Students will understand and demonstrate their knowledge of the enormous impact that one woman writer had on the world and our environment by reading Part I of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and Al Gore's 1994 introduction to the latest printing of the book.
Two Fifty-Minute Class Periods
The learner will:
Display the following quotes, which are found at the beginning of “Silent Spring:”
Ask students to explain what they think the quotes mean and react to them. Ask students to discuss how they feel about environmental issues.
Alternate reflection: Divide the class in half. Assign the Schweitzer quote to the first half and the E. B. White quote to the second half. Pair students in each half, allowing five minutes to react and write their reflections of the quotes. Write their reactions on large sheets of paper and post around the room. Share their reflections orally.
Evaluate students' written responses to the questions in Attachment One: Homework Questions . You may also want to give a grade for their participation in the discussion.
Read the rest of Silent Spring . This could be particularly effective as an interdisciplinary assignment with a biology class.
Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring (with an introduction by Vice President Al Gore) . Houghton Mifflin Company: New York, 1994 (first published 1962).
Lesson Developed By:Serena Fraser Kessler
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