610 #4 Conservation of Natural Resources

Tammie Zentgraf

Working with middle school aged students there are a variety of ways to instruct about the

conservation of natural resources. The State of Wisconsin has a rich history of natural resources

and prides itself on being a front-runner in their use, conservation and preservation. Middle

school students are developmentally at a stage where they can understand and delve into the

complexities of natural resources. Wisconsin as a state is wealthy in natural resources but also

how the harvesting and using of these resources has impacted different habitats. The forests,

waterways, great lakes access, rich soil, minerals, and sand are some but certainly not a complete

list of resources that Wisconsin boasts being rich in .

As we work with students to learn about our states resources as well as other natural resources

at large, we strive for students to be able to understand what and how resources are renewable

and the importance of managing those resources. Conservation of natural resources is managing

the human consumption of natural resources to provide the maximum benefit to current

generations while maintaining capacity to assure future generations use. Disagreements in what

that balance should be has been a long standing conflict in our nations history.

As our natural resources are vast and the lessons of studying them are limitless, I am going to

focus on a topic that is relevant to this particular part of Wisconsin engage my middle school

students to investigate this newly exploding resource of frac sand that this geographical area is

rich in. To engage students in discovery of this resource we will have guest speakers to come

into the classroom and describe the process by which the sand is mined. Bringing along some of
the lab equipment that is used in testing the sand and identifying its grade and to ensure it is

within the required specifications. Sand mines are so readily available, I would also arrange for

a tour of a mine and processing plant. Every mine is required to have a reclamation plan to

return the land that was mined to its original state. So the frac sand is being extracted, the sand

that is not currently usable for fracing oil and gas is then returned to the earth and when an area

is deemed to be fully mined, the surface of the land is restored to as similar a landscape as it was

prior to mining as possible. Responsible use of natural resources is an essential element to

instruct students in today.

Other resources I would make use of to work with my middle school population include the

following web resources provided by USDA Forest Service at:

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/coned/teachers/teachers.shtm

The Greatest GoodThe Forest Service centennial documentary frames the epic story of the

struggle to manage a nations resources amid global change. Broken into four parts, the movie

can be shown in it's whole or in part. Part One covers the conservation movement of the

Progressive Era. Part Two includes the two World Wars and the Depression, Part Three is post

World War II and Part Four includes the environmental movement of the 1970's to current day.

The movie can enhance several of the modules from "If Trees Could Talk".

The Natural InquirerThe Natural Inquirer is a middle school science education journal created

for scientists to share their research with students. The goal of the journal is to stimulate critical

reading and thinking about scientific inquiry and investigation while learning about the natural

environment.
These resources would be great supplements to our regular curriculum in facilitating learning

about the use and preservation of our natural resources here in Wisconsin and in our nation. To

help our students learn how the natural resources of our state have shaped its history in

determining where people have settled, how they supported their families and how many

inventions were created in the process of learning to utilize our natural resources. Wisconsins

history is infused with many significant historical time periods that revolve around our natural

resources and their use.