Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

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Arkansas junior high school teachers will have an extra resource for teaching a required Arkansas unit to seventh and eighth grade students this spring.

The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism has developed a series of lesson plans designed to help children learn about what there is to see and do in the state and to encourage travel.

"Through this program, we hope to raise awareness among students, teachers and parents about the tourism industry," said Arkansas tourism director, Joe David Rice. "Many people don't realize tourism is the third largest employer in the state."

The set of five lesson plans is designed to make learning more about the Natural State fun for the students and easy for their teachers. The material will supplement the required unit which all students must receive during either seventh or eighth grade, when they study Arkansas geography, history and culture. The plans were written by Margaret Grimes, a teacher at Conway Junior High School.

The lesson plans are interdisciplinary, requiring students to use many levels of skills, including reading maps, figuring distances, budgeting travel, writing and planning.

During one lesson, groups of students plan a weekend trip, budgeting both time and money and making decisions about where to stay and what to do. Another lesson challenges the students to identify geographical features of Arkansas, including counties, waterways and natural attractions.

The lesson plans were distributed to seventh and eighth grade teachers throughout the state of Arkansas through the Arkansas Education Services Cooperatives. They have been tested in actual classroom settings and teacher evaluations have been used to refine the material.

For further information, contact the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism at (501) 682-7777.