Lesson Plans
What’s the Problem with Patents?
Students analyze 20th-century primary sources to scrutinize patents over time. Next, students are introduced to the subject of bioethics and investigate contemporary biological patents. After, students participate in a debate about the ethics of medical research and patents.
Civic Actions to Impact the Future
Students make connections between the past, present, and future of the environment through their own imaginings, analysis of a primary source image, and the poem "Letter to Someone Living Fifty Years from Now" by Matthew Olzmann. After, students might assess waste or pollution in their school or local community, then consider actions they could take today to help positively impact the future by promoting environmentally friendly policies and/or programs.
How Did Birds Gain Political Protection?
Students analyze a variety of primary sources to investigate the impact turn-of-the-20th-century women’s fashion industry had on migratory birds, grassroots political efforts taken to protect the birds, and subsequent state and national laws. After, students research a contemporary biodiversity issue and create a poster, flyer, or written announcement to inform people and call them to action.
Do Our Parks Do What They Are Supposed to Do?
Students analyze primary source images and texts to investigate Frederick Law Olmsted's theories of park purpose, design and development, then use what they learned to assess a local park. Students may then make a proposal to the applicable local agency to preserve or renovate a park they identified.
Map: Poetry & Environmental Justice
Students analyze NASA images depicting climate change and maps denoting Indian land cessions*, then read the poem "Map" by Linda Hogan. After, students discuss how the poem, images, and maps provide context to the theme of environmental justice. Students follow up and take action by researching local instances of environmental justice / injustice and write to one or more community leaders, expressing their opinion on an issue.
* compiled primarily from reports contained in Library of Congress collections
The New England Fishing Industry: Sea Changes in a Community
Students analyze photographs, maps and interviews to understand the geographic and economic characteristics of the U.S. Northeast coast and the link between New England's economic and cultural past and the issues it faces for its future through researching industry issues, interviewing industry actors, and/or researching current legislation related to fishing and fisheries.
The Conservation Movement at a Crossroads: The Hetch Hetchy Controversy
Students analyze primary sources to investigate the debate over damming the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, which marked a crossroads in the American conservation movement when San Francisco's need for a reliable water supply, along with a new political dynamic at the federal level, created a division between those committed to preserving the wilderness and those more interested in efficient management of its use. After, students may conduct research to identify and develop a comparison with a contemporary controversy, such as opening protected areas to volcano monitoring or resource extraction in or delivery through these places.
Natural Disasters: Nature’s Fury
Students analyze a variety of primary sources to examine Americans' life changing experiences with nature during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, then research the Library of Congress online collections to broaden their understanding of how communities have dealt with disaster. Next, students connect their investigations to a literary work of historical fiction based on a natural disaster and conduct additional historical inquiry research. After presenting their findings students may examine a recent natural disaster, locating and analyzing primary source documents related to it, and noting similarities and differences in causes, effects and community responses to those of earlier times.
Explorations in American Environmental History: The Photographer, the Artist, and Yellowstone
Students analyze primary sources to understand the impact photographer William Henry Jackson and artist Thomas Moran had on the creation of Yellowstone National Park and how their artistic talents contributed to the creation of the American West. After, students may research a local environmental issue and create a work of art (photograph, painting, poster, etc.) to draw community attention to it.
Environmental Resource Management: Local and Historical Perspectives
Students analyze primary sources to understand the contexts of America's concern for the environment. After, students produce a paper or presentation on a contemporary topic of local concern that incorporates historical perspectives with current issues.