TIPS FOR TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS:

Rachel Carson, Voice for the Earth

  • This biography is perfect to use during Women's History Month or in conjunction with Earth Week. Rachel Carson's success in becoming a marine biologist was unusual for a woman in the 1920's and 1930's. Her work earned her the title of the "Mother of Ecology."
  • Read Chapter Two. Then talk about Rachel Carson's limited opportunities for education versus those for young women of today.
  • Carson died in 1964 when she was 56. What environmental issues would she have written about or talked about in the last 35 years had she lived?
  • View the PBS "American Experience" program on Rachel Carson. This production emphasizes the problems of pesticides.
  • Her last book, Silent Spring, is still a classic. It's about the danger of using too many pesticides in the world and their long-term effects. For a class project, have students pick a product (examples: 409, car oil, some kind of ant spray), and do research on the pros and cons of using the product. Students can write the manufacturers for information, write national pesticide awareness centers, or their congressional representative for the latest on pesticide use. A good website for pesticide information is the Rachel Carson Council at members.aol.com/rccouncil/ourpage/samples.htm.
  • Use in middle school science classrooms. Have students pick a science career and prepare a report. Carson is a great role model for those interested in marine biology.
  • Visit the Rachel Carson website at www.rachelcarson.org and find resources plus a link to her childhood home.
  • Read the three page Chapter One "A Fable for Tomorrow" from Silent Spring. Have a dialogue about this fable.
  • Rachel Carson was named one of the "100 Environmental Heroes" of the century in the November/December 1998 issue of Audubon magazine. Ask students to name others they think are environmental heroes and why.

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