Making the Connection

As we get ready for Thanksgiving, the biggest food holiday of the year, it's a good time to think about the connections between the food we eat, the way it's produced and the great outdoors. This TED talk from Maine focuses on bees as the link that keeps us all fed.

Ecowatch.org launches in Cleveland

I learn the most interesting things reading Cool Cleveland and watching their videos. Last week I learned that Ecowatch.org launched in Cleveland because of its significance in the environmental movement. In an interview while he was in town, RFK Jr brings so many points from the struggle to protect the environment down to Earth. Definitely worth a watch to hear him lay out the issues involved so eloquently.
http://ecowatch.org/
@ecowatch on Twitter

Bottlemania: 2010 Common Reading at CWRU

Reprinted from Case News:

With a constant supply of fresh water at their fingertips via fountains and faucets, why are so many American consumers hooked on bottled water?

In Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It, this year's selection for the Common Reading Program, environmental journalist Elizabeth Royte explores the staggering popularity of bottled water, the multi-billion-dollar industry that supports it and the building backlash against it.

In the book, one of Entertainment Weekly's 10 "Must Read" nonfiction titles of 2008, Royte travels to Fryeburg, Maine, home of Poland Spring water. In this small town and other like it across the country, she finds the people, machines, economies and cultural trends that have made bottled water a $60-billion-a-year phenomenon, even as it threatens local control of natural resources and dumps tons of plastic waste into the country's landfills.

Moving beyond the environmental consequences of making, filling, transporting and landfilling those billions of bottles, Royte examines the state of tap water today and the social impact of corporations sinking ever more pumps into rural towns.

Ultimately, Bottlemania makes a case for protecting public water supplies, for improving our water infrastructure and better allocating the precious drinkable water that remains.

Acclaimed author of Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash, Elizabeth Royte's writing on science and the environment has appeared in Harper's, The New Yorker, National Geographic, Outside, The New York Times Magazine and other national publications. A former Alicia Patterson Foundation fellow and recipient of Bard College's John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service, Royte is a frequent contributor to the New York Times Book Review, a contributing editor for OnEarth, and a correspondent for Outside magazine. Her work is included in The Best American Science Writing 2004, and her first book, The Tapir's Morning Bath: Solving the Mysteries of the Tropical Rain Forest, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year for 2001.

The Common Reading Program was started in 2002 for first-year students, who are asked to read the selection before the start of the academic year. The assigned book then serves as a basis for programs and discussions beginning at orientation and throughout the year. As the featured author for the 2010 Common Reading selection, Royte will deliver the keynote address at Case Western Reserve University's fall convocation, which will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010.

Learn more about the Common Reading program.
Story written by Jackie Fitch.
For more information contact Susan Griffith, 216.368.1004.

Posted by: Kimyette Finley, February 11, 2010 12:47 PM | News Topics: Authors, Events

Case Western Reserve University is committed to the free exchange of ideas, reasoned debate and intellectual dialogue. Speakers and scholars with a diversity of opinions and perspectives are invited to the campus to provide the community with important points of view, some of which may be deemed controversial. The views and opinions of those invited to speak on the campus do not necessarily reflect the views of the university administration or any other segment of the university community.

Thanks for the Summer Reading with Kids Recommendations! Part 2!!

I'm so grateful to everyone for their suggestions! Love this message Jennifer forwarded me from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP):

TALLAHASSEE – Summer has arrived and the Florida Department of Education (DOE) and DEP are encouraging students to head outdoors with a book from DOE’s 2010 recommended summer reading list. The annual reading list, part of DOE’s Just Read, Florida! mission, is designed to promote nature-based literature while fostering in students an appreciation for the both reading and the outdoors.

“Reading outdoors is a great way to foster environmental stewardship in Florida’s students,” said DEP Secretary Michael W. Sole. “By promoting literature focused on Florida’s diverse natural resources, we hope to harness students’ interest in academic success as well as environmental protection.”

One of the suggested summer reads for 2010 is Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ Pulitzer prize-winning novel, The Yearling. The Yearling (Aladdin Classics) This story takes readers back in time to Rawlings 1930s farm life. A visit to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park offers a glimpse into the setting that inspired the book. Florida’s 160 state parks, which cover more than 700,000 acres of Florida’s natural environment, also make a perfect backdrop for reading.

Other examples of Florida State Parks and nature-based selections on the 2010 summer reading list include:

• Grades K-3: Pancakes for Breakfast, Tommie DePaola. Pancakes for Breakfast Visit De Leon Springs State Park in De Leon Springs where you can make your own pancakes at the table.
• Grades 4-5: The Birchbark House, Louise Erdrich. The Birchbark House Visit Collier-Seminole State Park in Naples on the edge of the Everglades rich with Native American history.  
• Grades 6-8: Forever Forest, Kristin Joy-Pratt Serafini. The Forever Forest: Kids Save a Tropical Treasure (Sharing Nature with Children Books) Visit Homossassa Springs Wildlife State Park to learn about protection and conservation of Florida wildlife.
• Grades 9-12: Southern Comforts: Rooted in a Florida Place, Sudye Cauthen. Southern Comforts: Rooted in a Florida Place (Center for American Places) (Center Books on the American South) Visit Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Florida´s first state preserve and a National Natural Landmark.

“Promoting summer reading to students has always been a primary mission of ours, but now the opportunities are right at their fingertips,” said Education Commissioner Dr. Eric J. Smith. “Our recently launched book search offers ease and accessibility in finding that perfect read for a beautiful summer day.”

Research shows that children who continue to read during the summer months are more likely to retain progress made throughout the school year. In addition to theJust Read, Florida! summer reading list, DOE also recently partnered with the Department of State (DOS) and MetaMetrics, Inc. to launch ‘Find a Book,’ a search tool that identifies the appropriate books for each student’s reading level. This technology allows students and their families to personalize their book list according to preference and reading level.

To view all of DOE’s summer reading suggestions, visitwww.justreadfamilies.org/SummerReadingList.pdf. To learn more about ’Find a Book,’ visit www.lexile.com/findabook. For more about Florida State Parks, go towww.FloridaStateParks.org or follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/FLStateParks.