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A Day for the Environment Lesson Plan Produced by Earth Day

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A Day for the Environment Lesson Plan Produced by Earth Day A Day for the Environment Lesson Plan Produced by Earth Day Network in association with American Experience A Day for the Environment Produced by Earth Day Network in association with American Experience INTRODUCTION Through various forms of media, students will explore the history and accomplishments of Earth Day by engaging in a series of questions: Why was the first Earth Day needed? What happened on the first Earth Day? What happened as a result of Earth Day? Is Earth Day still needed today, and if so, what should be its goals? LESSON OVERVIEW Grade Level & Subject: Grades 7-10: Civics and History Length: 2-3 class periods Objectives: After completing this lesson, students will be able to: • Identify the social context and events that led to the organization of the first Earth Day. • Describe the first Earth Day in 1970 – its goals, activities and participants. • Learn what governmental steps were taken after Earth Day to address the environmental concerns of citizens. • Debate whether Earth Day is still needed today, and if so, why. National Standards Addressed: 1 This lesson addresses the following The Standards & Position Statement from the National Council for the Social Studies: • Content Standard: NSS-C.5-8.1 and NSS-C.9-12.1 CIVIC LIFE, POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT . What are Civic Life, Politics, and Government? . What is civic life? What is politics? What is government? Why are government and politics necessary? What purposes should government serve? . What are the nature and purposes of constitutions? • Content Standard: NSS-C.5-8.2 and NSS-C.9-12.2 FOUNDATIONS OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM . What are the Foundations of the American Political System? . What is the American idea of constitutional government? . What are the distinctive characteristics of American society? . What is American political culture? . What values and principles are basic to American constitutional democracy? 1 http://www.educationworld.com/standards/. Earth Day Network 1616 P Street NW, Suite 340 Washington, DC 20036 (P) 202-518-0044 (F) 202-518-8794 www.earthday.net/education [email protected] • Content Standard: NSS-C.5-8.3 and NSS-C.9-12.3 PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY . How Does the Government Established by the Constitution Embody the Purposes, Values, and Principles of American Democracy? . What does the national government do? . How are state and local governments organized and what do they do? . Who represents you in local, state, and national governments? . What is the place of law in the American constitutional system? . How does the American political system provide for choice and opportunities for participation? • Content Standard: NSS-C.5-8.5 and NSS-C.9-12.5 ROLES OF THE CITIZEN . What are the Roles of the Citizen in American Democracy? . What are the rights of citizens? . What are the responsibilities of citizens? . What dispositions or traits of character are important to the preservation and improvement of American constitutional democracy? . How can citizens take part in civic life? This lesson addresses the following National Standards for History presented by The National Center for History in the Schools: • Content Standard: NSS-USH.9-12.10 ERA 10 CONTEMPORARY UNITED STATES (1968 TO THE PRESENT) . Understands economic, social, and cultural developments in contemporary United States Materials Needed: • Earth Day object or historical artifact (optional) • Reproducible #1 – The Setting before Earth Day Worksheet and Questions • Reproducible #2 – The Setting before Earth Day Answer Key • Reproducible #3 – Gaylord Nelson’s Vision Worksheet and Questions • Reproducible #4 – Gaylord Nelson’s Vision Answer Key • Reproducible #5 – When the People Spoke Worksheet and Questions • Reproducible #6 – When the People Spoke Answer Key • Reproducible #7 – America the Sustainable • Earth Days. Dir. Robert Stone. PBS/ American Experience • Drawing paper (for Extension #1) • Research materials – historical materials or references, internet access, etc. (for Extension #2) Assessment: Students will be assessed through the following activities: • Completion of Reproducible #1 – The Setting before Earth Day Worksheet and Questions • Participation in class discussions • Completion of Reproducible #3 – Gaylord Nelson’s Vision Worksheet and Questions • Completion of Reproducible #5 – When the People Spoke Worksheet and Questions • Participation in a class debate Earth Day Network 1616 P Street NW, Suite 340 Washington, DC 20036 (P) 202-518-0044 (F) 202-518-8794 www.earthday.net/education [email protected] LESSON BACKGROUND Relevant Vocabulary: • Sustainable Development: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.2 • Catalyst: an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action.3 • Grassroots movement: the activities of a group of people or society at a local level to achieve a specific goal.4 • Penance: a voluntary act of devotion or self- mortification to show sorrow for a sin or misdeed.5 • Subsidy: a grant or gift of money.6 • Political clout: power, prestige, or influence; pull in the political realm.7 • Free market: an economic market operating by free competition.8 • Pollutant: anything that pollutes; especially, any gaseous, chemical, or organic waste that contaminates air, soil or water.9 Information: A variety of concerns and experiences in the United States motivated the first Earth Day in 1970. Rachel Carson’s efforts to make people aware of the dangers of chemical pesticides contributed to raising American consciousness and concern for living organisms, the environment and health. The first images of Earth from outer space also added to a rising awareness of the need to take care of our planet. Pollution of water and air were a growing concern to the American public. It seemed that there were visible signs of pollution and environmental degradation everywhere: trash hauled out to sea on barges and dumped, untreated waste discharged into rivers and open land and the disappearance of animal species. In 1969, a large pollution fire on the Cuyahoga River in Ohio shot flames high into the air, and an oil spill in Santa Barbara, California caused the death of thousands of birds, mammals and other marine organisms. These two events in particular galvanized citizens to act. The larger backdrop to these events was the threat of nuclear war and, especially, the strong sentiment against the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. United States citizens were aware that their natural environment was threatened, and they sensed that many elected officials did not share such concerns. Few environmental laws existed. Gaylord Nelson, former governor of Wisconsin and a U.S. Senator (D – WI) in the late 1960s, saw the opportunity to bring together the concerned public and the energetic, largely student anti-war movement by generating a large environmental demonstration that would “force this issue onto the 2 Barnaby, Frank. “Our Common Future: The Brundtland Commission Report.” Allen Press on behalf of Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1987. Retrieved 28 January 2010 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4313360. 3 “Catalyst Entry.” Merriam- Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved 15 January 2010 from http://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/catalyst. 4 “Grassroots Movement Entry.” The American Heritage Dictionary. 4th ed. 1981. 5 “Penance Entry.” The American Heritage Dictionary. 4th ed. 1981. 6 “Subsidy Entry.” Merriam- Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved 15 January 2010 from http://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/Subsidy. 7 “Political Clout.” The American Heritage Dictionary. 4th ed. 1981. 8 “Free Market Entry.” Merriam- Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved 15 January 2010 from http://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/free%20market. 9 “Pollutant.” The American Heritage Dictionary. 4th ed. 1981. Earth Day Network 1616 P Street NW, Suite 340 Washington, DC 20036 (P) 202-518-0044 (F) 202-518-8794 www.earthday.net/education [email protected] national political agenda.”10 In September 1969, Sen. Nelson announced that there would be a “nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment.”11 Denis Hayes, a twenty-five- year-old enrolled at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, was named the National Coordinator of the event. As a result, the first Earth Day occurred on April 22, 1970 and included an estimated 20 million participants in the United States.12 In October 1993, more than twenty years later, American Heritage magazine wrote this analysis about the event: On April 22, 1970, Earth Day was held; one of the most remarkable happenings in the history of democracy…20 million people demonstrated their support…American politics and public policy would never be the same again.13 The movement has continued up through today and, in 2000, Earth Day was celebrated in a record- breaking 184 countries worldwide. April 2010 marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. Resources: • Cohen, Sheila Terman. Gaylord Nelson: Champion for Our Earth. Madison: Badger Biographies Series, 2010. • Earth Days. Dir. Robert Stone. PBS/ American Experience, 2010. • Earth Day Network, “A Short History of Earth Day,” retrieved January 2010 from http://www.earthday.net/node/77. • Nelson, Gaylord. Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise. The University of Wisconsin Press. 2002. • Worldwatch Institute, “Environmental Milestones Timeline,” retrieved January 2010 from http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1083. LESSON STEPS Warm Up: Many people do not remember what exactly galvanized the first Earth Day – a massive demonstration across the country involving approximately 20 million people. This lesson will help students learn what motivated that first event and what several of the results have been since. 1. If possible, present students with a visual aid or artifact related to Earth Day, such as a newspaper clipping or a poster. Ask your students what comes to mind when they see or hear “Earth Day.” Do they have any Earth Day memories or personal experiences? What are their earliest memories of Earth Day? Do they know what motivated people to organize the first Earth Day? Allow students to share their responses.
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