural beauty and protect them against development. In 1871, photographer William H. Jackson traveled to Yellowstone with an expedition led by Ferdinand V. Hayden, a Civil War veteran and later head of the US Geological Survey (the USGS was officially established in 1879). Jackson took the stereoscopic views of the park included here. The following year, as a result of this expedition, Congress passed the Yellowstone Act of 1872 to protect over 2 million acres in northwest Wyoming, designating the Yellowstone area as the world?s first National Park. In California, naturalist and conservationist John Muir (shown seated on a boulder in one photograph) educated and informed the public about the beauty of the state and its need to be preserved. He was instrumental in the move to set aside Yosemite as a National Park. Muir was influential in convincing President Teddy Roosevelt of the need to conserve these lands. One photograph of the president's visit to Yosemite shows Muir and Roosevelt standing on a rock at Yosemite's Glacier Point. Another shows Roosevelt with a party of Secret Service men and government officials at Mariposa Grove. Carlton Watkins was among the first to photograph Yosemite. He became well known for his magnificent, large plate images of the park, including the images of Bridal Veil, El Capitan, and Nevada Fall, shown here. His images played a significant role in promoting the West to the rest of the country. An image of sheet music from 1873 called "Yosemite Waltzes" reflects how the park was quickly incorporated into popular culture. The logging industry, which began during the Gold Rush years, had gained a foothold in California and the Pacific Northwest. One 1872 photograph depicts loggers in Mammoth Forest about to cut down a massive tree (said to be 5,000 years old) that would later be reassembled for the World's Fair in order to show the rest of the world just how big things were in the West. But as logging and other industries grew, and it became clear that the West had a finite amount of natural wealth, the conservation movement gained momentum. In 1892, the Sierra Club began at the University of California, Berkeley, to promote conservation and involve people in the great outdoors by organizing hikes and outings. One photograph shows club members on an outing in Sequoia Forest in 1902. Other photographs picture two women hiking to Glacier Point, and a family camping in Yosemite in 1906.

This lesson introduces the idea that rates and directions of plate movements can be measured. The discussion centers on the use of mantle 'hotspots' to determine plate motions. Examples include the Hawaiian Islands, the Galapagos Islands, and Yellowstone National Park.

Thomas Moran was one of the major landscape painters of his day, and painted some of America's most prominent natural treasures, including the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone. He also arranged for the first government-sponsored survey of Yellowstone, and his images were later reported to have played a decisive role in the debate that led to the establishment of Yellowstone as the first national park in March 1872.