NOAA Planet Stewards
Book Club Archives

1. Was there anything in the book that surprised you?

2. Does your local school system discuss the topic of environmental justice in its classes?

3. How can you create a “space” in your school, organization, workplace or community for voices that have been marginalized?

4. How can racial progress and equality also aid environmental justice in the U.S.?

5. Why have the nations in the Global North chosen low-income cities in the Global South for their waste disposal? Does the potential for some economic benefit through the resale of waste outweigh the environmental and health hazards to these communities?

6. What resources could you use to learn more about another cultural community before asking someone from that community questions about a particular topic? Why is this important?

7. In past movements, race and gender have been excluded from the issue at hand – i.e. climate change. What can we do in the future to ensure this doesn’t happen?

1. How did the book title get your attention? Did the author’s presentation of the complicated and depressing topic of climate change help make the book readable? How so?

2. Did you learn anything new from the first section of the book about technology and the internet’s impact on the environment? If so, what? Did you end up using a kill-a-watt meter in your own house (or a friends’?) to find vampire culprits, or set up power strips with off switches on some appliances? Why or why not? What changes might you be able to make in your use of technology?

3. Did you learn anything new from the second section of the book about food? If so, what? What changes might you want to make in your own food choices?

4. In the third section of the book, about clothing - the author drilled down in her discussion of jeans/cotton and cashmere. Was this an effective writing strategy? Did these very specific examples of inconspicuous consumption change your thinking? What changes might you be able to make in your clothing choices?

5. Section four of the book - about fossil fuels, was left for last because, as the author states, it’s kind of boring. However, she makes this topic quite readable and brings up more immediate aspects such as coal ash, and deforestation from burning wood. What changes might you be able to make in your fossil fuel “usage”?

6. An underlying theme throughout the book is the disproportionate effects these issues (climate change itself and related pollution, growing convenience and comfort for richer people/nations) have on the marginalized, on less developed countries, and how much of it is seated in racial injustices. What new understandings did you discover?

7. An ever-improving and convenient world for those of us with privilege comes at a cost. How do we assess that cost and pay our fair share? Demanding transparency from companies so that we can better understand environmental and societal costs? Are we willing to pay higher prices on goods and services so they can be made more eco-friendly and just?

8. As Schlossberg says, our daily activities are “much more connected to each other, to global climate change, and to each one of us than we think….I don't think we should feel individually guilty necessarily for our consumption, but we should feel collectively responsible for fixing the systems and building a better world.” What next steps can/should we take – individually, and collectively?

1. The first section of the book The Vision: Limitless Ocean Bounty, Infinite Resiliency discussed how fish and other ocean wildlife have been viewed as commodities rather than as critical components of a system. Also discussed was how treating the ocean as “the ultimate dumpster” is causing damage to sea life and marine ecosystems. What was your reaction to this section of the book, particularly the concept of maximum sustainable yield?
2. No matter how far inland we live, a single kind of blue-green algae in the ocean (Prochlorococcus) produces the oxygen in one of every five breaths we take. The book is full of similar facts, illustrating the oceans’ critical importance to human survival and making it’s protection a very personal matter. What fact/facts illustrating the oceans’ critical importance to human survival were new to you?
3. In the second section of the book Sylvia talks about everything we’re doing to the ocean from over-fishing to mining, drilling, dredging and human caused changes to ocean chemistry. What new insights did you gain from this section?
4. On page 145 there is a picture of a platform that extracts oil and gas from the sea. To see what it looks like below the platform and to learn more about Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary go to https://flowergarden.noaa.gov/about/hi389platform.html
5. Chapter seven, “Changing Climate, Changing Chemistry” brings the topic of climate change to the forefront. Do you think present climate change policies are focusing solely on the atmosphere and neglecting the ocean, or have policies changed?
6. In the final section of the text Sylvia tells us why all of this should matter to us; “We will not survive if the oceans don’t survive” and she explains why. How has this section impacted your life?
7. The Law of The Sea “provides a comprehensive global legal framework that governs human activities on and in the world’s oceans.” Although the United States complies with the provisions of the 1982 Convention, it is the only major maritime power that has not ratified the treaty. The following NOAA sites provide an overview of Law of the Sea.
   • https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lawofsea.html
   • https://www.gc.noaa.gov/gcil_law_sea.html

   In your opinion should the United States ratify the treaty? Why or why not?

8. Sylvia reviewed the pros and cons of ocean farming and attempted to answer the question, “Is sustainable fishing possible?” What is your response - buying farmed fish or fish that has been sustainably harvested? How can you tell whether or not the fish has been sustainably harvested? In addition to using Seafood WATCH look at the Environmental Defense Fund Seafood Selector.
9. Can we help make Sylvia’s “One Wish to Change the World” come true? Watch her talk at the 2009 TED Conference. What is one thing we can each strive to do to protect the ocean?

Website links on pages 316-318 in The World is Blue were reviewed prior to the NOAA Planet Stewards Book Club meeting. Amended website URLs are noted below

• Aquarius: World’s Only Undersea Research Center
  https://environment.fiu.edu/coastlines-and-oceans/aquarius/about/index.html
• Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project
  https://www2.whoi.edu/site/beaufortgyre/
• Google Earth
  http://earth.google.com/ocean Current link does not work. Instead, try: https://www.justmagic.com/GM-GE.html
• IFREMER (French Research Institute for the Exploration of the Sea)
• International Whaling Commission
  https://iwc.int/home
• Marine Protected Areas of the United States
  https://marineprotectedareas.noaa.gov
• NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio: Global Rotation Showing Seasonal Land Cover and Arctic Sea Ice
  https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3404
• National Geographic Animals
  https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/
• National Snow and Ice Data Center
  https://nsidc.org
• Nature Conservancy: Coral Reefs – two links
  https://www.natureprotects.org/posts/reefs
  /https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/coral-reefs/
• Project GloBAL (Global Bycatch Assessment of Long-lived Species) Current link does not work. Instead, try:
  https://www.pnas.org/content/111/14/5271
• Reefindia – unable to locate original URL. Instead, try:
  https://www.nio.org/research/projects/institute
  https://www.iasexpress.net/coral-ecosystem-in-india-importance-distribution-threats-way-forward/
• SeamountsOnline
  http://seamounts.sdsc.edu/
• Sustainable Seas Expeditions/Monterey Bay. Current link does not work. Instead, try:
  https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/vr/monterey-bay/
  https://montereybay.noaa.gov/research/techreports/trnmsp2000b.html
• United Nations Atlas of the Oceans
• Vents Program
  https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/eoi/
• WoRMS (World Register of Marine Species)
  http://marinespecies.org/

1. Freeman has gathered a daisy-chain of essays, stories and poems by thirty-five writers from the middle of the Pacific to the Roof of the World and every hot, cold, wet, and dry spot in between. How does this breadth of geography help capture the vastness of the issues of climate change? Where do you see connections to your locale? To your heritage?
2. In his introduction, Freeman writes, “We are swimming in facts, but a fact does not fully obtain the depth of a fact, the power of a fact, until it becomes part of a story.” How do these stories make climate change much more than a scientific concept? Which had the most power for you and why? What stories might you use to educate others?
3. Most of us never have to think about the unpleasantness of the “flying toilets” in the Nairobi slums or the literal “shitstorm” caused by Beirut’s Eden Bay developers. The “collective anus” of the well-off is linked to culverts that route our waste into faraway lakes, rivers, neighborhoods, cities, nations and cultures. The problem of waste disposal recurs throughout this collection; how do our hidden disposal systems - whether flushing toilets or pre-dawn garbage trucks - contribute to our ability to ignore our own impacts on the planet? What can we, with our “one-click shopping” mentality, do to become more zero-waste?
4. Some rivers and lakes have become so poisoned by industry, agriculture, and everyday life that they have all but ceased to sustain life and may never sustain it again. The countries first to drown in rising oceans have done the least to deserve their fate. The poor are not only most impacted, but are also blamed for the tragedy. Where do you see social injustice and climate change intersect? How can you use the idea of social justice and fairness to motivate change?
5. Just as rapid changes to an ecosystem can traumatize the landscape and its inhabitants, rapid changes to a cultural ecosystem can traumatize the people it sustains. How do we balance the destruction of ancient systems with the need for new buildings and growth? How can we get people with disparate values to come together, and serve the greater good?
6. Anuradha Roy writes about how government officials in India twist climate change to their own ends. Other tales relate top-down corporate manipulation and government malfeasance; yet since these affect us all, can we not rise up together, united against these universal villains, to protest the pillaging of our ecosystems and cultural systems for the sake of a few? Is there a glimmer of hope here?
7. Were there particular phrases or stories, essays, or poems that stood out to you?
8. “What if we believed, stupidly or hopefully, that every living life mattered equally?”

1. Did reading this book have an impact on how you see the ocean?
2. Do you think this book still has relevance today? What impact, if any, did the “Afterward” by Jeffrey Levinton have on you?
3. The first chapter, “Gray Beginnings” gives a scientific history of the origin of the earth’s Ocean. Did you find new ideas or concepts in this chapter?
4. The Sea Around Us was written before the modern environmental movement had really taken hold. Carson emphasized the interconnectedness of the different parts of the sea and of all life. In Chapter 3, she writes, "The surface waters move with the tides, stir to the breath of the winds, and rise and fall to the endless, hurrying forms of the waves.” Carson emphasizes the importance of protecting each part of the environment as it is composed of a delicate interplay of forces. Did you find other examples illustrating the interconnectedness of all life in her book?
5. Chapter 10 “Wind, Sun, and the Spinning of the Earth,” fit in perfectly with my fifth grade Social Studies Curriculum. In this chapter Carson describes the Gulf Stream and the work of Ben Franklin. Is there a particular chapter in the book that fits into your school curriculum?
6. In chapter 12, “The Global Thermostat,” Carson raises the warning flag of global climate change. She mentions many scenarios of changes to the world’s climate. Which of these were new to you? (For example, cod in Greenland and other new fish species arrivals there in 1930 – haddock, cusk, and ling - as well as Iceland’s strange warmth-loving southern fish like basking shark, sunfish, swordfish and horse mackerel.)
7. The Special Edition of this classic book features a new chapter written by Jeffrey Levinton which incorporates the most recent thinking - in 1991 - on continental drift, coral reefs, the spread of the ocean floor, the deterioration of the oceans, mass extinction of sea life, and many other topics. What was your reaction to this chapter?
8. In a book discussion group in the UK readers were encouraged to make a one minute video of any aspect of the ocean while reading a favorite passage from the book. The clips were then shared online with the group. We can’t do this, but each of us could share and describe a particular aspect of the ocean that has special significance to us.

1. This book is about how ordinary people can make extraordinary changes. What did you learn about Plastic Free July, how it began, and its reach today?
2. The book opens with a simple question from the author, ‘I’m going plastic free next July. Who wants to join me?” Have you or will you answer the call? If so, what was or do you expect to be the hardest part of this for you?
3. For those who have participated, do you have any takeaways or “aha” moments to share?
4. What have been solutions/alternatives to one-use plastics that you’ve seen or adopted as part of your life? In your community? In our society? Where are we falling short? Where might we find success?
5. As mentioned in the book, is the problem of plastics growing or shrinking? Why?
6. According to a NYTimes Op Ed from 12/9/2021 entitled The Great Recycling Con , The greatest trick corporations ever played was making us think we could recycle their products. Do you agree or disagree?

Additional points for discussion:

• Last year Plastic Free July participants avoided 900 million kgs of plastic waste (almost 2 billion pounds!)
• An estimated eight million tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean – equivalent to a full garbage truck dumped into the sea every minute.
• 250+ Orgs Outline Plan for Biden, Congress to #BreakFreeFromPlastic

1. What role does science fiction and/or realistic fiction have in building awareness of real-world issues?
2. How does the book address the connection between people, animals, land and resources?
3. There are references in the book about how resources are used – such as methane to fuel lights, geothermal heat – what message is the author sharing about resource usage?
4. Is there a significance of the orca and/or polar bear in the book? Why not any other species of animal?
5. The book addresses the concept of social constructs, such as socioeconomic status, nationality, gender, and how fear is often used to create and maintain these constructs to the benefit of a select few. How are social constructs being used to address – or avoid addressing – climate change?
6. There are several sections in the book that share how the news/media report out on the same situation by focusing on different aspects, molding the story to fit different narratives – how is that (or is it not) being addressed in our current society?
7. Which character, if any, did you find most relatable to either yourself – or someone else? What characteristics made them relatable?
8. There were many topics addressed in the book, in addition to climate change – the unchecked spread of disease, economic inequality, gender identity – how intricately woven are all these topics? Can one be addressed without addressing the rest in our current society?
9. What take away messages or impressions did this book leave you with?

1. Of all examples in the book, which animal migration stood out the most and why?
2. Humans could not reliably tell their longitude until the late 1700’s. Lots of creatures seem to be able to do so with little difficulty. What do they know that we don’t?
3. In what ways might humans be affecting animal migration? Which are new to you from this book?
4. In what ways might climate change affect migration patterns?
5. What steps should we take as individuals and as a society to minimize our impacts on animal navigation and migration patterns? Which of those are new to you from this book?
6. In chapter 11, the author recounts the story of mountain guide Enos Mills, who became snow-blind at 3600 meters in the Rocky Mountains. Mills used his other senses to get himself to safety. Have you ever been lost? How did you find your way back? What’s your story?
7. There is a tremendous amount we do not know about animal migration. What about that surprised you the most?
8. At the end of the preface, the author talks about the inherent ethical difficulty in studies where animals were harmed in the pursuit of knowledge. He ends that passage stating “it would surely be wrong to hold scientists to a higher moral standard than the rest of us.” How do you feel about that?

1. What insights have you have gained about life in Antarctica from South Pole Station?
2. On page 44 and 45 we are introduced to some possible “climate” issues that appear later in the book, what do you think about the flyer and cooper/Sal’s response?
3. Many of the Polies take issue with calling Pavano a "climate skeptic" because, as Sal says, "All scientists are born skeptics. Pavano is not a practicing scientist." Do you agree with Sal? Why or why not?
4. South Pole Station unfolds through various narrative perspectives — Cooper's, Pearl's, Tucker's, Bozer's, Pavano's, even emails, and official government documents. How does having these multiple vantage points shape your sense of the community? In what ways would the story be different if we only had Cooper’s perspective?
5. One book review states “Shelby’s main narrative tension centers around the controversial arrival of scientist and climate change-denier Frank Pavano. Especially outraged is Sal Brennan, an astrophysicist studying the origins of the universe, who considers Frank’s presence at the South Pole as “a sign of end times,” pointing out that, due to Frank’s admission, “‘somewhere a real climate scientist did not get his grant approved.”’ What makes Pavano not a scientist? What caused Frank’s transformation from a young scientific prodigy, to a climate change-denying scientist relying on shaky science and even more questionable funding?
6. Congressman Bayless gives a speech where he purports, "Dissent is the healthiest state of affairs in any democracy … democracy is under attack. That in a bastion of free thought, the covenant of free thought has been broken.…" Dr. Pavano has been the victim of a systematic and sustained pattern of harassment based solely on his research." Sal’s rebuttal is that "in the scientific community, there’s virtually unanimous consensus that the earth is warming … instead of fearing this new knowledge … accept it, and leave science to science." How would you respond to both of these statements?
7. Climate change is the subject of much debate in our society; it’s a complicated issue. What did you take away from South Pole Station about the interplay of science, politics, religion, and economics in the climate change debate? Did the novel shift your perspective at all? How so?
8. We aren’t privy to Pavano’s perspective until the end of the novel when we learn of his ascendance as a "climate change skeptic." In what ways did his backstory align with your expectations? What elements surprised you?

1. At the opening of the story, Sarah Broom describes the lot where the Yellow House once stood from fifteen thousand feet above. Have you ever brought up a Google Earth image of your house from above and zoomed out? What impact did seeing your home, your street, your state, your country have on your perspective?
2. What are the truths we think we know about New Orleans compared to the story Broom tells?
3. The author refers to Hurricane Katrina throughout as “the Water.” Why do you think she made this choice? What does that term communicate to you?
4. What information does Broom give us about the fate of New Orleans’s population after the storm that was new to you?
5. Broom’s family dispersed after Katrina and many did not return. What effect do you think this kind of scattering after climate crises has on regional culture?
6. In many ways, this is a story of how America has failed African Americans. Was there anything that could have been done differently on the swath of land in New Orleans East that would have changed the outcome?
7. Did this book bring to mind stories from your history tied to a special place, a home, land, or city?
8. There were many powerful stories within the book. Was there one that stood out for you?
9. Sarah says that “Big changes, the ones that reset the compass of a place, never appear so at the outset. Only time lets you see the accumulation of things.” Can you cite an example of this in the book or in your own life’s experience?
10. What are your thoughts about the end of the book? Were you satisfied with the final actions of the land that the Yellow House sat on? Was justice served to the family that lost their Yellow House?

1. Naming plays a role throughout Rising - "Theo's parents' old home, and Lora Ann's old home, and Albert's old home, and all the other residences that have been abandoned because rebuilding is tiresome and expensive." Why is it necessary to name these homes? Rush writes of learning the names of the dying trees and other plants in the marshlands of Rhode Island; the tupelo, the needlebush, and salt marsh cordgrass. How does naming the plants and birds around us support environmental justice?
2. A primary conflicts in this book is the difference between insiders and outsiders; from people who know the language (and persimmons) of a place, and the people from elsewhere who often hold different priorities. How does the author, a reporter, navigate this "distance"? How do we, as readers and people who live in a place, navigate this "distance"?
3. What is the value of a place? How do we measure it? Is its value in what we can take from it? In what it "gives" us? Is it possible for trees, animals, and humans not to be competing entities?
4. "We" often think of the landscape as inert, as simply there. Then something like Hurricane Sandy happens, and suddenly the disappearance of wetlands and their storm-surge absorbing properties gets people's attention. Are we yet ready to listen to the landscape? As people stay home during this pandemic, we've seen nature quickly respond to the lack of human activity on our planet. Will this change our idea of how to live normally?
5. We encounter outside voices throughout the book in "On Gratitude," "On Reckoning," etc. What purpose do they serve? What difference in tone and content do you notice from one to the next?
6. Climate change is having a measurable affect on sea level rise along the coast of the United States. It is important however to consider is how much of our country is not coastline. How much of this conversation - and voting decisions - is not addressed simply because it's a problem of elsewhere? When Rush writes of glaciers calving in Greenland and Antarctica, does the information fail to make a meaningful change in our lives because its so far away? Her book is subtitled: Dispatches from the New American Shore; does that focus get our attention?
7. Rush writes of her second grade science fair project on Florida's flat topography - which failed to impress. "My project didn't win a prize; it wasn't even given honorable mention. Back then topography probably seemed boring, especially when set next to dioramas of rainforests and exploding miniature volcanoes." Even at a young age, we are taught to favor "sexy" landscapes; the idea that volcanoes are more interesting and worthy of study than marshlands prevails. What opportunities do we have to teach young people to think differently?
8. How is the idea of environmental racism build throughout the book? What happens when the disparities in power play out in the location of sewer plants and toxic waste dumping in poor communities - often communities of color - who have no power to fight against it. This brings to mind the ongoing water issues in Flint, MI. "And so what I once thought of as an inquiry into vulnerable landscapes - and the plants and animals that call those places home - has also become an inquiry into vulnerable human communities."
9. Rush concludes Rising with an Afterword titled with the names of recent hurricanes. Other sections of the book are voiced by people she's interviewed; what do you think of Rush giving the final voice to something that's not human? She does not end the book with concrete actions for the reader to undertake, no calls to action. What, then does Rush want from readers as we close Rising?
10. How can we have a conversation about a dystopian nightmare in the middle of a dystopian nightmare? Our current situation can be "a bit much" for us - as adults - to deal with, but it can be especially difficult for kids. Now that they've experienced their day to day lives upended so quickly and profoundly by nature "turning against us", how might it influence their views of climate change? Does it make it seem more possible? More real? How does our inability as a collective society to listen to science and scientists during the kind of crisis where we most need to, change how we view the response to a problem that is even harder to see than a microbe?

1. How would you summarize the story? What would you highlight as its main/key components?
2. Who was your favorite character and why?
3. Do you see any similarities to the challenges being faced in sleepy valley to where you live? - particularly ecological and/or political.
4. Do you think today’s YA (young adult) readers can relate to this story? In what ways and why?
5. Do you see a disconnect between adults and young learners on how they respond to rapid climate change? How is this represented in the book? How do you think we could break the disconnect in our society?
6. What do you see as key climate facts in the book? Are they represented well? Did they teach? How?
7. Would you recommend this book to others? Why, Why not?

1. Under what scenario (political, social and economic systems) could recycling become the solution to plastic pollution?
2. Can modern design and production innovations make zero waste more than aspirational?
3. When and how can personal solutions to plastic pollution i.e. lowering one’s plastic footprint, translate into a true global solution to plastic pollution?
4. Will crises forever be the driver of fundamental economic, political and social change? If so, what will be the crisis with plastic pollution that forces radical change?
5. While reading Plastic Ocean, recall one or two details that were new and/or interesting to you.
6. Is there an organization, conference, or event involving plastic pollution that you're involved with or that interests you?
7. For those of you who are Planet Stewards educators working or planning a stewardship project - does your project involve plastic pollution? If so, how? How will the students be involved?

1. Who has visited any of the five Great Lakes before? What was your experience?
2. What surprised you about how humans have deliberately altered the Great Lakes?
3. Who are the villains of the Great Lakes story? The heroes?
4. Should water be shared beyond the Great Lakes basin?
5. How did the introduction of salmon positively affect the Great Lakes? Do you agree that introducing salmon is overall positive?
6. Should invasive species be allowed to continue reproducing? Or should we intervene?
7. Is global invasive species introduction our new normal?
8. Did anything surprise you as you were reading the book?
9. What should we be doing to protect the Great Lakes and other bodies of water?

1. Disease outbreaks in the ocean differ from outbreaks on land. Drew discusses the “perfect storm” of outbreak conditions: new pathogens introduced via aquaculture and human sewage, salt water providing a hospital environment for pathogens, pathogens discharged by shipping vessels, effects of pollution and climate change and the warming of surface waters due to climate change. Are you aware of all of these conditions?
2. There has been a lot of media attention to the problem of corals being stressed by warming oceans and disease. As Drew points out, people don’t realize infectious diseases that take hold of corals may cause their subsequent death. Are you aware of the other ocean pathogens affecting our food supply, economy, livelihood, and health?
3. Were you surprised that it took so long to solve the mystery of what was causing the withering foot syndrome of Abalone?
4. Given the information on salmon disease, what changes should be made to reduce future disease outbreaks in fisheries or aquaculture in general? What are aquaculture best practices and does the US adhere to the highest standards?
5. Drew discusses the problem of funding for research studies and elaborates on how the “Save Our Stars” project at a middle school in Arkansas helped fund field surveys for work on the starfish epidemic. Has your class participated in activities like this?
6. What are important new research themes to address how the ocean’s natural pathogen fighting services work?
7. Do you think plastics convey disease to organisms other than coral?
8. Which of the four disease outbreaks discussed in the book did you find the most interesting and useful?

1. Was “A Silent Spring” different from what you expected? In what way?
2. Looking back over the 57 years since this book was written, of the things Rachel Carson got right, what surprised you most?
3. Looking back, what did she leave out that she might have known about in 1962 when she was writing?
4. What did she get wrong?
5. Rachel Carson has been vilified and held responsible for the deaths of millions from malaria in Africa, which they say could have been prevented by the use of DDT. Do they have a point? Here is one example from the American Enterprise Institute: https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/the-rise-fall-rise-and-imminent-fall-of-ddt/ And here is a counter-argument from the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/22/us/rachel-carson-ddt-malaria-retro-report.html
6. DDT was banned in the US in 1972 under Richard Nixon and the EPA's first Administrator, William Rucklehaus, though we continued to manufacture the product for export through 1983. In much of the United States, birds like the Bald Eagle and the Osprey have come back from near-extinction levels, which were caused by DDT. DDT and other chemicals are still in use, today in some parts of the world. Today it is still manufactured by India and China. Did we win the war, just a battle, or none of the above? How do you think we have progressed in general?
7. Step back from the content and look at the tools and techniques Rachel Carson used to communicate science. 57 years later we still feel the impact of her work. What makes her book so effective? How might you use these techniques to teach or write about a different environmental problem, like climate change?
8. The population of the world was 3.1 billion people in 1962 when this book came out. It is 7.6 billion, today. How do we feed everyone without the kinds of chemicals that Carson describes in her book?
9. Rachel Carson spends a great deal of time discussing chemicals that were permitted to be sold and later were found to be carcinogenic or toxic to humans. Many more, such as DDT were still on the market at the time the book was written and were suspected of causing harm. Are these incidents largely behind us or is this still an issue, today?
10. Carson extolls the virtues of biological controls, such as introducing predators or disease to an environment to control a species. 57 years later, how do these techniques seem to you? Are they safe or at least safer than insecticides?
11. IF YOU HAVE TIME: Choose one chemical or other issue that Rachel Carson brought up in her work. Do a quick internet search and find out what’s happened in the 57 years since the book was written. Bring your notes to our Book Club and let’s talk about it.

1. What did this book make you wonder about?
2. (About coping and resilience) The bulk of the stories in chapters 2-7 are examples of how individuals cope with environmental change. What types of environmental change happen in your region and how have you coped with those? How is coping with small-scale change like coping with a large-scale change? How are they different?
3. (About uncertainty in science) How people interpret and understand information that has some uncertainty is a recurring theme in this book. In chapter 8, the author tests her own ability to make decisions based on uncertain information by relying on a Magic 8 Ball’s wishy-washy answers for guidance. How do you deal with uncertain information in order to make decisions in your own life? How do your students think about uncertainty in science? How do you teach about scientific uncertainty?
4. (About the natural and human-built world) Through the book’s examples of disasters, the choices that people make and the emotions they are feeling are often related to the way they see nature and their role in it. What stories and characters resonated with you? How would your students define nature? Would their definitions include the human-built world?
5. (Envisioning the future) Chapter 9 explores past visions of the future and wonders about how we see the future today. Is it possible to look at the future with optimism when there are problems like climate change? Or does the future look like a dystopia? How do you teach about environmental problems that have long-term impacts without depressing students about the future?

1. What parallels can you draw between the energy situation Londoners in the 1600's faced (having used up all the trees for fuel, the Londoners were switching to coal), and the world today? Think in terms of energy use, as well as the dangers and health risks presented by burning fuels.
2. Why is London, according to Rhodes, like many modern cities, so much cleaner today than it was years ago? And if we are able to burn fuels so much more cleanly, why are we having a global problem?
3. Think of how many ways that the hundreds of years of the coal industry effected the entire society in England and beyond. This book details how the coal industry led to the creation of the first railroads, the first steam engines, and so much more. Is it possible to create a situation where a technology -- such as renewable energy -- could have the same effect today: causing us to create an entirely new infrastructure to support a new kind of fuel based on a different technology? If we do this for another form of energy, what might the new society look like?
4. The author describes a succession of technologies: from wood to coal to oil. The adoption of each new fuel source led to resistance from whoever owned the prior one. How did new fuel advocates break that cycle in the past, and how can we break that cycle now?
5. According to the quotation below, author Paul Ehrlich was a false prophet when he predicted a “population bomb.” Is Rhodes correct or is Ehrlich's “population bomb” coming? What makes you think so?
6. “...Like most false prophets, Ehrlich’s answer to his failed predictions of catastrophe has been to move the date of the end of the world a few more decades along the calendar. By now, he’s reached the 2050s. The end is still not in sight, but Ehrlich, eighty-six years old in 2018, is still certain it’s coming.” (pp. 312-313 of the Kindle Edition ).
7. Rhodes makes a good case for nuclear power as an option for clean energy. What do you think?
8. Rhodes ends the book on a hopeful note: “Far from threatening civilization, science, technology, and the prosperity they create will sustain us as well in the centuries to come. They are the only institutions human beings have yet devised that consistently learn from their mistakes.” (p. 344 of the Kindle Edition). What do you think? Does science, technology and the prosperity they create sustain us or threaten us?
9. What ideas from this book stick with you? What might you do with your class related to this topic?

1. Many students have a hard time understanding that gases are present all around them in the atmosphere. The goggles with no lenses are an interesting way for Wilbur to “see” carbon dioxide. How might this strategy be used for other purposes?
2. On page 18, the author talks about activities that students love (like campfires) but contribute small amounts of carbon dioxide. In the grand scheme of things, some of these might not be big contributors in the United States. However, the use of fossil fuels and vegetation for cooking and heating is used in other countries because of the lack of other types of energy. “Some three billion people around the world cook their food and heat their homes with open or barely contained fires, and while the smoke dissipates quickly, its accumulated costs are steep.” https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2017/07/guatemala-cook-stoves/
3. How can we help students understand that living conditions (and energy sources and use) are vastly different in other countries?
4. The author provides an explanation of how trees “suck” carbon dioxide out of the air and put it into wood and leaves. Photosynthesis is a tough concept. Does this analogy help you? Would it help your students?
5. The carbon cycle is an unspoken concept of the book. What activities have you tried in class or other learning situations that help to explain the cyclic nature of carbon?
6. The author briefly discusses the carbon costs of eating beef on page 19. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has many reports about the impact of activities like beef production. “Agricultural intensification has had major detrimental impacts on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of the world. Conversion of natural vegetation to agriculture is a major source of CO2, not only due to losses of plant biomass but also, increased decomposition of soil organic matter caused by disturbance and energy costs of various agricultural practices such as fertilization and irrigation. CO2 emissions from the agricultural sector represent 21-25 percent of total CO2 emissions, due to fossil fuels used on farms, shifting patterns of cultivation and chiefly, deforestation. Appropriate management practices could increase carbon sinks and energy efficiency improvements and production of energy from crops and residues would result in a further mitigation potential, or a cumulative carbon storage95.” Organically-managed soils have a high potential to counter soil degradation as they are more resilient both to water stress and to nutrient loss….Due to the resulting high moisture retention capacity the amount of water needed for irrigation can be reduced substantially.” http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y4137e/y4137e02b.htm
7. Are community, school and home gardens prevalent in your area? Are agricultural practices or gardening part of your school curriculum?
8. The book offers several things that we can do to reduce the amount of “pink” in the atmosphere. It might be helpful to start with the knowledge of our ecological footprint. EPA calculator at https://www3.epa.gov/carbon-footprint-calculator/
9. How do you think you stack up in terms of energy use? Are you planning ways to reduce your carbon footprint?
10. What are some ways we can get students to think “pink”?

1. By preserving half of the planet, we would theoretically protect 80% of the world’s species from extinction, according to the species-area curve. If protection efforts, however, focus on the most biodiverse areas (think tropical forests and coral reefs), we could potentially protect more than 80% of species without going beyond the half-Earth goal. In contrast, if we only protect 10% of the Earth, we are set to lose around half of the planet’s species over time. (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2016/jun/15/could-we-set-aside-half-the-earth-for-nature) Which of these scenarios do you think are most likely in the future?
2. Wilson’s idea is not without its critics. “In an essay for Aeon, Robert Fletcher and Bram Büscher, both social scientists with Wageningen University in the Netherlands, dub Wilson’s idea “truly bizarre.” “For all his zeal, (misplaced) righteousness and passion, his vision is disturbing and dangerous,” they write. “It would entail forcibly herding a drastically reduced human population into increasingly crowded urban areas to be managed in oppressively technocratic ways… Conservation has a long and ugly history of forcibly moving indigenous and local people out of areas to make way for protected areas.” However, recent research has found that contrary to popular belief, protected areas may actually improve the conditions of local communities (at least in countries like Uganda, Thailand and Costa Rica) instead of impoverishing them.” (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2016/jun/15/could-we-set-aside-half-the-earth-for-nature) Recent examples of the spread of eco or green tourism come to mind in other countries as well. Do you think that the scenarios of past injustices to indigenous and local people will be repeated now? Think about your community/region. How would creating larger nature reserves in your area benefit or harm the people living there?
3. “75% of our agricultural land area is currently devoted to growing crops for livestock consumption. The amount of land required for agriculture today could be drastically curtailed – but only if people eat significantly less meat and livestock products, a trend that is currently going in the opposite direction globally.” (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2016/jun/15/could-we-set-aside-half-the-earth-for-nature) Are we ready to become a vegetarian nation? Do you see this food choice becoming more common?
4. “At least 2/3 of the species on Earth remain unknown and unnamed and of the ½ known, fewer than one in a thousand have been subject to intensive biological research.” (p. 104) Does this number surprise you? How can we encourage the “naturalist” viewpoint in students and not just see ecosystems and food webs?
5. Wilson discussed the Anthropocene philosophy as focused on ecosystems and not on species, that there is no more wilderness and that Earth is already a used planet. The result is a focus on what can nature do for humans and their economy. Compare that to the view of experienced naturalists and conservation biologists who are focused on species known and unknown and that biodiversity is under threat. Do you agree with his assessment of these 2 viewpoints?
6. The bizarre relationships that Wilson describes in chapter 12 are fascinating; Vampire hunters, Zombie Masters, Swindlers, Slave makers and Giant Killers. He also discussed the existence of an independent layer of life in the deep ocean in chapter 13 that could survive any apocalypse. These are certainly great examples of phenomena that educators can use to their advantage. How might you use the stories of the book in your classroom?
7. Some believe that human activity has raised the extinction rate to a thousand times its pre-human level and the only solution is to increase the area of natural reserves. Wilson has suggested the best places in the biosphere to set aside. Do you agree with his selections? Are there some areas that you would add?
8. Wilson believes that digital technology may make it possible to complete a census of biodiversity and to determine that status of each species. He also believes that we need to connect the human future to the rest of life and adopt a moral precept “Do no further harm to the biosphere.” How can we as educators help students and our communities to develop a deep love of nature? How can we connect our digital students to nature?

1. Dr. Kimmerer recounts the philosophical dilemmas upon entering her scientific studies; personal experiences with nature and her indigenous teachings during her formative years, and the reconnection with her heritage through the last nine fluent Potawatomi speakers. Her definition of indigenous includes “living as if your children’s future mattered, to take care of the land as if our lives, both physical and spiritual, depended on it.” She also talks about “a nation of immigrants” who might embrace the Skywoman story as instructions for the future; to become native and make a home. What can we, as immigrants, do to become more “indigenous?”
2. In the story ‘Maple Sugar Moon’, Nanabozho finds that people have grown lazy due to the bounty of the first Maple trees. Nanabozho removes this culture of plenty by diluting the sap and teaching the people to honor and respect the gift of the Maple tree. Can you draw any parallels from this story and our consumer-driven economy?
3. Scientists are investigating how trees “communicate” and are finding evidence that they use mycorrhizae deep underground or pheromones in the air to defend against insect invaders or to fruit en masse. Indigenous tribes have long believed that trees can “talk” to each other. Does the concept of trees having a community relationship and the scientific explanations of their possible means of communications change how you view our relationship with forests? If so, how?
4. Kimmerer “discusses a gift economy which has, at its root, reciprocity.” Western thinking treats private land as a “bundle of rights”. A gift economy has a bundle of responsibilities. How has this difference affected historical land use? What can we offer earth in return?
5. “Ceremony is a vehicle for belonging – to a family, to a people, and to the land.” How have ceremonies affected you? Were any ceremonies more meaningful than others?
6. The author describes the objectivity and rigor of science as something that separates the observer from the observed. How can we help students learn the “names” but also hear the “songs”? How can we do science with “awe and humility”?
7. Kimmerer introduces the Thanksgiving Address used by the indigenous people to give thanks to the land. She states, “...it is the credo for a culture of gratitude.” How does the Thanksgiving Address support the concept of “our mutual allegiance as human delegates to the democracy of the species”? What does that mean to you?
8. The Three Sisters garden is a traditional method to grow corn, squash and beans together providing mutual support for growth. Can you think of other examples of such win-win situations? How can we teach people to “remember that what’s good for the land is also good for the people”?
9. The significance of braiding plaits of sweetgrass into three strands is symbolic of the philosophy and spirituality of the indigenous people. Sweetgrass is a sacred, healing plant to the Potawatomi people and is braided “… as if it were our mother’s hair, to show our loving care for her. A sweetgrass braid is burned to create a ceremonial smudge that washes the recipient in kindness and compassion to heal the body and the spirit.” Ceremony focuses attention so that it becomes intention. How can we use ceremonies to hold communities more accountable to the natural world?
10. What can educators do to promote good manners to the natural world, the tenets of an Honorable Harvest?
11. Native elders look at the people who have come to our shores and say,” The problem with these new people is that they don’t have both feet on the shore. One is still on the boat.” How has this immigrant attitude determined our treatment of the natural resources?
12. “Recent research has shown that the smell of humus exerts a physical effect on humans.” Soil studies are readily available to most schools. Does your school incorporate this in your curriculum?
13. Kimmerer draws parallels between the indigenous people’s stories of the Windigo monster and the greedy nature of mankind today that allows for the destruction of nature’s structures, habitats, and balance in the name of progress and profit. This selfish behavior is our Windigo. The need for the healing of the land and the ecological restoration of the gifts that Mother Earth has given us is passionately presented in the ‘The Sacred and the Superfund’ chapter. What would we need to change in our society to stop overconsumption?
14. “Each of us comes from people who were once indigenous.” How can a deep awareness of the gifts of the earth, practice of gratitude and restoration rebuild the connections that all humans once had with the Earth?

Adapted from: https://longwoodgardens.org/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/Discussion_And_Question_Guide_Braiding_Sweetgrass.pdf

Adapted from: https://longwoodgardens.org/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/Discussion_And_Question_Guide_Braiding_Sweetgrass.pdf

1. The preface indicates that the evidence is not presented as a debate topic but as evidence that climate change is happening now built upon decades of the work of thousands of scientists. There has been a lot of discussion in science education literature about whether (or not) to use debate in the science classroom. What are your thoughts about this?
2. A great set of starting questions to consider is found on page 1 of Chapter 1 based on local and personal factors. Are there additional factors that you would add to this list in your teaching situation?
3. In Chapter 1, the authors suggest that educators should be careful not to “tread into political advocacy” and to communicate to students that climate change is politically but not scientifically controversial. What strategies have you used to accomplish this?
4. Cognitive research provides information about why some people have a hard time accepting the scientific evidence for climate change. Ultimately, we tend to discount data to maintain our conceptions and to maintain our world view. How would you respond to people that do not accept scientific data?
5. In chapter 2 (p. 17-22) the authors identified 5 big ideas and 2 questions about climate change that can serve as a course framework and are important aspects of earth system science. Would this framework fit into your present courses?
6. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 provide overviews of climate science and climate change through history. The authors indicate that understanding ancient climate change may help students to see that climate can change and “put the kinds of changes we see today into a historical perspective.” Does your curriculum provide time to delve into proxy date or past climate change?
7. Understanding time scales is important in understanding earth system science. What strategies have you found to be successful with your students?
8. A term that is relatively new (for the discussion leader at least) is critical zone science and the book shares a website (p. 90) of resources. In areas with little access to natural areas, focusing on critical zone science may provide opportunities for student investigations into geologic processes and time scales. What is your experience with this aspect of earth science?
9. Chapter 5 and 6 focuses on recent and regional climate change. One analogy that might relate to students (at least the boys) is found on p. 110 comparing the climate system to a fancy sports car. Can you think of another analogy that might help students see the parts and complexity of climate?
10. Chapter 7 provides a comprehensive look at climate change mitigation strategies and geoengineering was covered in Chapter 8. There are uncertainties with geoengineering proposals in terms of effectiveness and impacts. Would you favor using geoengineering? If so, under what circumstances? If not, what mitigation strategies would you favor?
11. Chapter 9 discusses adaptation strategies that may need to be employed as our civilization comes to terms with carbon dioxide that will remain in the Earth system for hundreds or thousands of years. Pages 196-197 include a comprehensive list of strategies that might be employed but might also be worthy topics of student investigations. The authors also include a suggestion for classroom discussion around global environmental justice. Have you included these topics in your climate science units? Is this something you would consider using in the future?
12. Chapters 12 and 13 address obstacles to addressing climate change and general rules for approaching controversial topics. There are many factors that influence how we think and most people believe things that are false despite information to the contrary. Dire messaging and warnings “may not lead to the responses we might expect.” What are your thoughts about approaching climate change as an “opportunity?”

1. Do you think that traditional knowledge is gaining recognition in national and regional discussions about solutions to climate change? Have your local communities engaged local Native communities?
2. In the prologue, Marcos Terena states that Indigenous communities are islands of biological and cultural diversity, our archipelago of hope to remember how to care for Earth. Can you suggest examples of curricula that can be woven into classroom lessons about the contributions of Indigenous knowledge?
3. There were many instances in the book of decision-making that ignores the presence and knowledge of Indigenous peoples. With 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity in traditional territories, how can we increase the voice of Indigenous populations?
4. Residential schools have been used for many decades in many countries including our own. What are the long-term consequences of these school for the Indigenous people and for the countries that instituted them?
5. Many northern Indigenous people are dealing with the need for fossil fuels by an energy-hungry world economy. Do you think that this will change in the future?
6. The book describes many instances of Indigenous knowledge being used to tackle pressing climate change impacts on Native land and customs such as fishing, farming, logging and medicines. How might these strategies be implemented on a larger scale?
7. Swidden agriculture or shifting cultivation is viewed by governments as backward and harmful. In the U.S. monoculture with its accompanying dependence on intense cultivation is most popular. Do you see the move toward organic farming and the increase in organic products changing this view?
8. “To understand how Indigenous communities stay resilient in the face of challenges, including climate change, it is essential to go beyond dissecting specific how-to lessons and attempt to explore the fundamental principles of how these communities maintain their relationships with the living world around them.” How can we be a good ally and move those around us to have a healthier relationship with the land?

1. What do you think is the take-away message from this book?

2. Eriksen discusses gyres and the myth of a giant floating garbage patch and ”smog” of micro-plastics. What do you think can be done as a next step in terms of the science of studying plastics in the world’s oceans? How do ocean gyres affect your local community?

3. What are some solutions and innovations to address micro-plastics in the oceans problem? What advice can we give our colleagues who want to make a difference?

4. What are your thoughts and concerns of micro-plastics moving up the food chain?

5. There is a big discussion of plant-based plastic in the book. In your opinion, are plant-based plastics good or bad for our environment?

6. Eriksen states that “chemistry, product, process and system are the four intervention points where the utility of plastics needs to be reinvented.’ What are you thoughts on this?

7. B Corp are corporations with a mission statement that “social or environmental justice is of equal standing with the profit margin.” Eriksen lists a few B Corporations do you know of others?

8. What is your reaction to his letter to the "Member Corporations of the American Chemical Council?"

9. Earth Day is but 5-weeks away – how might we use the plastic we collect from our oceans, rivers, streams and land to help educate our community?

1. How do humans define wealth, could this cause a conflict with ecological awareness and activism?

2. How much is your world worth?

3. Dystopian literature is frequently portrayed as a stark and depressing genre that occasionally offers some form of hope. How does Ship Breaker fit into that description, and in what ways (if any) does it break the mold?

4. How does social class play out in Ship Breaker and are there similar disparities in today’s society? Please elaborate on what this means for equitable societies.

5. The Patrick Ness review and the Paolo Bacigalupi interview offer up different viewpoints on the purpose of dystopian literature. Ness argues that dystopian lit is popular with YA readers because it represents their lives and the challenges they face. Bacigalupi comments on its ability to give readers an opportunity to think about some of the issues our society faces. Does Ship Breakersucceed at either?

6. What will our world look like when we run out of nonrenewable resources in a post global climate change age? How do we engage YA in this discussion without the readers feeling defeated?

7. How does this book address green issues? Are some of these issues already occurring today?

• Recycling

• Drastic change in the environment

• Corporate consumption of resources

• Harvesting body parts

• Genetic engineering

• A few key themes included in the story: sea level rise, extreme weather, climate change, segregation of the elite, recycling…How do these concepts play out today as we enter a changing planet ecosystem?

8. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where climate change has completely altered the processes of civilization. Discuss the importance of the setting to the events of the story.

9. For additional thought and discussion:

   https://www.climategen.org/blog/book-of-the-month-ship-breaker/

1. You mention various authors/books, historical events, and prior travels by bike that inspired your Trans-america journey. Can you tell us about them and any other inspiration for the ride?
2. How did the Trans-america journey and the book come about? When did you compile reflections of your journey to share the crisis of climate impacts, our lack of will of will to address it, and possible avenues for leadership with both the people you met on the rode and the larger reading public?
3. In the preface, you mention a Thoreau quote: “Be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you….” What did you learn about yourself and your ultimate objective to learn about climate change in the US and share the climate change story on your journey? Did anything surprise you? And what would you tell others about pursuing such a quest?
4. Your work as a NOAA scientist at sea; Director of the UN Global Climate Observing System in Geneva; head of the US Global Change Research Program; and head of NOAA’s Climate Observations and Monitoring Program gave you a front row seat to our nation’s efforts to bring scientific know how and verification about our changing climate to everyday people. In light of our failure thus far to address this big audacious challenge, where do you draw hope and avoid despair.
5. You mention that you can’t talk about climate change without talking about energy, but you also imply that economics must be part of the discussion (i.e., conversation of farmers in Kansas; later chapter on solutions). Can you talk a little about this and what you believe is imperative to attain progress and significantly address viable solutions. What progress if any do you see at the federal, state, local, corporate, or non-profit levels?
6. Impacts due to fossil fuel extraction and climate change are threaded throughout each chapter of the book and the geography you experience from sea level rise and coastal erosion to hydro fracking with its “mailbox money”, fires, pine bark beetle kill, hurricanes, flooding, and other weather-related extremes. What impact awakened your senses to the severity of the impacts we face to the greatest degree on your ride. What impact due to a changing climate do you feel will awaken our nation – in whole or part – due to economics, loss, quantity of people impacted, treasures we take for granted, or otherwise?
7. You met many people along your various bike treks, some who reminded you that discussing climate change issues and impacts can be an uphill battle, even when the evidence is right before one’s eyes. Of the people you met, who will stick with you the most and why? What if anything did they teach you or did you teach them?
8. As a nation, we’ve discussed the scientific consensus of climate change, its human-made cause, and its many impacts both now and in the future. Recently on Black Friday, the Fourth Climate Assessment Report was released – which you at one time led in 1998-99. What parallels exist between the content of your book and the report’s, and which style of communication can awaken the average US citizen to the reality of the problem?
9. Is there one reflection/fact/action that you would choose to impress upon us from your Trans-america trek and the issue of climate change more than other reflections/facts/actions? Is there a critical message you want to leave with us?
10. What have you done since your ride and what do you still hope to do on your bike and/or about climate change?