Nature Transformed

July 10, 1998

Final session

Implementing the Teaching of Environmental History

The following is condensed from suggestions made by participants regarding the implementation of environmental history in the secondary classroom. Organized by states and regions, this list is designed to retain the local flavor of environmental history but is reaily adaptable to various settings.

California / northern:

€ Investigate local mining operations. Take students on an exploratory field trip. Focus on the impact of mining and mine tailings on soil, fisheries, and people. (Ron Zimmerman)

California / urban:

€ Seniors are required to attend public meetings for government class. Encourage students to attend water district meetings and discuss impact of water usage in southern California. (Linda Kenneally)

€ Implement a humanities course in which a whole quarter could be devoted to the art, music, literature, and history of the environment. (Linda Kenneally)

€ Track the movement of people around the landscape from the agricultural (Mexico) to the urban (LA). What is their sense of place? How has their idea of place changed? [Similar to North Carolina millworkers.] (Marilyn Gunn)

€ In economics and government classes, investigate the impact of the LA freeway system on the Watts neighborhood. How is life different now that homes with yards and gardens have been replaced by tenements and parks? How does air pollution impact Watts residents? How have neighborhood jobs been impacted by demolition of buildings for the building of the freeways? (Kimberly Washington)

€ Integrate race and class (multicultural) issues into history. (Kimberly Washington)

California:

€ Near Casa Grande High School is the original ³big house² on the local ranchero. Who lived there? How was the land used? What of animals and the hide and tallow trade? Who lived there before the ranchero?

€ Mission complexes are near. What of the Indians who worked there as slaves? What was the mode of production there?

€ Jack London Historical State Park is near. Besides being a writer, London was an innovator in agriculture. What did he contribute? How did his ideas impact California agriculture?

€ Sonoma Valley wineries are near. Who works the vineyards? How has the land changed? How does wine impact health? (Dinah Lee)

Illinois:

€ An element of the study of history is to determine the prejudices of those who write it. Environmental history is a great forum to teach this concept. As students construct their own historical narratives, they can begin to recognize their own biases, and those of others. (Jim Chelsvig)

€ Focus on environmental issues in literature and writing, including the annual research project. Treat Chicago as a cultural landscape. (Denny Erford)

€ In reading Huck Finn, which is required, have students research changes in the Mississippi River. What is the ³place² of the upper Mississippi? (Denny ³Environmental² Erford)

Louisiana:

€ In North Carolina we heard of the economic and social impact of tobacco. In Louisiana, just substitute oil and sugar. Also, study Cajun patterns of land and water use. Finally, study the historical regionalism of New Orleans and its evolution to a multi-cultural city. (Mark Brunton)

Maryland:

€ How does religion, race, class, and gender color how folk from the Middle Atlantic see their environment?

€ Visit local religious sites and discuss how different cultures would tell different historical narratives based on cultural differences. (Adrianne Nagy)

Massachusetts:

€ Connect students with regional and local history websites for research of cultural history issues.

€ Hold the historical narrative up as a theme for the year. As appropriate short stories, novels, and poetry are read, ask the same battery of questions: Who is the speaker? What does the speaker think about the land? What does the speaker value? What is the speaker¹s sense of place? (Beverly Brennan)

Montana:

€ In this ³last best place,² have students focus on ideological diversity. Have them write an essay in which their idea of ³best place² is defined by who they consider to be the ³other² that is changing Montana through mining, agri-business, forestry, government regulation, etc. Have Native Amercian students consider the place of their homes in contrast with Helena. After discussion, have students revise their papers based on any change in perspective from the discussion. What is the student¹s personal narrative? (David Cooper)

Missouri:

€ Consider the impact of Anheiser Bush brewing in the region. Who is impacted? How would life be different for Missouri families without the brewing industry?

€ How has the commercialization of Branson, Missouri changed the ³idea² of the Ozarks? How were the Ozarks ³utilized² prior? Is the change a mark of a declentionist or ascentionist narrative? (Bruce Scovill)

New Hampshire:

€ Investigate local fishing villages like Glouster, Massachusetts. How have fishing practices that have ³vacuumed² ocean stock impacted fishing families? (David Lussier)

€ Connect science labs with environmental history. In studying an old mill, while asking questions about the people, their way of life, and impact on the New England environment, include the physics of the mill¹s operation. How did the machines run? What dangers were there for the workers? What of temperature on the different floors? How would temperature impact the machines and the workers? (Paul Shlotman)

€ Include science colleagues in planning environmetnal history / literature units.(Paul Schlotman)

€ Have students design a workable prairie schooner. Set up a course the students must run, including a flotation test. Include questions of the personal narratives of Great Plains pioneers, including issues of gender and race. (Paul Schlotman)

North Carolina:

€ Start with a study of the soil and reconstruct an historical narrative. (Lisa Nanney)

€ Study local mill villages and abandoned warehouses. Visit Glencoe, a ghost mill town. Research the philanthropic connections to the Duke family. Putting yourself in character, construct an environmental narrative one of these folks might have written. (Lisa Nanney)

€ Bring in historical photographs from the Piedmont. Have students interpret components of the pictures in relationship to the culture of the time. (Lisa Nanney)

Ohio:

€ Get connected with a local historical park like Carriage Hill where historical buildings have been restored and a farm way of life preserved. What do the buildings tell you about the people? What of the agricultural practices? How have things changed for us? What sense of the former residents do you get? How did they view the land? (Tom Schaefer)

€ In a popular culture class, focus on cultural geography issues. (Mary Whittemore)

€ In a gender studies class, focus on sense of place and the uniqueness of female / male perspectives. Also, consider the various and changing perspectives of immigrants. (Mary Whittemore)

€ In an American studies history course, engage an English department colleague to broaden the humanities approach to history. (Mary Whittemore)

€ Plan and execute an extended road trip / field studies with students to visit a variety of places with environmental history stories to tell. Encourage students to compare and contrast historical narrative from various points of view. (Mary Whittemore)

Oregon:

€ Consider the management of the Columbia River basin. How have the dams changed the environment? How has agriculture changed over time? How has the fish population been impacted? How important is hydro electric power to the region? How is all of this important to the quality of life in the Northwest? (Tadd Gestrin)

Rhode Island:

€ Look at the local environmental impact of agriculture and factories. (Ted Fitts)

Washington:

€ Plug into the National Park Service for educational materials. As the NPS redefines itself, education is becoming its ³middle name.² Once you get there on the internet, look for areas highlighting education and cultural and natural history. Also, some parks are designing interactive field trips. Point your brower to www.nps.gov (Ranger Marc Blackburn)