I just read an article by Philippe Cousteau, CEO of EarthEcho International, about his recent trip to Yellowstone National Park. Click here to see HuffPo commentary.

Cousteau writes about what he’s observed and learned while in Yellowstone. One sentence, in particular, jumped out at me, “Other challenges are threatening the parks as well. A familiar refrain I heard over and over from guides and rangers alike was the concern over the effects of an increasingly volatile climate.”

I was struck by this sentence because I’m working on NPF’s upcoming Electronic Field Trip (EFT) to North Cascades National Park, which will focus on climate change. NPF picked North Cascades for the EFT because it is home to over 300 glaciers. And many of these glaciers have shrunk dramatically during the last century thanks, in part, to global warming.

The upcoming EFT, which will air on October 13th, will use North Cascades as a medium for explaining climate change and its impacts. I think some of the kids will be surprised to learn that the glaciers are not only wonders of the natural world, but they provide an important source of water for the plants, animal and people that live in the region. As the glaciers shrink, a water supply is diminished.

I hope our EFT is successful in teaching thousands of children about climate change, and motivating them to take action to help mitigate the human-caused impacts on the climate.

To learn more about our upcoming EFT click here!

But from the blackfoot daisies and rock roses down to the mulch made of crushed pecan shells, the pair of 200-square-foot gardens are the culmination of 12 students’ months long study of South Texas’ native plants.

“That’s student empowerment: letting them make these decisions,” said teacher Elijiah Rios of the Southeast branch of the Boys and Girls Club, one of the instructors for the First Bloom program at the Missions National Historic Park. First Bloom is a nationwide program supported by the National Park Foundation to educate urban youths about the natural world. Former First Lady Laura Bush launched the program in 2007 to honor another former first lady, Lady Bird Johnson…

“A lot of San Antonians don’t know they have a national park in their backyard,” he said…

Although students will now shift their focus to beautifying their Boys and Girls Club campus, the remainder of the program will include periodic trips to check and care for the gardens they planted Friday.

“The process definitely doesn’t stop when they put it in the ground, and they need to learn that,” Rios said.

Other activities have ranged from explaining the parts of a plant to history lessons about the crops cultivated by Spanish settlers at the historic missions.

“We’ve taught meteorology and biology mixed in with colonial history as to why some plants were brought over,” said Castanos… Students have also taken field trips such as a Saturday morning spent locating invasive plant species near Mission San Juan…

Students cited learning about such things as the water cycle and soil types in their science classes, but added they liked that the First Bloom program gave them a chance to get their hands dirty.

“It’s kind of like the same thing, but a whole different kind of lesson with actual animals and actual plants,” Abigail said.

Today filmaker Ken Burns will receive a tour of the new gardens from the kids. Burns’ upcoming film, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, was sponsored in part by the National Park Foundation. The six-part, 12-hour series set to air in September 2009 on PBS explores the history and heritage of America’s national parks.