Acadia park featured in lesson plan> Learning program used in classrooms nationwide

BAR HARBOR — Individual histories create local histories, and local histories are a part of our national heritage. That is the thrust behind the award-winning “Teaching with Historic Places” educational programs.

Acadia National Park’s lesson guide, “Life on an Island: Early Settlers off the Rock-Bound Coast of Maine,” is one of 54 lesson plans, including 40 National Park Service sites, which teachers nationwide use to enrich classes in history, social studies, geography and other subjects. Each program includes lesson plans using maps, readings, and photographs of historic places to help students develop analytical and critical thinking skills.

In “Life on an Island,” students learn why it is important to remember the ways of life of everyday people by reading about the seafaring Hadlock family of Little Cranberry Island and the Gilleys of Baker Island. They use maps to retrace Samuel Hadlock VI’s sea voyage of 1807, and read through a shipmaster’s log for a firsthand account of life at sea. Students compare photos taken in 1870 and the 1880s of Little Cranberry Island to determine the changes in people’s lives over time, and they create their own temporary historical exhibit using family papers and artifacts to represent an aspect of their own community history.

“Teaching with Historic Places” received a National Park Partnerships Award in April during a ceremony held at the White House Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. The awards recognize the Park Service’s partners and the Park Service employees responsible for forging those relationships. The educational programs were developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers, and the National Register of Historic Places (administered by the National Park Service).

Teachers and others who are interested can purchase “Life on an Island: Early Settlers Off the Rock-Cound Coast of Maine” for $7.25 at Acadia National Park’s Hulls Cove Visitor Center, or order it from Eastern National — Acadia, P.O. Box 177, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, telephone 207-288-4988.