A week in Yellowstone National Park with a bunch of climate scientists is how Shirley Greene, a biology teacher atLewis and Clark Middle School, spenther summer vacation.

"It's incredible," Greene said. "We've been talking to scientists, traveling around the park."

The teachers finished their week at the park onFriday. They'll return home just in time for classes to begin Wednesday, energized for the coming school year.

Greene attended the weeklong workshop with her husband, Steve Greene, who teaches earth science at West High and colleague Trish Loken, who also teachesbiology at Lewis and Clark.

The program at Yellowstone is part of the 12-park program called 2012 Parks Climate Change Challenge sponsored by the National Park Foundation.

Loken and the Greenes were part of a group of 15 public school teachers selected to attend the program at Yellowstone. Shirley Greene, a member of the Montana Science Teachers Association, found out about the programthrough the groupand applied.

The Parks Climate Change Challengeprogram is designed to help teachers develop engaging lesson plans, create hands-on service projects and plan field trips to help students better understand climate change and develop a strong connection to the national parks, said Al Nash, a Yellowstone National Park spokesman.

The group spent time with park scientists and staff from Montana State University covering everything from geology to biology.

Wednesday they learned about the vanishing biomes of the mountain pika, which has steadily moved its habitatup in elevation as temperatures increase.

"At some point you get to the top of the mountain and there's nowhere else to go,"Greene said.

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Science teachers spend week in Yellowstone studying climate change