Unit One Plans: An Introduction to Environmental History

Learning Objectives

Oregon's Common Curriculum Goals:

History

• Historical Relationships
1. Analyze cause and effect relationships, including multiple causations.
2. Explain relationships among events, issues and developments that cross spheres of human activity.
3. Understand realtionships between historical intepretations and context.
4. Interpret and reconstruct chronological relationships.

Geography

• Physical and Cultural Characteristics of Places and Regions
1. Compare physical and human characteristics of places and regions.
2. Understand the social, cultural and economic processes that change the characteristics of places and regions over time.
3. Understand why places and regions are important to human identity and serve as symbols to unify or fragment society.
• Distribution and Migration of People, Ideas and Products
1. Analyze the causes of human migration and its effects.
• Interaction Between Physical and Human Systems
1. Describe the consequences of humans changing the physical environment and how human changes in one place affect other places.
2. Understand how differing points of view, self interests and global distributioin of natural resources play a role in conflict over territory.
3. Describe how physical charcteristics of places and regions affect human activities.

Social Science Analysis

• Analysis
1. Define and clarify an issue so that its dimensions are well understood.
2. Explain various perspectives on an event or issue and the reasoning behind them.

Content Goals:

• Students will be able to define the meaning of environmental history and apply that understanding to general historical thinking and a specific case study.
• Students will be able to analyze different historical perspectives and use that anlysis to portray an historical chronology of events.
• Students will begin to understand that the landscape itself can be used as a primary source for historical inquiry.
• Students will identify the causes and effects of human action on the environment.

Content Resources

Readings:

• "The Potential of Environmental History" and "The Human Factor in Environmental Change" by William Cronon (1983). Both are from Roderick Frazier Nash’s American Environmentalism: Readings in Conservation History, 1990 (pp.1-8, pp.17-24).
• Pairs reading (Interpersonal, Linguistic)-

Divide reading responsibilities and have studets share the main ideas in the selection they read.

• Pairs activity (Interpersonal, Linguistic) -

Read the selection you did not read in class. On your own paper, write three paragraphs; one for the main ideas of each essay, and one about what you think this tells you about the study of Environmental History.

• Group activity (Interpersonal, Linguistic) -

In groups of four or five, please review and discuss your work. Work collaboratively in your group to write a single topic sentence for each of the three paragraphs you wrote in your individual essay.

• Whole-class activity (Interpersonal, Linguistic, Kinesthetic)-

Have a representative write your three topic sentences on the white boards under the appropriate paragraph heading. Class discussion will follow about the topic sentences in each list. Be prepared to defend your group’s topic sentence.

• Worster (pp. 2-9) and Crosby (pp. 14-22) essays in Major Problems in American Environmental History edited by Carolyn Merchant, 1993.
• Small group activity (Interpersonal, Spatial, Mathematical - Logical) -

In groups of three or four, draw a graphic which represents the relationships among humans, nature (animals, plants, etc.), and their environment (land, air, water, etc.). Show where each element impacts the others and how they do so.

• Individual activity (Intrapersonal, Spatial) -

Construct a poster which advertises the Environmental History class. Try to show others what you think we will be learning about.

• Whole class activity (Kinesthetic, Interpersonal) -

Carousel sharing of posters and graphics. Group member explains concepts to visiting groups. Visiting groups use active listening and are encouraged to ask questions and make constructive comments (not criticisms - we want to create a classroom environment with absence of threat).

• Individual assignment (Intrapersonal, Linguistic, Spatial, Mathematical - Logical) -

Students will create a mind map of the major concepts presented in the essays.

• Chapters 1 and 2 (pp. 1-17) in Clive Ponting’s A Green History of the World
• Group activity (Interpersonal) -

Discussion of the reading.

• Pairs activity (Interpersonal, Spatial, Mathematical - Logical, Linguistic) -

Construct a story board showing the chronology of events on Easter Island. Include narration, dates, and drawings.

Videos:

• Blind Prophets of Easter Island
• The Lorax
• Whole class discussion (Interpersonal, Mathematical - Logical) -

Similarities and differences between Easter Island and The Lorax.

• Individual Assignment (Mathematical - Logical, Spatial, Linguistic) -

Create a two column chart which organizes features of Easter Island and The Lorax next to each other so that their similarities and differences are easily displayed.

Links:

• Easter Island Home Page