Recently in Common Reading Category

Pre-service teacher Sara Neville has created a version of Google Lit Trips she titles Google Earth QUEST (Questioning & Understanding Earth Science Themes!) for each of the common reading books for the three summer TESSE programs.

Learn more about Google Lit Trips here, and be sure you have Google Earth downloaded on your computer (the free version will work just fine).

The Control of Nature

Google Earth QUEST (please download before opening in Google Earth - file may not open directly from this web page)
Questions designed by Sara for students (PDF file)
Additional terminology, locations, and quotes for discussion (PDF file)

Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations

Google Lit Trip (coming Fall 2009)

Field Notes from a Catastrophe

Google Lit Trip (coming Fall 2009)

The Summer 2009 common read for all pre-service and in-service teachers is The Control of Nature by John McPhee.  More information about John McPhee and his other publications can be found online (Link 1, Link 2).

Below are questions to guide your reading through the book.  Summer 2009 TESSE participants must answer these questions in their journal before coming to the Brandywine campus for the workshop.


Chapter One - Atchafalaya (can be found on The New Yorker website)

A map of the Mississippi River delta, showing its historical development, is included through these links (LINK 1, LINK 2).

1) Every known early human settlement from 7000-5000 BCE originated on a major river delta. Why did so many people choose to live on deltas; that is, what are the benefits of living in this environment?

2) Should the Mississippi be allowed to descend to the Gulf of Mexico along the Atchafalaya? What are the long-term (think ahead 200 years or more) benefits and challenges inherent in your answer? Does the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina affect your answer?

Chapter Two - Cooling the Lava

3) Could this event have taken place in the US? Why or why not? How did the Icelanders differ in their approach to the situation than what you would expect in the US?

4) Could this approach have taken place in an island arc setting (Indonesia, Montserrat, etc)? Why or why not?

Chapter Three - Los Angeles Against the Mountains

5) Given all of the natural hazards described in this chapter, why was Los Angeles settled initially?

6) Take on the role of an LA Disaster Planning official. What could you do to mitigate against the danger of mud slides? Would you worry more about mud slides, earthquakes, terrorist attacks, biohazards (pick your top few candidates) - how did you decide?

The Summer 2008 common read for all pre-service and in-service teachers is Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, by David Montgomery.  There is also an exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History on Dig It!  The Secrets of Soil Exhibition that relates to this topic.

Read the article relating to the book from GSA Today, Is agriculture eroding civilization's foundation?

Below are questions to guide your reading through the book.  Summer 2008 TESSE participants must answer these questions in their journal before coming to State College for the workshop.

Chapter One – Good Old Dirt

1)      Based on what you have read and your prior knowledge, justify that soil is important to present and future generations, that “soil is our most underappreciated, least valued, and yet essential natural resource.”

Chapter Two – Skin of the Earth

2)      What are the connections between plant growth, soil fertility, and soil-dwelling organisms?  How do chemical and physical processes build soil horizons?

Chapter Three – Rivers of Life

3)      Why was agriculture initially adopted by early human populations?  How did agricultural practices impact the development and growth of populations?

Chapter Four – Graveyard of Empires

4)      What was happening to soil during the Bronze Age in Grecians, Romans, and Mayans?  (such as soil thickening, erosion, soil management practices, etc.)  What caused these impacts to soil?

Chapter Five – Let Them Eat Colonies

5)      What were some of the new soil improvement theories from the Netherlands and England?  How did these ideas make soil more productive?

Chapter Six – Westward Hoe

6)      Why were Washington and Jefferson concerned about the destructive nature of colonial agriculture?  What were the social and economic impacts of colonial soil erosion?

Chapter Seven – Dust Blow

7)      On April 27, 1935, Congress declares soil erosion a natural menace and set up the Soil Conservation Service.  Why was there a need for this group?  Were they effective?  (Hint – look to the 1977 Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act)

Chapter Eight – Dirty Business

8)      What did the following people contribute to the modern organic farming movement – Edward Faulkner, Wes Jackson, Sir Albert Howard?

Chapter Nine – Islands in Time

9)      What are Iceland, Haiti, and Cuba doing to their soil?  Will their societies end up like Easter Island?  Explain.

Chapter Ten – Life Span of Civilizations

10)  When it comes to soil, what do civilizations need to do to survive?

DIRT Gallery Walk questions:

• Describe a series of events (“breakdowns”) that will occur in Earth’s systems once our planet runs out of soil.
• If earthworms are nature’s plows (as described by Darwin on page 13), then we should just be able to introduce massive numbers of earthworms to farmland. This way, we have a natural way to plow the land instead of using machines.
• “Farmers with high debt and/or a narrow profit margin can be forced to choose between conserving soil and going bankrupt or working the land until it becomes economically futile.” (p. 175) Farmers should do the right thing and choose to conserve soil.
• To get the general public to be educated and to care about soil use and abuse, Hollywood needs to make a film for the big screen so the word can get out.
• The Dust Bowl (1935) will never happen again.