Curricular Resources > 1990 Volume III > Unit 1 (90.03.01) > Section 5

The U.S. National Parks Movement

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 90.03.01

Unit Guide

The Wilderness Concept-Our National Parks, History, and Issues

Nancy P. Cowdin

Tools for this unit:

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Bibliography-Student

Callenbach, Ernest. Ecotopia. New York: Bantam Books, 1982.

A science fiction novel of the future in America which may raise some questions in your mind about the present.

Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1966.

Nature writings by a man who lived in the early part of our century which transport you to a place very different from the city.

Mills, Enos A. The Spell of the Rockies. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1989.

Adventures of a man who lived in the heart of the Rocky Mountains.

Muir, John. The Yosemite. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1988.

Adventures of John Muir in Yosemite in California.

Schullery, Paul. Mountain Time: Man Meets Wilderness in Yellowstone . New York: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1984.

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to live and work in the wilderness? Read this and find out.

Turner, Frederick. Rediscovering America: John Muir in His Time and Ours. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1985.

A biography of the founder of the Sierra Club.

Sample Lesson: Field Trip

Wilderness Themes in Art

Objectives The students will:

1. examine and describe various paintings by British artists with Nature themes.
2. compare descriptions of painting made by student groups.
3. identify commonality of descriptions.
4. discuss the mood that the painting seems to elicit and the possible explanations for this as related to the particular period in time in which it was painted.

Vocabulary pastoral, utilitarian, mood, theme

Procedures

1. On the first floor of the British Art Center, have student groups rotate to each of the following paintings and describe what they see in their notebooks:
____ A Highland Landscape by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer
____ Harvest by John Frederick Herring, Sr.
____ The Painter’s Holiday by Frances Danby
____ Evening Pasture by James Smitham
2. After each group has viewed and described each painting, use one description from each group for each painting and see if the class can identify the painting from the description.
3. Make a list of the adjectives used to describe each painting and note the frequency that each was used.
4. As a group, go back to each of the paintings and discuss the mood which is created by the Nature scene.

Questions for Discussion:

1. In which of the paintings, if any, was Nature seen as:
____ a. romantic
____ b. frightening
____ c. garden-like/ pastoral
____ d. tame
____ e. “useful” or utilitari an
____ f. other?
2. If you were to paint a picture of Nature, how would you describe it?

Related Activities:

1. If art materials are available, have students illustrate their own view of Nature/ wilderness.
2. Visit the Yale Art Gallery and compare the paintings of Homer, Remington, Tait and Bierstadt with those seen at the British Art Center. (See related lesson plan.)

Sample Lesson: Field Trip

Wilderness Themes in Art—Part Two

Objectives The students will:

1. examine and describe various paintings by American artists with Nature themes.
2. compare descriptions between student groups about specific paintings.
3. describe the mood or feeling that each painting portrays Nature.
4. compare the painting with those of British painters.
Procedures:
1. At the Yale Art Gallery, find the following paintings and describe what you see and how the painting makes you feel about Nature:
____ Below Zero by Winslow Homer
____ What an Unbranded Cow has Cost by Frederic Remington
____ A Good Chance by Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait
____ The Trapper’s Camp by Albert Bierstadt
____ American Frontier Life by Arthur Tait
____ Valley of the Yosemite by Albert Bierstadt
2. As a group, discuss the descriptions of each painting.
3. Describe how these paintings compared to those at the British Art Center.

Questions for Discussion:

1. In which painting did you feel that Nature was the most beautiful? What colors were used (primarily) by the artist? How were light and color used to create a particular mood?
2. Which painting seemed most like those of the British artists? When was it painted? In what ways was it similar? different?
3. In which painting did Nature seem the most formidable and powerful? Why do you think this is so?
4. Of all of the paintings that you saw which were our favorite? Why?
5. Which scene in all of the paintings would you most like to visit?

Related Activities:

1. Choose several of the artists of the American School and research their histories.
2. Do a report on the Hudson River Valley School of Artists.
3. Find out about Weir Farm (Weir Preserve) in Wilton, CT. Who was J. Alden Weir? Why is he important?

Sample Lesson

Nature as a Biblical Theme

Objectives The students will:

1. use Old Testament passages to compare views of Nature with religious themes in biblical passages.
2. list and compare the descriptive adjectives used in the selected readings.
3. discuss the relationship of the Jewish people to the wilderness from positive and negative perspectives.

Materials Old Testament Bibles

Procedures

1. Have the students form into small groups. Have some of the groups search through Genesis and choose particular passages in which Nature is a central theme. The other groups will use Psalms and do the same.
2. Have students read examples of individual passages.
3. Based on what was read, discuss how the author depicted wilderness and why you think that he/she may have seen wilderness in this light.

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