Environmental Movement

Teacher, Course & Class Periods: Kurecki, US History, B3

Grade Level: 11th
Date Used: 04/22/2016 (Earth Day!)
Length of Lesson: 92 minutes
Essential Question:
• When and why did people start caring about the environment?
• How did American society change in the 1960’s and 1970’s?
Essential Understanding:
• The 1960’s and 1970’s raised awareness of environmental issues.
• Many facets of American society changed during this time.
Materials:
• PowerPoint for Direct Instruction
• YouTube clips
• Song Analysis Lyrics & Handouts
• Notes sheet with activities built in
• Handouts for Silent Spring questions

Brief Summary of the Lesson:

This lesson introduces students to the environmental movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Students will
begin the lesson with a photo analysis, where they will answer questions about 2 images from the time period. After
a brief period of direct instruction, students will engage in a primary source analysis by reading an excerpt of Silent
Spring by Rachel Carson, answering questions individually, and a brief class discussion. Students will also analyze 2
songs from the time period that make a statement about environmental consciousness. After the song analysis,
students will pick one piece of environmental legislation to research from a list, answer a series of questions, and
write a fictional letter to a congress representative about their opinions on the legislation.

Brief Rationale for the Lesson:

As a national holiday, Earth Day is celebrated every year. This lesson helps students understand the history
of Earth Day & why it is celebrated in the US. Though environmental conscious practices are more commonplace
today, students need to understand that this was not always the case in our nation’s history.

Standards: Learning Objectives Assessment:

USH.7.6 With 80% accuracy, students will be • Informal checks for
Identify the problems confronting different able to: understanding
minorities during this period of economic and • Explain the significance of Rachel • Assessment of exit slip
social change and describe the solutions to Spring’s Silent Spring in the activity
these problems. environmental movement.
• Identify 2 ways that the
NCSS Thematic Standards environmental movement impacted
2: Time, Continuity, Change American society
5: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
 Procedures Rationale for Teaching Strategy
Bellringer (5 minutes): Bell-ringer: First Days of School 171.
Review from last class: How did the Civil Rights Movement
inspire other groups to challenge American society? Think of
2 examples from our class & explain how the Civil Rights
Movement inspired them.

Hook Photo Analysis (5 minutes): Preview Assignment: Bring Learning Alive! 23.
1) Display photo of environmentalist protestors. Students will
answer the following questions on a handout:
• Who are the people in the picture?
• What are they doing? Where are they doing it?
• What props are they using?
• What is their general message?
Responding to visual images: Bring Learning Alive! 26.
2) Display photo of headline & excerpt from the Wisconsin
Times on the projector & students will answer the following
questions:
• What news is this headline reporting?
• What was “Earth Day”?
• What were people protesting? Primary Sources: Secrets to Success for Social Studies
• Why was this particularly newsworthy in 1970? Teachers 153.

Inform students that the first Earth Day was on April 22,
1970, and that environmental protests were held all over
the country. Today is the 40th Earth Day!

Introduce Rachel Carson (5 minutes).

Students will watch the short video about why Rachel Carson
wrote Silent Spring.
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/envh10.sci.life.eco.
silentspring/rachel-carsons-silent-spring/
During the video, students will answer 7 questions in their Primary Sources: Secrets to Success for Social Studies
notes to stay focused during the video. Teachers 153.

Silent Spring Excerpt Task (5-10 minutes):

Students will read the 2 page excerpt of Silent Spring in their
notes. Each row will be assigned a different question:
• What “evil spell” was Carson referring to?
• How did DDT affect animals?
• How did DDT affect plants and vegetation?
• How did DDT affect humans?
• According to Carson, what caused all the problems
in this passage?
Students will be given about 3-4 minutes to read the excerpt &
annotate. After this, we will deliberate as a class.

[Break for Lunch]

Song Analysis Activity (10-15 minutes)

Students will listen to 2 songs: Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchel
and “Before the Deluge” by Jackson Browne. For each song,
students will have a copy of the lyrics to annotate while they
listen to the song. After each song, students will answer the
following questions:
• Look at the lines of the song in boldface. What do
you think the songwriter means by these lines?
• Is the song a clear statement about environmental
issues? Why or why not?
• Does the song, directly or indirectly, connect with the
themes of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson? If so, cite
a specific sentence or paragraph from the book and
explain the connection.
After students answer the questions on their own, we will Processing Assignment: Bring Learning Alive! 102.
discuss briefly as a class.

Processing Assignment (15-20 minutes):

After the song analysis, students will pick one piece of
environmental legislation to research from a list, answer a
series of questions, and write a fictional letter to a congress
representative about their opinions on the legislation.

This activity will function as the exit slip.

Extra time activity: If students finish this early, they can use
their textbook to complete the Chapter 21, Section 4
worksheets.

Supports and accommodations for Special Needs:

• Students with eligibility will be able to access the resource room as necessary.
• Students with eligibility may request a print-out of the PowerPoint.

References:

Bower, B., Lobdell, J. & Owens, S. (2005). Bring learning alive! : the TCI approach
for middle and high school social studies. Palo Alto, Calif: Teachers'
Curriculum Institute.

Kottler, E. & Gallavan, N. (2008). Secrets to success for social studies teachers.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Lapsansky-Werner, E. J. (2009). Prentice Hall United States history: Reconstruction to the present. Boston, MA:
Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Wong, H. & Wong, R. (2005). The first days of school : how to be an effective teacher.
Mountain View, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications.