As young children played on summer lawns in the two decades following World War II, trucks mounted with chemical sprayers wound through neighborhood streets. The trucks belched DDT fog that was intended to eliminate the insect pests that disturbed the pleasures of summer in America—mosquitoes, elm beetles, garden pests. Neither the children nor their parents understood that they were inhaling toxins while synthetic chemical companies were making fortunes and biologists were gathering evidence that DDT in the wild animal food chain was wreaking havoc on those populations.
We know this now because Rachel Carson knew it and told the world in her compelling book Silent Spring. If you suspect your students doubt that one individual can have an immense, positive impact on the health of our planet, please introduce them to Rachel Carson. America’s History in the Making, Resource Archive includes a powerful passage from Silent Spring and summarizes the significance of her work. Watch the video for unit 19, “Postwar Tension and Triumph,” (start at 18:33) to learn about Carson’s controversial contribution to the field of environmental science.
Carson’s observations in Silent Spring and in her earlier books are anchored to key biology concepts such as the life cycle, species diversity, and systems. In Journey North, A Food Chain Mystery, learn how biological science revealed the unintended consequences of putting DDT into the environment. A companion journal activity guides student reflection on the reading.
Although Carson died about 18 months after the 1962 publication of Silent Spring, she did see some of the impact the book had on the public, state and federal governments, and the scientific community. Silent Spring was on best-seller lists for months. Congressional committees were established to determine if pesticide use should be regulated. Communities began to question whether to continue their use of synthetic chemical pesticides.
Unfortunately, Carson did not live to witness the long-term impact of her message. Today, however, we are the beneficiaries and the stewards of her legacy. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there were only 487 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48 states in 1963. DDT build-up in eagles caused them to lay defective eggs with thin shells that cracked before chicks could hatch. In 2006, 9,789 pairs were counted. That’s the impact that one person can make.
Discuss current and future environmental problems, including possible solutions, with your students. The following resources provide ideas for science, social studies, and literature classrooms:
Why are the oceans that cover over 70% of the Earth’s surface so enchanting? Many people head to the seaside to relax in the sun and listen to the waves roll in and out. Others use beaches as playgrounds for volleyball, building sandcastles, and swimming in the surf. A chance to glimpse fascinating ocean life draws visitors to aquariums all over. The smell of salt in the air and the rustling of grasses on the dunes inspire poets of all ages. Celebrate 
We’ve got brains, but how much do we really know about them? March is the perfect time to learn more about this amazing organ because we have 
Have you seen the AT&T 4g network ad in which a friendly guy in a suit asks a group of young children, “What’s better, faster or slower?” The children sing out “Faster!” and give examples of things that are fast: “my mom’s car,” “a space ship,” “a cheetah.” None of them mentions light, which travels close to 200,000 miles per hour. Anything that moves that fast has to be unstoppable, right? Wrong. Superman could stop a speeding train, but it took a super woman to stop light.
Dr. Hau never stopped calculating:
