Who Are They and What Did They Do?

This activity can be used in combination with the EEK! article on Heroes and Heroines.

Grades
4-12

Subjects
social studies, language arts

Wisconsin Model Academic Standards:

• Social Studies: B.4.1; B.4.3, B.4.5, B.4.7, C.4.3, C.4.5, E.4.2; B.8.1, B.8.5, B.8.10, C.8.8, E.8.4; B.12.1, B.12.3, B.12.8, B.12.9, C.12.9, C.12.10, E.12.6
• Language Arts: A.4.4, B.4.1, B.4.2, B.4.3, C.4.1, C.4.3, E.4.1, F.4.1; A.8.4, B.8.1, B.8.2, B.8.3, C.8.1, C.8.3, E.8.1, F.8.1; A.12.4, B.12.1, B.12.2, B.12.3, C.12.1, C.12.2, C.12.3, F.12.1

Objectives
a) Students will conduct research on a Wisconsin environmental hero/heroine.
b) Students will be able to list two values that this person held (holds) about the environment.
c) Students will be able to list one action this person has taken to protect and/or improve the earth.

Procedure
1. Have students pick a Wisconsin conservationist and see what they can find out about the person and their role in protecting Wisconsin's natural resources. Here's a list of some of Wisconsin's conservationists.

Increase Lapham	Harley MacKenzie	E.M. Griffith
John Muir	Ernest Swift	Wilhelmine LaBudde
Aldo Leopold	Pearl Pohl	Sigurd Olson
Virgil Muench	Gaylord Nelson	Warren Knowles
Owen Gromme

2. Have students write reports and share their information with the class. Students should look for events in the person's life that influenced their interest in the environment.

3. Ask students if there's anyone they know personally who they think qualifies as an environmental hero or heroine. Why?

Your students can find some of the people listed above profiled in the most recent issue of EE News and here on EEK.

Adapted from Environmental Heroes and Heroines--An Instructional Unit in Earth Values and Ethics by Clifford Knapp, Environmental Education Association of Illinois, 1993.

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