Welcome
to Mr. Meilander’s APES Summer Reading Directions!!!
Please
follow the assignments in order to get the maximum amount of learning from
these readings. Below you will find
hyperlinks to websites, books, and articles that you will be required to read
and underneath each heading you will find more detailed instructions for that
particular assignment. Have a great rest
of your summer and I hope this gives you something to mull over before class
begins. See you in August!
ASSIGNMENT
#1 FOOD WEBS
Part I
http://www.vtaide.com/png/foodchains.htm
Read through the above
website. If this link does not work,
copy and paste this link into your web browser.
If that does not work, then Google “food web vtaide.” Read
the information to learn or refresh your brain about food webs. When you get to this picture:
Look to
the right and explore the four food webs; desert, coniferous, deciduous, and
temperate.
Part II
http://www.gould.edu.au/foodwebs/kids_web.htm
Read
through the above website. If this link
does not work, copy and paste this link into your web browser. If that does not work, then
Google “food web gould.” Explore 2 of the 4 possible food web
activities. Once you have completed
dragging the various organisms into the empty boxes, it will tell you to click
to see the completed food web. Click on
that and then print out the completed food web.
Bring these with you to class the FIRST day.
ASSIGNMENT
#2 PESTICIDES AND A BRIEF HISTORY OF DDT AND RACHEL CARSON
http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/pest/pestindex.html
Read
through this first page of the above website, then click on Pesticides: An
Introduction and continue to read all of the contents on this website. You will advance through by clicking on the
red arrow at the bottom of each page.
ASSIGNMENT
#3 SILENT SPRING by RACHEL CARSON
You can
read this entire book online by following this link:
Or you
can order it online at this link:
http://www.amazon.com/Silent-Spring-Rachel-Carson/dp/0618249060
I would
also check Bookman’s or the library if you are trying to save some money.
The
reason you are doing assignments 1 and 2 is to give you a little bit of
background information into some of the themes you will be reading about in Silent
Spring. This book was revolutionary
for its time and has greatly affected the environmental movement. Being in an AP Environmental Science course,
it is important for us to understand its history to have an appreciation for it
in the present.
As you
read through Silent Spring, keep in mind that it was first published in
1962, almost 50 years ago! You should
keep notes as you read through each chapter (annotate) either in the margins of
your book (unless it is the libraries or you are borrowing it) or in a separate
notebook. I have added a copy of my
notes from Chapter 6: Earth’s Green Mantle.
Keeping track of page numbers or important points I want to remember
with asterisks or indentations helps me, but use what works best for you.
Think
about the following questions as you read each chapter. You can answer them on a separate piece of
paper but I will NOT be collecting them.
We will be discussing those points in class that first week of class
when you return. It is important to know
that I am not expecting you to memorize or remember statistics found in this
book (they are almost 50 years old). I
want you to look for bigger concepts in each chapter and concepts that overlap
between chapters. You will see recurring
themes in the stories she discusses so read carefully but there will be times
when skimming a few paragraphs or pages is appropriate. We will be discussing this book throughout
the semester and relating a lot of our labs and course content back to the
concepts found within this book.
For EACH
chapter:
1. Summarize the main point for this
chapter?
2. Did you see any connections to
any other chapters?
3. What surprised you about this
chapter?
4. Was there anything in this
chapter that did not surprise you? If
so, what was it?
5. Was there anything that upset you
in this chapter? If there was, why?
6. Keep a small list of vocabulary
words that you came across that you did not know. You do not have to provide definitions for
them, just a list.
For the
book:
1. What was the theme of this book?
2. What is Rachel Carson’s viewpoint
and do you think she was effective in conveying her message?
3. Was this book written based on
facts and data or was this simply her opinions?
4. How do you feel after reading
this book (upset, happy, angry, distressed, helpless, scared, worried, unaffected)? Why do
you feel that way?
5. Do you have a different outlook
on chemicals, pesticides, science, or even humanity? Why?
IF
YOU ARE FEELING ADVENTUROUS ASSIGNMENT: ASSIGNMENT #4
YOU ARE NOT
REQUIRED to read this for summer. We will be reading this the first week of
class but if you want to get ahead here is the link to a National Geographic
article related to chemicals:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2006/10/toxic-people/duncan-text
Mr. Meilander’s notes:
See Below.
