Objective: This worksheet aims to educate students about national parks, by exploring their funding, conservation efforts, historical context, and the challenges faced, while also encouraging critical thinking about government promotion of such parks.

Content and methods: The worksheet utilizes an audio excerpt from a radio show featuring a park ranger discussing her work at a national park. Following this, students answer multiple-choice questions in a "radio quiz" format to assess their comprehension of the audio content, covering topics like park funding, conservation, challenges, and historical events related to the national park. Students are then prompted to formulate their own questions for the park ranger. The worksheet continues with another audio segment featuring callers discussing the pros and cons of government promotion of national parks, which students are to listen to and summarize in a table. Finally, students are asked to reflect on all the arguments presented and provide their own reasoned opinion on government funding of national parks.

Competencies:

• Listening comprehension
• Information extraction and synthesis
• Critical thinking and opinion formation
• Understanding of environmental conservation issues
• Basic understanding of funding models for public institutions

Target group: 7th-9th grade