Will+Matthews

Change Begins With Awareness A Sampling of Environmental Issues, Literature and Ideas For 10th/11th Grade Literature and Ideas Contact me -- willynick23@gmail.com We hear the word “environment” a lot these days. Terms like “global warming,” “climate change,” and “carbon footprint” are entering our daily language and discourse. What do these terms really mean? As we examine these terms and the varied environmental discourse, we will see that it is a multi-faceted and complex issues touching on many of the challenges that face our country, culture and the world – population growth, food availability and distribution, fossil fuels and emerging energy sources, pollution and energy efficiency, to name a few. The environmental challenges raise many deeper questions about values and morality, and our relationship with the natural world around us as well as our relationship with a growing world population. Is there enough food and water to go around? Do materialism and greed play a part in environmental problems? Can we continue to burn fossil fuels at our current rate? Will “saving the earth” - and possibly, ourselves – ask us to make fundamental changes in our lifestyle, and even our thinking?

We will examining environmental issues through many different lenses. We'll explore the origins of the environmental movement, many of its central and core ideas, and sample from the lively and voluminous past and current literature on the topic.

We will begin by looking at the environmental history of the place where we live, in William Ashworth's //The Late,Great Lakes//. The book is an excellent overview of Great Lakes history, both human and environmental. The region's waterways make Michigan different from many other states and regions – the rivers and lakes made the extraction of resources both cheap and easy. From the abundant pelts and furs, to logging, shipping, mining, and fishing, each period has had an impact on the natural environment. The extermination of most of the beavers in the fur trade, for example, upset the delicate balance of the rivers where fish spawned. The “Big Cut,” when much of the Upper and lower peninsulas were stripped almost bare of trees, led to erosion of riverbanks and lakes. The sawmills dumped sawdust and refuse in these same rivers and lakes, starting a practice of “out-of-sight/out-of-mind” waste removal that continues to the present day. To all of these, and other, uses of resources, there are the lakes themselves, all the more damaged by the fact that the Great Lakes ecosystem is a relatively young and fragile one – the lakes themselves are only 8-12,000 years old, left behind, like the terrain of the rest of the state, by the receding glaciers. The lakes are a simpler ecosystem, with less diversity and fewer links in the food chain. Invasive species have affected the lakes on a massive scale.

In the context of Michigan's human and environmental history, we will ask if Great Lakes issues are in some ways representative of world-wide environmental practices and challenges. We will explore some of the larger world-wide environmental questions listed above – population growth, food and water distribution, pollution, and climate change – as well as delve into some of the deeper questions as to the origins of environmental awareness and how these relate to or reflects human values.

Students will choose a book from a wide selection of environmentally related texts, seek out examples of genres as samples and models, do research to find primary sources, and write a finished piece that will be included in a hard-copy or on-line publication. In the process, we will do in-class writing in writing workshops, take a field trip (or two), views pertinent films, and have a few guest speakers.

Unit Objectives:
 * Critical thinking, discussion, and analysis of texts
 * Sample, explore, and find examples of different writing styles and genres
 * Raise awareness of environmental questions and issues
 * Finding sources – and then primary sources – to support student writing
 * Publish – on-line or in hard-copy book form – a collection of student writings on environmental issues in a variety of writing styles and genres. Students will write a 3-5 page piece in the genre of their choice.
 * Check out Michigan Core Standards by clicking on this PDF[[file:Michigan Core Standards.pdf]]

__Week #1: Reading Journal and //The Late, Great Lakes// __ Monday:
 * Read syllabus, unit objectives, unit goals and projects
 * Getting a reading journal started. I will provide Rolling Springs brand recycled paper composition books for those who would like them. If you prefer a different type of notebook, please have this purchased and bring it to class on Wednesday. We will be decorating the covers of our notebook, and I will provide a stack of //National Geographic// magazines that we can mine for imagery of people, places, and things that are beautiful or meaningful for us, from either an environmental perspective or anything else – we will likely be using this notebook throughout the semester for other units as well. You can also provide your own image, words, or self-produced artwork. I will talk about different methods or structures for taking notes on reading, journaling, and brainstorming.
 * Open discussion with brainstorming. What do you know about environmental issues? Have you heard about the debate on global warming – is it really happening, or not? What have you read or heard about some environmental issues in the Great Lakes region in particular?

Tuesday: media type="youtube" key="EWTu_fXgaqM" width="425" height="350" align="center"
 * Start watching //Waterlife//, a documentary about the Great Lakes and their environmental history

Wednesday: :
 * Finish watching //Waterlife//
 * Decorating our Notebooks
 * Teacher read-aloud: Chapter 1 of //The Late, Great Lakes//, “The Fifth Coast” – Take notes. What interests you, inspires you?
 * Homework: Start reading Ashworth, Chapter 2: “The Deep Past” – This is probably the most challenging chapter in the book. Our guest speaker will help us understand it, but come prepared to ask questions. Make a list in your notebook of terms, ideas, or words you don't understand or would like clarified.

Thursday:
 * Guest Speaker -- Retired WMU geologist Ron Chase speaks to the class about the geological history of the Great Lakes region and its unique ecosystem. Take notes on ideas that intrigue and inspire you, or raise concerns. Ask questions.

Friday:
 * In-Class Writing: We'll read some travel advertisements in class. Use one of these as a model or write a personal narrative about your experience with nature or the Great Lakes. What are some of you experiences in Michigan or on the Great Lakes? Do you like swimming, boating, sunbathing on the beach, hunting, or fishing? We'll write for 30 minutes, and then do a read-around, sharing what we wrote on the ideas and experiences we uncovered in our writing.
 * Homework: For the weekend, read Chapter 3, “Contact”. Start perusing the rest of the book. Which chapter or chapters do you want to choose, focus on, and share with the class? The fur trade, logging, fishing, mining, invasive species (he wrote this before the zebra mussel invasion, and before the threat of asian carp), algae (the Lake Erie story), and pollution. Your job will be to glean the key ideas of the chapter. What intrigues you about this chapter or issue? What selection or paragraph could you read to the class? Take notes in your journal as you read and make note of key points. You'll be sharing your chapter/topic with the class next Thursday.

Week #2: Exploring the Roots of Conservation and Environmentalism  Monday: > Tuesday: Wednesday:
 * Have you chosen your chapter or section from Ashworth? We'll use a sign up sheet so that all topics/chapters are covered. Find who picked the same topic and gather in pairs or small groups. You will be presenting important points, a summary of the chapter, and reading a selection to the class on Thursday. Each person in your group will discuss one key element of the chapter.
 * The Balance of Nature – Read aloud: “Thinking Like a Mountain,” from Aldo Leopold's //A Sand County Almanac//, pages 29-33. Also read aloud from //The Beast in the Garden: A Modern Parable of Man and Nature// by David Baron**//,//** pages 32-35. What are these writers talking about?
 * Handout/Read/Homework: Read review of Rachel Carson biography //Witness to Nature// from //The New York Times//
 * http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/10/05/reviews/971005.05semplet.html
 * Writing Together: Poems on Nature. Some examples from Wendell Berry and Wallace Stevens – Choosing an Animal, Plant/Tree, Physical feature of the landscape. “When you speak/write of me...” We will share this in class with a read-around.


 * Lesson: Introduction to Henry David Thoreau and //Walden// – reading out-loud from “Economy” and Where I lived, and What I Lived For.” Put notes and ideas into your reading journal. Peruse //Walden// on your own and we'll take time to read in class

Thursday:
 * Presentations on Chapters/Sections/Selections/Key ideas from Ashworth.

Friday:
 * Finish presentations. Draw numbers – You and your group will decide together which additional chapters of //Walden// you will read. You can all read the same or different chapters.
 * Weekend Homework: Read the rest of “Economy” or “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For,” as well as one other chapter of your choice from //Walden//. Write ideas and notes in your reading journal. Guiding questions – What values or relationship with nature is Thoreau talking about? Do you think Thoreau should be included in a list of environmental reading? Be ready to discuss on Tuesday.

Week #3: More Thoreau and A Literary Tea Party Monday:
 * Check in on Thoreau. Discussion and ideas. Get together with partner.
 * Writing together – Expand on an idea in //Walden// and how it connects to your life, goals, or values.

Tuesday:
 * Small groups share their thoughts on Thoreau and selected chapter/reading. Class discussion.

Wednesday:
 * Field Trip to the Nature Center. Small group discussions. Writing Together in the woods.

Thursday:
 * Literary Tea Party – Introduction and overview of books we can choose from. Pick and start reading.


 * //Pilgrim at Tinker Creek// by Annie Dillard (1974) -- one of the great prose writer's if the 20th century "pulls a //Walden"// in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, reflecting on nature and personal theology and spirituality
 * //Of Wolves and Men// by Barry Lopez (1978) -- one of the great nature writers explores the biological, sociological, and mythological sides of wolves, with the help of scientists, both Innuit and otherwise
 * //A Sand County Almanac// by Aldo Leopold (1949) -- along with Rachel Carson, helped create the environmental movement of the 20th century
 * //Earth: The Operator's Manual// by Richard B. Alley (2011) -- a modern scientist presents the case for global warming and offers cogent ideas for a green energy revolution and concludes that it can be done
 * //A Whale for the Killing// by Farley Mowat (1972) -- Canadian literary giant Farley Mowat tells the story of an event he witnessed on an Island off the coast of Newfoundland, of a stranded whale that is tormented by the locals
 * //Silent Spring// by Rachel Carson (1962) -- Carson's discussion of the use of DDT and the "balance of nature" broke new ground in the 1960s and contributed singlehandedly to public awareness and social and political action
 * //The Living Great Lakes// by Jerry Dennis (2004) -- Michigan nature writer Jerry Dennis explores the Great Lakes by sail, canoe, and tall-ship, traveling through the Great Lakes to the Erie Canal, Hudson River, and the open ocean, discussing the history and ecology of the great inland waterways on the way
 * //The Omnivore's Dilemma// by Michael Pollan (2006) -- a best-selling book that explores the production of food in North America and elsewhere, delving into questions of factory farming, corn-fed cattle, and the great "corn conspiracy"
 * //Hot, Flat, and Crowde//d by Thomas L. Friedman (2008) -- a //New York Times// writer proposes that a revolution in technology and green energy could help solve America's environmental and financial problems, and restore the U.S. as innovative leader of the world
 * //Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks// by Janet Eilperin (2011) -- an exploration of the ocean's most misunderstood predator that asks the questions of whether sharks will survive the earth's other great predator, humankind
 * //Encounters with the Archdruid// by John McPhee (1972) -- McPhee almost single-handedly founded the "new journalism" school of highly readable and informative narratives; this one is a far-reaching profile of David Brower, environmentalist and founder of the Sierra Club, that also explores different models of how humanity manages and regards the natural world
 * //Eating Animals// by Jonathan Safran Foer (2009) -- this recent book delves deep into factory farming practices in the United States, especially as it relates to "eating animals" and how they are raised and killed; not for the squeamish, Foer points out that, by mid-century, a high proportion of available fresh water will be utilized for livestock -- and that this may be morally and ecologically unsustainable
 * //Waiting for the Morning Train// by Bruce Catton (1972) -- Michigan-born Civil War historian's memoir of growing up in Northern Michigan, that ponders the relationships between humanity, technology, and nature; he laments the fact that, in his own lifetime, he watched cars go from being a new invention to clogging the roads of the state where the automobile was born. Catton also offers an in-depth account of the lumber-jacks and boomtowns of Michigan's "Big Cut."
 * //The Beast in the Garden: A Modern Parable of Man and Nature// by David Baron (2003) -- what happens when a Colorado city's suburban growth spreads into the foothills and its citizens start to encounter mountain lions -- and someone is killed by one? The results are surprising and even enlightening.
 * //The Great Disruption: Why the Climate Crisis Will Bring On the End of Shopping and the Birth of a New World// by Paul Gilding (2011) -- his title says it all, but is he too optimistic?
 * //A Friend of the Earth// by T. Coraghessen Boyle (2000) - a fictional account of environmental catastrophe set in the year 2025 by an iconoclastic modern author
 * //The Monkey Wrench Gang// by Edward Abbey (1975) -- a fictional account of environmental protest and sabotage
 * //Ectopia// by Ernest Callenbach (1975) -- Callenbach describes a fictional utopia that caused Ralph Nader to comment that "[n]one of the happy conditions in //Ectopia// are beyond the technical or resource reach of our society."
 * //Ten Technologies to Fix Energy and Climate// by Chris Goodall (2009) -- This title, as well, pretty much sums it up.
 * //The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists// -- a book that looks at what individuals can do to reduce energy usage and increase energy efficiency -- including eating less meat.


 * Is there another environmental topic or book you're interested in? Check out this Wikipedia page for other ideas:
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_environmental_books

Friday:
 * In class reading -- spend time with the book's we chose
 * Weekend Homework: Continue reading the book of your choice. If you don't like the book you chose, you can pick another one next week. Take notes as you read. Note the things that fascinate, excite, and intrigue you – this interest will guide you towards your polished writing piece.

Week #4﻿: Is Global Warming Really Happening?


 * Monday: Mini-Lesson Mini-Lesson – On Sources. Is Wikipedia a source? How does it lead us to original sources?
 * Start film – //An Inconvenient Truth//


 * Handout - A collection of reviews, profiles, interviews, features, and op/ed pieces on environmental issues.
 * Homework: Read articles in handout. Take notes. Which style of writing appeals to you? Continue reading your selected book.

Tuesday:
 * Computer Lab Day – Reading and Research on Global Warming or other environmental issues. Find 3 articles in 3 different genres -- review, profile, interview, feature, op/ed, obituary, etc. Start with //The New York Times//, //The New Yorker//, or //National Geographic// and spread out from there. Can you find news articles or other pieces on state or local environmental issues? What other media sources can you find for coverage of environmental issues?
 * http://environmentreport.org/index.php
 * Print out these articles and spend time with them. Get used to the feel, rhythm, style, and conventions of these genres.

Wednesday:
 * How is your reading going?.
 * Writing Workshop. What ideas are forming about your end-of-unit writing piece? You can choose to write about the book you are reading, any topic we are covering, or something else that you want to know more about.

Thursday:
 * Watch part of //Not Evil Just Wrong –// a film made in response to //An Inconvenient Truth//



Friday:
 * Guest Speaker – Dr. Michael Swords, retired Professor Emeritus from Western Michigan University, answering questions about climate change
 * Homework: Continue Reading your book. Continue to take notes as you find key ideas that you will want to share in.

Week #5: Group Presentations and Writing Workshop Monday:
 * Mini-Lesson – Book Choice essay approaches and other unit writing ideas. You can write about the book you chose, or another issue that is intriguing to you. Writing an essay we can care about.
 * Choosing what to focus on. Doing a local interview, profile, feature, or research, as one option. Fish hatchery? Nature Center? Kalamazoo's Water Treatment Plant? Land Conservancy? Department of Natural Resources? Wildlife Management? Kalamazoo River pollution? Kalamazoo River oil spill? Humane Society of Greater Kalamazoo? Other ideas? A fictional account of an Ecotopia, or of what a "day in the life" might be like in the future?
 * Pairing up to prepare your discussion – Which books work well together? You and a partner (or small group) will be leading a discussion initiated by the texts you have chosen. You can use any type of multi-media for your presentation, or lead a discussion. Be sure to cover some of the interesting and key points of your texts, and explore where they connect and or disagree. Be ready to start next Monday.
 * Demonstration of Prezi, Weebly, and other on-line platforms that could be used for small group presentation or writing projects.

Tuesday: Wednesday:
 * Writing Workshop. Writing Together as we start to shape and explore our piece. Conferencing with students.
 * Watch //Earth: The Operator's Manual// []

Thursday:
 * Pair-and-Share – We'll draw numbers again and break into small groups for half of the class to discuss the global warming question. What do you think? We'll then gather for a full classroom discussion.
 * Get together with your partner/group for presentation preparation.

Friday:
 * Writing Workshop and Writing Together

Week #6: Group Presentations, Writing Workshop, and Read-Arounds Monday: Tuesday:
 * Presentations
 * Writing Workshop with Conferencing.

Wednesday: Thursday: Friday:
 * Presentations
 * Writing Workshop with Read Around
 * Presentations
 * Homework: Finish your first draft over the weekend

Week #7: Group Presentations, Writing Workshop, and Read-Arounds ﻿ Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: Friday:
 * Presentations
 * Writing Workshop with Conferencing. Revising and Rewriting.
 * Presentations
 * Writing Workshop with Read Around. Revising and Rewriting.
 * Presentations
 * Finish final draft over the weekend.

Week #8: Group Presentations, Writing Workshop, and Read-Around Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: Friday:
 * Presentations
 * Writing Workshop with Conferencing. Working on the Polished Piece.
 * Writing Workshop. Polished Piece and Publishing Our Collection
 * Publishing
 * Potluck and Discussion. Where do we go from here? How do we help in the movement towards change?