Conserving Natural Landmarks
The built and natural environment are one and
interdependent. Celebrate that relationship for Earth Day and all year long.
There are certain natural landmarks which occur
and may impact on the plan of a city or an area — these are rivers,
mountains, valleys, canyons, bodies of water, forests. Most seem to create
a boundary or edge by the nature of their large scale.
There are individual landmarks in nature which
have become special in their own right because of their size, beauty, age
or because a historic event took place there. For instance, you have heard
of nationally famous trees like:
The Inyo National Forest Pines, 4600 years old
The Patriarch, the largest known bristle cone
pine
The Giant Sequoia Champion, 275 feet high
There are not-so-famous trees in your own city
or state, they are important because they tell a local story, like the General
Custer Elm in Council Grove, Kansas. And — every state has a Treaty
Oak and a Post Office Oak!
Make a list of local or regional famous trees.
They may be famous for their scarcity, their beauty, their size, an important
event or any other criteria which the students choose.
Finally, have students identify the tree which
is their own special place — their own favorite tree. Photograph it,
write about it, paint it, make a poem. If you don't have a landmark tree,
how would you get one?
What else?
Have tree party!
Design an ecologically responsible tree house.
Become a tree watcher. Walk around the block. Identify all the trees
on the block. Inventory trash at the same time. About one third of our trash
is packaging and much packaging is created from paper pulp. A cup made of
paper, for instance, began its life as a tree. Can you plant enough trees
to replace the trash you are generating? What is another solution?
Begin now…recycling all envelopes can help to save a tree. And…use recycled paper. For
each ton of paper recycled, 3,700 pounds of lumber and 24,000 gallons of
water are saved. Besides…an envelope can tell a story, just like a
building.
Conserving Natural Landmarks
is just one of many community-based activities contained in CUBE's Walk
Around the Block curriculum.
