Protecting the Landscapes of Delaware

Kristen L. Leida

Introduction

“And in time the green growth would wind its way up through the rubble. But the Wump World would never be quite the same.”1 How can artists save Wump World before it’s forever changed?

The history of art began at least 40,000 years ago when animals were painted on cave walls. Since that time art has been created for many reasons based on the artist’s reaction to their society, their environment and the relationships around them. Before people had cameras on their cell phones, and even before most had access to cameras, artists documented people and places with their drawings and paintings. The role of the artist has been integral in recording history.

In 1871, Ferdinand V. Hayden, who had been charged to map and measure the region, invited artists Thomas Moran, a landscape painter, and William Henry Jackson, a photographer, to accompany him for a US government geological survey of the Yellowstone-Wyoming area. The sketches, paintings and photographs that Moran and Jackson created on the 1871 Hayden Expedition were presented before Congress. Moran’s field sketches completed during this trip were the first color images of Yellowstone ever seen in the East. Their images were later reported to have played a decisive role in the debate that led to the establishment of Yellowstone as the first national park in March 1872. In addition, Moran’s art was widely reprinted and distributed which further added interest and support of Yellowstone.

Following the stock market crash of 1929, as part of the Works Progress Administration under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, artists were funded to create images to promote the national parks. These poster images usually created in two or three colors were titled as the Ranger Naturalist Service series. Again, these images displayed the grandeur and beauty of the protected lands and enticed Americans to continue to protect and also visit these parks.

Artists lend their talents to advertise and promote stewardship of the environment. In my elementary art classroom, third grade students are required to create a landscape as part of the visual art curriculum. In this unit, I will introduce the work of Thomas Moran, William Henry Jackson and their influence in the inception of Yellowstone National Park. We will also investigate the Ranger Naturalist Service series and how posters can

influence and educate the viewer. Next, we will discuss how human population growth has adversely impacted our planet and why it is important to have protected or preserved lands. Subsequently, we will discuss what areas of Delaware are and are not protected, preserved or maintained by local, state and federal policies.

Professor Jack Bartley states, “The number of humans on the globe has increased at an exponential rate since the last century.” The time for the world population to double is now at about 45 years, pushing the current population to close to 8 billion people. It would be naïve to think that this population increase has not affected the land, animals, and natural resources.

My unit focuses on the role of artist as a catalyst for preserving lands and monuments and preventing the growth of our population to further disrupt the natural habits around us. Students will understand that human population growth has an impact on our environment which, in turn, impacts our health and well-being. For the culminating project, students will choose a place in Delaware that deserves to be protected to recreate in a two to three color work of art in the style of the Ranger Naturalist Series and will write a statement why. Students will begin by making thumbnail sketches of their chosen place. Then they will utilize the elements of art to create the painting focusing on space and defining foreground, middle ground, and background using overlapping, smaller in the distance, value change and details.

Rationale

Harry O. Eisenberg Elementary of the Colonial School District was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education the title of National Blue Ribbon School for the 2012 school year. In the two subsequent years we have not met adequate yearly progress goals. As a school community, we must all find ways to help our students. Through my participation in the Human Population Growth seminar in the Delaware Teachers Institute, I hope I can help our students recognize the need to protect our environment, meet their educational goals and create a meaningful work of art.

Our students look to Eisenberg to provide not only an education, but also for safety and nutrition. Less than five miles south of Wilmington, Delaware, our school, while considered suburban, is on the edge of a very dangerous city. According to an analysis of the FBI’s uniformed crime report, Wilmington was the third most violent of 450 cities of comparable size in 2012. It’s the 8th most violent city of nearly 750 cities with a population of over 50,000.2 The Colonial School District serves approximately 10,000 students and has 8 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, one high school and two special needs schools. My school, Harry O. Eisenberg Elementary, embraces approximately 550 students. Over 80% of the students are characterized as living in a low income household, approximately 70% of the students are minorities, 20% are English Language Learners and over 10% are designated as requiring Special Education services. Our school has a

certified special education teacher or a paraprofessional is assigned to each grade level to provide our students with additional assistance. Our guidance counselor, school psychologist and family crisis therapist meet with students individually and in groups to discuss life changes. Through state and local donations, students can receive free backpacks and winter coats. The family crisis therapist also maintains a food pantry housed in our school building and with the support of the Food Bank of Delaware provides a local location to serve our students’ families. Over 30 students participate in the Food Bank’s ‘backpack’ program, where they are given a bag every Friday to take home and have enough food for two days of breakfast, lunch and dinner. Based on the large number of those who qualify, our entire school population receives free breakfast, lunch and a fruit or vegetable snack every day. I am proud to work in a district that strives to go beyond educating to meet the basic needs of our students.

The attitudes and priorities of our elementary students are similar to many other students across the nation - smart phones, fashion, video games, and music, but their exposure to the adult world at home is much more complex- negligent parents, parent(s) imprisoned, teenage pregnancy, gangs, and drug abuse. At times, children come to school hungry because there is no nutritious food at home, tired because they are kept awake at night from parents disagreeing or socializing, or distracted from focusing on other events in their unstable home environment. This setting can make it difficult for our students to see the bigger picture of the world, to set goals for college and career, and to achieve their greatest potential.

Yet, despite their experience, the educational system demands the same achievement from Eisenberg students as it does anywhere else. Beginning this school year, student performance will be measured through Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards. Teachers are evaluated under the Delaware Performance Appraisal System, thus not only are they tested in their core subjects, students are required to take pre and post tests in art class. The results of the tests in art class are then used to evaluate my job performance. Most often, the students are frustrated by the inordinate amount of testing and are not inspired by their parents and guardians to succeed in academics. The students’ home environment and recent standardized test scores propel my job as an art teacher to be even more vital and challenging for the future success of my students.

Many of the children entering Eisenberg have a lack of an early childhood education in the ‘ABCs’ and frequently have no crayons, paints, or books at home. Even more frequently, students do not have an opportunity in their home lives to view art outside of mainstream media and design such as clothing, video and computer games, and cartoons. While these can be viable sources of inspiration for some, they do not always provide rich, meaningful authentic sources of reference. I believe a comprehensive visual art education teaches the history of human existence through the study of past artists,

craftspeople and their art, reflecting and reacting to their society, their feelings, and their dreams.

The 2014-15 school year marks my tenth year as an elementary art educator in the Colonial School District. All students in Kindergarten through 5th grade participate in Art class for a weekly 45 minute class period. Classes range from 20 to 30 students. In third grade, students learn how to create landscapes in art class. Currently, there is no set curriculum, pacing guide or scope and sequence for the visual art teachers in our district. Although at times difficult, this is one of the best parts of my job---tailoring the art lessons to the interests and needs of my students while uniting the current school and district goal and choosing a variety of artists, works and concepts I think the children will find captivating. During Art class, students at Eisenberg study various artists, art styles and cultures from around the world. Art lessons correlate with the academic core curriculum in Language Arts, Science, Math and Social Studies as I frequently collaborate with the grade level partners as well as school and district curriculum coaches. Students create art in many mediums---printmaking, watercolors, tempera paint, aluminum relief, papermaking, plaster gauze, colored pencil, collage, crayons, pastels, markers and pencil. All lessons are aligned with the National and Delaware Visual Art Content Standards and are taught using Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) and Learning Focused Strategies (LFS).

I enjoy collaborating with other disciplines in my school to foster deeper understanding in my content area of visual art and other areas- English Language Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science. The third grade art assessment, developed under the Delaware Performance Appraisal System, requires students to create a landscape demonstrating the Elements of Art and the Principles of Design and writing a statement about their artwork and how they created it. Research shows that when students find meaning or show a personal experience in their work they will have better retention. Currently I teach landscapes while focusing on a variety of artists and tying in the vocabulary from the social studies unit but it doesn’t have the same impact as other of my units. Through this curriculum unit I will provide my students with a project promoting the protection of the environment in Delaware.

Objectives

In this unit based on John A. Bartley’s seminar, “Human Population Growth: Environments and Cultures in Jeopardy,” students will study the artwork of photographer William Henry Jackson, painter Thomas Moran and posters of the Ranger Naturalist Service to discover how visual imagery influences understanding of and responses to the world. The students will use their prior knowledge of the landforms learned in science to demonstrate how learning can be deepened by connecting visual art to other disciplines by writing about and illustrating their own landscapes.

To understand these concepts we will also explore many questions throughout the unit. To introduce the impact of an artist’s contribution we will discuss, “To what extent does art reflect upon and have an influence on history? How is art used to impact the views of a society? How and why is art used as vehicle for communication? In a review of their project, students will explore, “how learning is deepened through a study of visual art?” The students will experiment with a myriad of art supplies to show how “artists use a variety of techniques and processes to manipulate media to achieve desired effects.”

Human Population Growth Factors

There are not enough pages in this unit to document, argue and defend the myriad of reasons why it is important that we protect the environment. The symbiotic balance of the ecosystem and the water cycle that we are taught in elementary school should be reason enough for people to understand what happens when we don’t consciously take care of the Earth. I cannot comprehend how not everyone can recognize that we are committing a slow suicide by ignoring the effects of human population growth and climate change. No doubt all environments and cultures are in jeopardy. Looking at the rapid growth of the world’s population in the last 200 years (Figure 1), from approximately 1 billion in 1804 to over 7 billion in 2013, it is apparent that we need to make plans now to save our resources.

Figure 1: Time to successive billions in world population, 1800-2050.

U.S. Census, 2003. 3

As billions of people are born on Earth, each one consumes food and requires shelter, thus increasing the demands for goods and services at an exponential rate. For many,

each aspect of human life adversely affects the animal and plant life. Al Gore explains in Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit, “the burning of fossil fuels (like coal, oil, and gas) thickens the normally thin atmospheric blanket around the globe, and in the process, traps much more of the sun’s heat close to the earth’s surface.”4 The increase in heat in our atmosphere is causing global warming, changing the temperature of all areas to a warmer average temperature and thus affecting water sources, sea and lake levels, and the ecosystems of terrestrial plants and animals. California’s drought is causing grassy fields to be barren thus forcing ranchers’ to spend thousands of dollars on other food sources for their cattle.5

The implications of human impact on the environment unfortunately extend past water troubles. Another example is ‘suburban sprawl.’ With the mass production of cars, people moved out of cities and bought homes with large land parcels, which has greatly contributed to deforestation.6 Over harvesting of oysters in the New York Harbor almost drove the mollusk to extinction but also ruined the natural protection that the oyster beds provided against storm surges like the one during Superstorm Sandy.7

Saving America

I remember a time without the internet and Google, when finding information through research meant a visit to the library to check out a book or view reference material such as an encyclopedia or a periodical. I cannot imagine a time when if you wondered “why” you would have to actually, at times, have to leave your house to find the answer. The explosion of information that the internet provides people in the 21st century rivals the creation of paper and the invention of the printing press of the 1500s. If one wondered, what’s over the mountain, you would have to ascend to the peak for your answer.

Much of America had not yet been explored in the late 1800’s due to the difficult terrain. When explorers and geological expeditions began surveying the western United States, they found some very unique landforms and abundant wildlife. Thankfully some of these people had the wherewithal to immediately recognize the importance of preserving these environments. Thomas Moran traveled from his Pennsylvania home on the newly finished transcontinental railroad for forty days to reach Montana and join the 1871 Hayden U.S. Geological Expedition. Moran spent his time there sketching and painting watercolors of the wonders of the landscape in what is now known as Yellowstone National Park. Alongside of him was the photographer William Henry Jackson. Including artists as part of the expedition “suggests inherent in the surveying process that required visual expression.” 8 Without these artists America’s population, especially Congress would not be able to see what these precious places without going there.

Thomas Moran described his experience in his journal:

Passed over debris of a great land slide, where the whole face of the mountain had fallen down at some time, laying bare a great cliff some 500 feet high. The view of the lake, as we approached it, was very beautiful.... The Mountains surrounding it are about 11,000 feet high... having snow still upon them.... After descending to the shore of the lake, some of the party fished in it & caught a few of the finest trout that I have ever seen. After a rest...all the party started back for camp excepting Jackson, Dixon & myself, we having concluded to remain over until the next day for the purpose of photographing & sketching in the vicinity. Made a large fire & cooked our supper of black tailed deer meat.... During the night it rained a little but not enough to wet us to any extent. Got up early enough in the morning to get our breakfast, and commence photographing as soon as the sun rose.9

Figure 2: William Henry Jackson and another man with photographic equipment on mountain near Yellowstone Park, Wyoming, ca. 1871-1878

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

In his description, Moran leaves out the struggles of carrying the photography and sketching supplies over mountains and lakes. Photography at the time required large equipment (Figure 2). The photographs required a long exposure time to produce a clear image. The negative was typically produced on a glass plate, which also made photography a very skilled and delicate practice. William Henry Jackson was proud of his work as he stated, “No photographs [of Yellowstone] had as yet been published, and Dr. Hayden was determined that the first ones be good. A series of fine pictures would not only supplement his final report but tell the story to thousands who might never read it. That was where I came in.”10 (Burns 33) Upon returning to Washington, Ferdinand V. Hayden displayed the specimens, photographs and sketches from the expedition while Congress debated about its preservation.

Figure 3: Grand canyon of the Yellowstone River, No. 252, 1871

by William Henry Jackson

Black and white film copy negative

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Moran used his sketches and watercolors to create The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (Figure 4). In 1872, Yellowstone was established as America’s first national park. In the following hundred years, over 300 natural, historical, recreational, and cultural areas were established in the United States.11 (Lee 7) In 1916, the National Park Service was formed.

Kinsey, Joni Kinsey reflects in her book, Thomas Moran and the Surveying of the American West, “It is difficult to imagine now, with our wealth of media, just how important and unique the landscape sketches and paintings by these artists were to an eager eastern public and to the policymakers who administered the unsettled lands.”12 (Kinsey 3)

Figure 4: The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, 1893-1901, by Thomas Moran

Oil on canvas mounted on aluminum, 84 x 144 1/4 in. (213.0 x 266.3 cm)

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Nearly 50 years later, national parks and monuments were offered the services of the Works Progress Administration artists to create informational posters for advertising for tourists (Figure 5). The limited color palette and simplified design is a result of the silkscreen techniques invented by Anthony Velonis. Using the silkscreen process, many prints of the poster could be made inexpensively. The original Ranger Naturalist Series only included 14 parks when funding was shut down due to WWII in 1941. In recent years, popularity of the style of the posters has grown and new posters are being designed for other parks.13

Figure 5: The National Parks Preserve Wild Life,

Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project, ca. 1938, screen print, 48 x 36 cm.

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

WPA Poster Collection, LC-USZC2-5639

It Starts At Home

Delaware’s ‘First State’ moniker did not come from being the leading model in environmental protection but we are making strides. In 1679, Peter Bayard purchased land from Chief Kahansink of Mechacksett of now known as Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. In 1920, the Board of Commissioners stated: “On account of the great economic, as well as aesthetic, value of all Birds to an agricultural and fruit-growing State, the Board earnestly recommends that the further study of Bird Life be added to the curriculum of our Public and State Schools. It is very important that the children of Delaware learn in their school days of the wonderfully important services the Birds render in maintaining the ‘Balance of Nature’ between the insects and vegetation, as well

as to learn to know and love them for their beauty and charm”14 Seventeen years later, Bombay Hook was established by the Federal Government as a National Refuge. At that time, in its almost 16,000 acres of tidal flats and marshes, nineteen different species of waterfowl, with individual flocks numbering 50 to 8,000 ducks were seen at the height of the migration. It was reported that flocks of snow geese, which at one time numbered 15,000 were observed.15

Nationally, a great deal of environmental protection has preserved components of Delaware:

1966 - Endangered Species Act was passed to provide protection for species on the brink of extinction.

1969 - National Environmental Quality Act was passed.

1970 - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established.

1970 - Clean Air Act was passed to regulate emissions.

1972 - First Earth Day

1977 - Clean Water Act was passed to regulate the discharge of pollutants into U.S. waterways.

However, we need to advocate and focus more on restricting development in Delaware. There are currently two wildlife refuges in Delaware, Bombay Hook and Primehook. In 2007, the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife completed its first version of the Delaware Wildlife Action Plan. In 2014, Delaware’s Bayshore and beyond were awarded grants to add 747 acres to Ted Harvey Conservation Area and protection and restoration of nearly 2,000 acres of wetlands and uplands.

First State National Monument was established by President Obama on March 13, 2013 as the 400th unit of the National Park System. It is managed by the same laws and regulations as other units of the National Park System by the National Park Service. The First State National Monument consists of The Dover Green, New Castle County House Complex (including the court house, Green and Sheriff’s House) and the Woodlawn Tract. It is the first and, currently, only nationally protected land in Delaware.

Throughout Delaware there are many state parks and recreation areas that may require stricter usage by preservation by the National Park system. These areas include Auburn Heights Preserve, Brandywine Creek State Park, Alapocas Run State Park, Wilmington State Parks/Brandywine Zoo, Bellevue State Park, Fox Point State Park, White Clay Creek State Park, Fort Delaware State Park, Fort DuPont State Park, Lums Pond State Park, First State Heritage Park, Killens Pond State Park, Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware Seashore State Park, Indian River Marina, Holts Landing State Park, Fenwick Island State Park, and Trap Pond State Park. What other lands should be saved in Delaware? With farms being developed into neighborhoods and shopping centers, how will that affect our migratory birds, our air and things we don’t currently recognize? Will it be the role of artists to promote preservation? Will you be one of those artists?

Teaching Strategies

We are all familiar with the term the “Three Rs” to represent reading, writing and arithmetic. Recent findings for preparing students in the 21st Century empowers educators to broaden the “Three Rs” to add the “Four Cs’, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and communication.16 Preparing 21st Century Students for a Global Society, the “Four Cs” will be incorporated in this unit and fortunately occur naturally in art class.

During a walking tour of the Yale University campus, our guide, a rising junior, cited many times how the university was founded and progressed on the principle of collaboration. Collaboration is also a fundamental piece in the Yale National Initiative (YNI) program. Acknowledging the success of both Yale and YNI, I aim to base many of the activities of this unit on the strategies of collaboration. Collaboration will occur in discussion and research of Delaware’s lands. Of the many SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) techniques, I intend to facilitate ‘Think, Pair, Share’ and a walking ‘Carousel’. As adults we must commonly work in collaborative groups in our careers and as families. Modeling ideal collaborative behavior for working in groups in the elementary level will help build these skills for their future. Critical thinking will be applied through the practices of Learning Focused Strategies. Students will be presented with Unit and Lesson Essential Questions prior to the activities in class and reviewed daily. These questions will provide students with the knowledge of the goals and outcomes for their learning.

Classroom Activities

Delaware Visual Art State Standards to be addressed:

1.1 Select and use different media, techniques and processes that are used to create works of art

1.4 Demonstrate how a single medium or technique can be used to create multiple effects in works of art

2.2 Select and use the elements of art in works of art

2.7 Select and use the principles of design in works of art

3.4 Select and use subject matter, symbols and ideas to communicate meaning in works of art

5.1 Discuss how individual experiences influence personal works of art

5.6 Apply visual arts vocabulary when reflecting upon and assessing works of art

By the end of this unit, students will be able to…

Length of Time: 6 - 45 minute class periods

Key Learnings and Unit Essential Questions (from KUD chart):

Art preserves and depicts history in ways words cannot. Art is a universal symbol system that transcends language barriers. People develop ideas and understandings of society, culture, and history through their interactions with and analysis of art. Artists use a variety of techniques and processes to manipulate media to achieve desired effects.

To what extent does art reflect upon and have an influence on history? How is art used to impact the views of a society? How and why is art used as vehicle for communication? How is learning deepened through a study of visual art?

Concepts, Lesson Essential Questions, Vocabulary:

View on attached LFS map

Launch: Read aloud The Wump World by Bill Peet. I chose this book for its simple message on how human’s impact the natural world to develop empathy and show the crisis of our environment.

Learning Tasks:

Will there still be trees in the park in twenty years? What effects will climate change cause in our lifetime? As an artist, how can you help the Earth? After learning about the

influence of Thomas Moran, William Henry Jackson and the Works Progress Administration posters had on establishing and promoting the National Park system, students will look at images of areas locally. If time and technology allows, I plan to have the students’ research through the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control website to find a location and images to use for their artwork. As an alternative, the teacher could provide photographs and information through printed copies from the internet or non-fiction books. I will demonstrate proper painting techniques including how to care for brushes. Students will have a painting practice prior to begin their final painting. After several thumbnails demonstrating space, students will create a painting in the style of the WPA posters using a limited palette of colors. Students will reflect on their artwork to write a statement on why this location should be preserved. Their artwork and artist statements will be displayed together.

Literacy Integration:

Students will listen to a story read aloud by the teacher. Students will read about artists and works of art. Students will write about their artwork.

Technology:

Teacher will use the document camera and Smart board display for instruction. Students will access information about Delaware on laptops.

Data Analysis and Planned Differentiation:

Students who are not demonstrating understanding of applied concepts will be given the opportunity for extra time during lunch and recess. Students who complete the assignment in less time will have opportunities to further strengthen the skills and techniques of various materials.

Appendix A

Implementing District Standards

The Colonial School District adheres to the Delaware Recommended Curriculum Standards which were adopted from the National Art Education Association Standards published in 2006. In this unit, students will experiment with different mediums or art supplies while addressing Standard 1: “Understanding and applying media, techniques and processes.” In Standard 2, “Using knowledge of structures and functions,” students will select and apply the knowledge of the elements of art to demonstrate space in a landscape image. Students will reach Standard 3, “Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas” in their artwork by using the subject matter, places in Delaware, to communicate meaning of protecting our environment. Through Standard 4: “Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures,” students will understand that art has an influence on history in particular how artists’ have helped protect the environment.

Common Core Standards – Reading, Speaking and Listening, Writing, Language

My unit is focused on the visual art standards but there are many natural links with the Common Core Anchor Standards fulfilled by the Reading-Written Connection. I have included some that I feel highlight the most important aspects of this unit.

R.6 Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of the text.

Reading R.6 is demonstrated through the students discussion of the viewpoint of the

reader makes a difference in interpreting the works of art.

R.7 Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

Reading R.7 is demonstrated through the use of images as a resource for

interpretation.

SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Speaking and Listening SL.1 is demonstrated as students work in pairs and small

groups to analyze and create landscapes showing space.

National Core Arts Standards – Visual Arts

The new National Core Arts Standards for Visual Arts were released on June 4, 2014 and are proposed to be adopted by the Delaware Department of Education and subsequently, by the Colonial School District. Preparing for the anticipated adoption, there are several standards that directly relate to the goals of this unit. The process of developing ideas through brainstorming and drawing thumbnails to a final work is represented in Creating Anchor Standard 1, ‘Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work’ and Presenting Anchor Standard 5 ‘Develop and refine artistic work for presentation.’ Responding, Anchor Standard 8 to ‘Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work’ will be met as students examine the work of Thomas Moran, William Henry Jackson and the WPA poster artists. Students will address Connecting Anchor Standard 10 as they activate their prior knowledge from social studies of landforms in their landscape painting to “Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.”

Resources for Background and Research

Albright, Horace M., and Robert Cahn. The Birth of the National Park Service: The Founding Years, 1913-33. Salt Lake City: Howe Bros., 1985.

"Climate Change and Delaware." Environmental Protection Agency 1 (1997): 1-4. http://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe (accessed July 15, 2014).

This article presented projections for Delaware’s future in relation to the changing climate. It presents information on Delaware’s ecosystem, geography, and population and describes how climate change will impact the state.

DeNoon, Christopher, and Francis V. Connor. Posters of the WPA. Los Angeles: Wheatley Press, in Association with the University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1987.

Practically everything you would want to know about the posters of the Works Progress Administration. All full page color reproductions.

Diamond, Jared M. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W.W. Norton &, 1998.

In this book, Diamond theorizes how societies were successful or not based on geological

location influenced by diseases and available natural resources.

"Division of Fish & Wildlife." History of Conservation. Accessed January 17, 2015. http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/fw/dwap/Pages/HistoryofCons.aspx.

Concise timeline of government conservation efforts from approximately 1500-2007.

Duncan, Dayton, and Ken Burns. The National Parks: America's Best Idea: An Illustrated History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.

Several color reproductions of photographs and history of the national parks.

Egan, Timothy. The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006.

Non-fiction account of the dust bowl and its impact.

"Federal and State Officials and Conservation Partners Celebrate Two $1M Grants Benefitting Delawares Bayshore and beyond." Federal and State Officials and Conservation Partners Celebrate Two $1M Grants Benefitting Delawares Bayshore and beyond. April 23, 2014. Accessed January 17, 2015. http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/News/Pages/Federal-and-state-officials-and-conservation-partners-celebrate-two-$1M-grants-benefitting-Delawares-Bayshore-and-beyond.aspx.

Press release on recent grant acquisition.

Glanz, Dawn. How the West Was Drawn: American Art and the Settling of the Frontier. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press, 1982.

Primarily focuses on the iconography of America’s ‘Wild West,’ including Daniel

Boone.

Gore, Albert. Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992.

Explanation of the effects of human population growth, climate control and our

environment.

Graf, William L. Wilderness Preservation and the Sagebrush Rebellions. Savage, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1990.

Greenberg, Paul. "An Oyster in the Storm." The New York Times. October 29, 2012. Accessed December 9, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/opinion/an-oyster-in-the-storm.html?_r=0.

An article discusses how overharvesting of the oysters in the New York harbor caused

storm surges during Hurricane Sandy.

Grusin, Richard A. Culture, Technology, and the Creation of America's National Parks. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

"HUMAN POPULATION GROWTH AND CLIMATE CHANGE." Human Population Growth and Climate Change. Accessed December 9, 2014. http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/climate/.

Kinsey, Joni. Thomas Moran and the Surveying of the American West. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992.

Lachecki, Marina. Teaching Kids to Love the Earth. Duluth, Minn.: Pfeifer-Hamilton, 1991.

Several great ideas for engaging children in activities to promote environmental

stewardship and appreciation.

Lee, Ronald F. Family Tree of the National Park System; a Chart with Accompanying Text Designed to Illustrate the Growth of the National Park System, 1872-1972,. Philadelphia: Eastern National Park & Monument Association, 1972.

Lisagor, Kimberly, and Heather Hansen. Disappearing Destinations: 37 Places in Peril and What Can Be Done to Help save Them. New York: Vintage Departures, 2008.

Roach, John. "Parched: California Braces for Drought Without End in Sight." NBC News. February 24, 2014. Accessed December 8, 2014. http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/california-drought/parched-california-braces-drought-without-end-sight-n34861.

Szarkowski, John, and Ansel Adams. Ansel Adams at 100. Boston: Little, Brown and, 2001.

Ansel Adam’s black and white photographs inspired many conservationists. If your class

is photography-based this would be a great resource and overview of his work.

"The Delaware Geological Survey." Creation of the Delaware WARC (to Become DNREC). Accessed January 17, 2015. http://www.dgs.udel.edu/history/creation-delaware-warc-become-dnrec.

United States. National Park Service. "Teachers (U.S. National Park Service)." National Parks Service. January 17, 2015. Accessed January 17, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/teachers/index.htm.

Velonis, Anthony. Technical Problems of the Artist: Technique of the Silk Screen Process. 2d ed. New York: Federal Art Project, 1938.

"WPA National Park Serigraphed Posters | Ranger Doug's Enterprises." WPA National Park Serigraphed Posters | Ranger Doug's Enterprises. Accessed January 17, 2015. http://www.rangerdoug.com/home.

Webb, Dawn L., and Terry L. Higgins. "Preserving Delaware’s Natural History…The First Century." Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. Accessed January 17, 2015. http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/fw/sitecollectiondocuments/fw gallery/fwhistory.pdf.

Children’s Books

There are a myraid of children’s books on environmental topics, listed below are the ones

I felt best met the needs of my students and this unit.

Cherry, Lynne. A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992.

Peet, Bill. The Wump World. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1970.

Peet, Bill. How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971.

Walsh, Melanie. 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World: Fun and Easy Eco-tips. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2008.

Yolen, Jane, and John Schoenherr. Owl Moon. New York: Philomel Books, 1987.

Endnotes

Curriculum Unit Author

KEY LEARNING, ENDURING UNDERSTANDING, ETC.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION(S) for the UNIT

CONCEPT A CONCEPT B CONCEPT C

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS A ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS B ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS C

VOCABULARY A VOCABULARY B VOCABULARY C

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION/MATERIAL/TEXT/FILM/RESOURCES