Katherine H. Adams, North Quincy High School -- English

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Embedding Thoreau in a Writing Curriculum

This curriculum was developed by Katherine Hayes Adams, an English teacher at North Quincy High School in Quincy, Massachusetts, a city of 100,000 adjacent to Boston.   Most students who take the course in which this curriculum is used will enroll on a four-year college following high school graduation.

Susie Carlisle, Souhegan High School, Ashburnham -- English

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The Nature Seminar

A senior-level interdisciplinary course from Souhegan High, a member of  of the Coalition of Essential Schools.  The unit aims to reinforce the students’ understanding of the importance of social, cultural, and historical mapping of a particular area within their community.

Michael Crim, Leonardtown High School, California, MD

English

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The Constant Laboratory at Myrtle Point, Maryland

For a full school year, 30 students, all seniors, will study, survey, and catalogue the eco-system of Myrtle Point on the Patuxent River in St. Mary’s County, Maryland.  Their studies will include intensive reading, writing, research, and experimentation under the guidance of a team of three teachers.  By the end of the school year, this group will have produced a Kalendar based upon Henry David Thoreau’s naturalist world view. 

Beverly Hart, Flanagan High School, Wenona, IL -- English

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Thoreau: The Man of Many Hats

American Literature, Grade 11.  Students explore Henry David Thoreau from several different perspectives: surveyor, naturalist, teacher, social critic, writer/poet, environmentalist

Stacy Kaplan and Michelle Lang, Holbrook Jr./Sr. High School, Cambridge Biology, English

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Perceptions of Nature:  Science and Literature at Grove Lake

Unit intended for Biology II and English 11 College Level classes.  About half a term (5 weeks) in duration.  The overall goal in this unit is to help students become aware of their environment, perceive how generations of writers have addressed the relationship between self and nature, and realize that science phenomena are continual, ever-present facets of life. 

Jim Ko, Belmont High School -- Biology

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Thoreau’s Autumnal Tints and Observing Nature in High School Biology

As the observation of nature is on the surface easily accessible, it is the focus of much of primary school science education. Because of this and the heavy time constraints of attempting to develop a meaningful framework for students in molecular and cellular biology, nature observation is sadly a peripheral part of most college prep high school biology curricula. It is less readily apparent but equally true that it would take a great amount of time, and more importantly energy and thoughtfulness, to develop a meaningful framework for deep nature observation.

Karen Martin, Plymouth North High School -- English

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And Gladness of Heart: By Nature Gratified

Charles Sposato, Framingham High School -- English

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Holes in the Fabric of Framingham

My project will be to read and analyze an edited version of the essay "Life Without Principle", the complete essay "On Civil Disobedience", sections of "Walking", "Slavery In Massachusetts" and selected sections of Walden, i.e. Economy, Where I lived and What I lived For, Higher Laws, and Conclusion. Emerson’s essay on Thoreau will be edited and shared as well as Alcott’s journal entries concerning HDT’s death. Each work will be accompanied with vocabulary sheets, synopsis of work, and questions to be answered.

Kathy Wilson, Lowell High School -- Biology/Environmental Science

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Design a Walk

The purpose of this assignment is to encourage the students to make a personal connection between their own walking experience and their freshman science course, as well as, to promote an appreciation for the world around them.  Lowell High School is a large urban high school with a diverse student population. This assignment is flexible and could be adjusted according to the students involved. The emphasis could be placed on the scientific data, the sensitivity to nature, or the personal reflection encountered when performing the tasks involved with this assignment.