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Man and Nature--A Literature Course. Project Reports, Volume 1, The DOCUMENT RESUME ED 099 186 95 SE 017 048 AUTHOR Tanner, R. Thomas TITLE Man and Nature--A LiteratureCourse. Project Reports, Volume 1, The RachelCarson Project. INSTITUTION Corvallis School District 509J,Oreg. SPONS AGENCY Office of Education (DREW), Washington, D.C. Office of Environmental Education. BUREAU NO BR-1-0839 PUB DATE Sep 72 GRANT 0EG-0-71-4623 NOTE 104p.; Related documentsare SE 017 047-054 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.75 HC-$5.40 PLUSPOSTAGE DESCRIPTORS Conservation Education;*Curriculum Guides; *Environmental Education;Instructional Materials; *Interdisciplinary Approach;Learning Activities; *Literature Guides; NaturalResources; *secondary Education; Teaching Guides IDENTIFIERS *Rachel Carson Project ABSTRACT This document is the firstof seven volumes included in the Rachel CarsonProject. The projectattempts to introduce environmental educatin~ lessonsand units into existingcourses of study within a high ANA rather than to implementenvironmental education through tl,introduction of newcourses. This volume focuses on English :Iteratureby emphasizing the environment Edward Abbey's DESERT through SOLITAIRE. The unit concludes withexamples of student reactions to thethoughts presented thatspecifically related to environmental ethics. Thevolume includesan introduction to the teacher; the DESERTSOLITAIRE unit; relatedpoetry, essays, stories, contemporary music, and films;suggested appropriate fieldtrips; an annotated bibliography ofbooks about wildlife; anda summation by the teacher who tried thecourse. (MLB) BEST COPY AVAILABLE School District 509J Corvallis, Oregon97330 U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION DOcumENt HAS PEEN REPRO DuCE D Fxccrt Y AS si E ft WO FROM TmE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN At INC. IT DO,N7S Os viE A. OR OPINIONS sorD DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE S ENT OS IAL NATIONAL INSIA TTI EDW.A 'ION POSITION OR PatICY MAN AND NATURE - A LITERATURE COURSE 6.6I. t. I,.IhI,I,411.0 r .4 v R. Thomas Tanner DII ..A N s 6 pleas.1. 11 11. 11, 1 .11,, 1 . kali Ibt. d' .119 I.f sok, .N I WV O.( n% f 1. IS Project Reports, Volume I The Rachel Carson Project USOE Project No. 1-0839 Grant No. 0EG-0-71-4623 O R. Thomas T ;nner, Director September, 1972 BEVCOPYAMMO The research reported herein was performedpursuant to a grant with the U.S. Office of Education, U.S.Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Contractors undertaking such projects under Government sponsorshipare encouraged to express freely their professional judgment in thecon- duct of the project. Points of view or opinions stated do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Officeof Education position or policy. This volume is one ofseven which constitute appendicesto the "Operating Manual for Rachel Carson High,"final report to the U.S. Officeof Edu- cation, U.S.O.E. grant number0EG-0-71-4623. That report describes the Rachel Carson Project, whichwas supported by a grant from the Office of Environmental Education ofthe U.S.O.E. The Project was anattempt to pervade the existing curriculum ofa high school with environmental education, with participationby faculty 'members representingmany (ideally all) disciplines. The project was basedupon the philosophy that a positive environmental ethic should pervadeour culture subtly but powerfully, justas - some people would say - materialism or pragmatism now do. Perhaps the best way to encourage the new ethic throughformal education is to pervade the culture of the school,subtly but powerfully, ratherthan to estab- lish a single new course such as "Man and Environment"or "The Environ- s mental Ethic." (Note that the American publicschool does not offer courses in "Materialism" or "Pragmatism" - enculturation to thesevalues, if indeed it occurs, isvia more subtle means.) This philosophy at workwas exemplified by the present writerin an article extitled "A Day AtRachel Carson High," whichappeared in the Phi Delta Kappan in March, 1970(vol. 52, no. 7,pp. 399-401). The article follows a boy through one day at the fictitiousCarson High. On this day: his chemistry class is dealingwith the chemistry of the internal combustion 'ngineand its _missionsas they interact with biota; his English class isdiscussing the novel TheRoots of Heaven, about one man's war against ivory hunters; his physicaleducation class is examining various outdoor recreational activities and the degreeto which they do or do not interfere with the activities ofothers; his American problems class is reviewingold American values suchas free- doal and equality before thelaw, and discussing the kind ofphysical environment in which theycan best be popularly achieved. On this particular day, classesare shortened so that teachers may have one of their regular planning meetings,the object of which is to facilitate the planning of theircourses around such themes as: Tomorrow's Technologyand Today':; License. (Rapaciousness toward natural resources isfrequently excused with the rationalethat tomori. row's as-yet-undevelopedtechnology can restoreor offer satisfactory substitutes for thoseresources. This is a dangerous and irresponsible fallacy.) Man In Nature, Manover Nature. (The belief that wecan conquer nature has traditionally pervadedour culture - another dangerous fallacy.)* 0 *The reader may wishto refer to other themes andconcepts underlying the project. Various of these have beenelucidated by the present writer in articles in: The Science Teacher (April 1969,pp. 32-34; April 1972, pp. 12-14;) PhiDelta Kappan (March 1970,pp. 353-356); Environmental Education (Summer1971, pp. 34-37); AIBS Education Division News (August 1972). See also Hawkins, Mary E. (editor),Vital Views of the Environment, NationalScience Teachers Association, 1971, for an excellent seiection ofimportant concepts explained in brief articles by highly qualifiedauthors. We have found this volume useful. At the fictional Carson High, more or less standard course titlesare retained, but each course includes lessons or units reflectingthemes such as those above. During the 1971-72 schoolyear, we attempted to implement this model at the new Crescent Valley High School inCorvallis, although some of our work was also done in Corvallis High School,for reasons discussed in the body ofour final report. Participation was sufficiently wideand diverse as to includeclasses in typing, modern foreign languages, home economics, industrialarts, 'Livers' training, English,the natural and social sciences,and mathematics, as wellas so-called extra-curricular activities. As noted earlier, this volumeis one of seven, largelyteacher-written, which describe the lessons andunits developed duringour brief ex- periment in curriculum innovation. We hope that the RachelCarson idea and at leastscme of these materials will be found worthy of emulationelsewhere. We wish to thank all of thosewho participated the project, and we especially wish to thankDr. Clarence D. Kron, n.,s, Chairman ofthe Department of Education at thenew University (4. "'exas of the Permian Basin in Odessa. As Superintendent of Corvallis :a.00ls, he offered the unfailing support whichmade the project poss. le. We are con- fident that vision and dedicationwill continue tu :haracterize his performance at his new position,as was true here. We wish to thank also our new Superintendent, Dr. Thomas D. Wogawai., for continuingto provide an atmosphere congenialto our work during its final stages. The titles of thereport and the seven accompanying volumesare as follows: Main Report: OPERATING MANUAL FOR RACHEL CARSONHIGH Accompanying Volumes! I. MAN AND NATURE- A LITERATURE COURSE II. THE AMERICAN AND HIS ENVIRONMENT- A SOCIAL SCIENCES COURSE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES IN THE PHYSICALSCIENCES IV. ENVIRONMENTAL cTUDIES IN SEVERALSCIENCE COURSES V. CASE STUDIES OF CONSERVATION "BATTLES" VI. ENVIRONMENT,0_, STUDIES IN NINECOURSES AT CRESCENT VALLEY HIGH VII. ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: FIVE MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Regarding the present volume: as explained in the body of the main report, it was necessary to divert somewhatfrom our proposed course of action in orderto achieve the expected level of results in the English and social sciencesareas. After a careful screening ofan outstanding group of applicants,we hired Mrs. Joanne James to intro- duce two specialcourses during the last nine-weeks grading period of ii the schoolyear. One was a contemporary literaturecourse emphasizing the environment,with Edward Abbey's vehicle, among Desert Solitaireas the primary other works whichwere used. The other U.S. historycourse, using Stewart was primarily a Udall's TheQuiet Crisisas the principal vehicle. The course concluded democracy in with a study ofparticipatory contemporary America,with specific zations as examples. conservation organi- We would emphasize that the contentand procedures could be integrated of thesetwo courses into one-yearcourses in literature is which the and U.S. history, environment isa pervasive butnot a conspicuous dominating theme. and all- This would bemaximally consistent philosophy. That the material with the project of these firsttwo volumeswas concen- trated in specialcourses was due to circumstances beyondour control. With this proviso,we commend them to the reader'sattention. R. Thomas Tanner, Director, RachelCarson Project Cispus EnvironmentalLearning Center Randle, Washington 98377 September 23, 1972 iii Contents Introduction: To the Teacher I. Desert Solitaire Unit II. Poetry III. Essays and Stories IV. Contemporary Music V. Films VI. Trips as Educational Enterprises
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