Many artists visit national parks to draw, paint and take photographs of some of the most amazing scenery on earth. Raw nature is one of the greatest inspirations to an artist, and artists can be credited for helping inspire the government to create the National Park System. This article features Thomas Moran (1837-1926), one of the artists who contributed to increasing national awareness of and interest in the wealth of beauty in many landscapes found in the United States. His paintings depict landscapes in places that were later designated as national parks: (1) Yellowstone; (2) Yosemite; (3) the Grand Canyon; (4) the Grand Tetons; and (5) the Everglades. The author of this article asks, "Imagine having a classroom thousands of acres in size....How, then, might such an education influence your one-page essay on the first day of school" when teachers ask their students what they did during the summer.