Format
The program opens with slide showing a famous national park view populated with hotels, swimming pools, fast food joints, etc. Students are asked: "What's wrong with this picture?"
Kerrie explains how today’s national parks could look exactly this way but for the vision of President Theodore Roosevelt. Kerrie will profile Roosevelt’s childhood, when he transformed himself from a sickly child into a young man of both physical strength and mental alertness who adored the great outdoors. (Like the author, “Teedie” Roosevelt was a bookworm!)
Kerrie touches on Roosevelt’s political career as she shares stories about his family and their exploits outdoors and in. She emphasizes how he taught his children the value of physical labor and outside adventure (including the time he led his children on a game of follow-the-leader through an open sewer).
We conclude the program by sharing age-appropriate ideas on how each of us can step up protection of green space in our own neighborhoods. For older students, Kerrie will ask: what challenges affect the environment at our school grounds, local parks, and communities?
Objectives
The participant will:
…understand how Theodore Roosevelt turned his boyhood love for the American outdoors into wilderness conservation with national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and more.
…trace the development of the National Park System across space and time.
…grasp that their passions as children and teens will live on in their adult lives of work and service.
…take part in discussion about the quality of the environment in their own communities.
Standards Alignment
National Standards
U.S. History 5-12 Era 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861), Science as Inquiry, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Geography, Places and regions, Geography/Physical Systems, U.S. History 5 - 12/ Eras 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; English/Reading for Understanding
State Standards
Kerrie will assist teachers in aligning this program to state standards.