Did you know you can visit the national parks straight from your computer?

Nov 16, 2007 21:31 GMT  ·  By

It's a well-known fact that young people and kids in general prefer to stay at home and surf the web instead of going out so most of their hobbies are now related to the computer. That's why most things addressed to the children must adapt and became accessible via Internet and today's piece of news is just an example.

The plants and the animals at the Grand Teton National Park can be viewed straight from the monitor of the computer using a special campaign started by the National Park Service with the support of several non-profit organizations. The Associated Press reports that the electronic field trips are already used by teachers and students in schools as a simple and affordable way to view plants and animals from the country's parks.

"The general thinking is that kids are spending more time indoors rather than outdoors. There was a concern that we need to reach out and touch children with the mediums that they are comfortable with already," Jackie Skaggs, a Grand Teton representative, told AP.

At this time, the "Tails from the Tetons" electronic field trip is available on the Internet for free, all the consumers being able to access it through the official website. The entire content is available on several websides published on the webpage, all of them being presented by the parks' rangers.

"I had students that were asking me, `Where is this at? Because I want to tell my parents that we need to go on vacation there. We need to see it,'" Nina Corley, a teacher at Satori School, said for AP.

A recent study revealed that kids are more and more attracted by computer and by the Internet, many of them refusing to go outdoor and play, choosing to spend time online by surfing the web and chatting on several programs.