Researching our local environment

We've wrapped up our readings for your Unit 2 study of the "Natural World."  Over the course of the past month, we have read and discussed Emma Marris's TED Talk from this past summer titled "Nature is Everywhere" as well as her writing on the Everglade pythons, Barbara Kingsolver's "Called Out," Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer," Jane Goodall's "Hope for Animals and Their World, " Wallace Stevens' poem "Anecdote of the Jar," Margaret Atwood's "My Life as a Bat," and a  selection of articles and poems about man's impact on nature.

In the upcoming week, we are pulling together all of our readings in order to think through how we have impacted our local ecosystem and what we might do to address an environmental issue in our area.  Students in our class have already started to research and connect with local experts on conservation, local bat populations, the decline of honey bees, our deer population, recycling, and so much more.  During the first full week of December, students in our class will be interviewing experts and planning ways to address these issues.

In fact, on Thursday, December 8th, our tenth grade students will be virtually connecting with Emma Marris (whose recent TED Talk is above) to ask her questions about her experiences researching ecosystems and the environment.  We'll be recording our conversation, so be sure to check back next week to see how our conversation went!