Nature and American Culture

Overview
In the previous lesson we focused on the Conservation Movement, Progressive Era, and Leopold’s land ethic. Conservation first became a national issue during the late 19th century and early 20th century. The primary focus of the movement was to protect natural areas, as well as developing management strategies for managing such areas. The Conservation Movement continued through the middle part of the 20th century. In the mid-20th century, public concern focused on impacts humans were having on the environment—the public became more aware of environmental issues. In the 1960’s a few significant events occurred that synthesize the growing concern humans were having on the environment–environmental impacts. These concerns were crystalized in a new movement—the Modern Environmental Movement. The Modern Environment Movement was a social movement concerned with air and water pollution, but eventually spilled over into all landscapes and human activity. Three significant events (among others) heightened this level of concern. These three events included Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring, the Cuyahoga River, and the Love Canal. This lesson will use these three examples to illustrate human impacts on the environment/nature and the birth of the Modern Environmental movement.

Read First (attached)

Part 1. Initial Posts

Each student must submit a Group Discussion Initial Post Thursday using the following guidelines.

A. State your Position

In the Subject line of your Post, state whether you (a) strongly disagree, (b) disagree, (c) agree, or (d) strongly agree with the following statement:

Humans have – and will continue to have – negative impacts on the natural environment if our society continues to progress in the fashion that it has over past two centuries.
B. Defend your Position

In the Message of your post, explain your position on the statement above. Your response must be between 250 and 300 words to be eligible for full credit (10 points). Also, there are no right or wrong answers; grading will be based on how well you integrate the material from the readings to support your position. Incorporate ideas from the following topics when defending your position:

-Factors leading to the creation of the Modern Environmental Movement
-Differences between the Conservation Movement we previously discussed and the Modern
-Environmental Movement
-The contribution of Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring on the Environmental Movement
-The impact of the Cuyahoga River fire on the environment
-The impact of the Love Canal on U.S. environmental policy
-The difficulty of determining whether industries know the extent to which their activities cause negative, long-lasting impacts on the environment
-The relevancy of the Modern Environmental Movement in today’s world

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I will attach the reading material(just one) and provide video links for this assignment. I would attach the grading rubrics as well.

Video Links (three):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rachel-carson/