About Acadia Learning

This website supports and publishes research by high school and middle school students.The student research grows out of research by professional scientists at Acadia National Park, as well as at other park and forest agencies. The student research, which focuses on watersheds, plants, and wildlife around the students' own schools, supports and adds to the research at Acadia.

Engaging Students with Acadia and With Working Scientists

Exploring scientific questions that are being explored at Acadia gives students a way to connect to Acadia National Park while working in their own schools. It is also, of course, a way for students to get first-hand experience with important scientific facts and concepts, such as biodiversity, patterns and rates of change, and the way that natural systems respond to stress.

The Acadia Learning environment provides students and teachers with a special opportunity. By engaging in scientific inquiry in cooperation with professional scientists, the students learn not only scientific facts and concepts, they also learn about the process of science--what it is to be a scientist and how scientists do what they do.

Sponsors and Partners

The Acadia Learning program is a cooperative effort between Acadia Partners for Science and Learning, Unity College, the University of Maine, and individual schools, school districts, and career and technical education centers across Maine. It receives funding from the Maine Department of Education.