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Pre-Visit Activities : Urban Sprawl
Resources

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Teacher Reference Books
Audubon magazine, published by the National Audubon Society.
This bi-monthly magazine has articles on wildlife all over the world and the conservation issues affecting them.

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1993.
This book, first published in 1962, was a powerful look at how pesticides have affected the natural world. It led to the banning of DDT and helped start the environmental movement.

Duany, Andres, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Jeff Speck. Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, North Point Press, New York, 2000.
A look at the issues around and consequences of America's current system of urban development.

Edgar, Walter. South Carolina: A History, University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, 1998.
A comprehensive history of the state of South Carolina, which shows how human communities have developed in South Carolina.

Kovacik, Charles F.  and John J. Winberry. South Carolina: The Making Of a Landscape, University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, 1987.
Information on the geology, ecology and cultural history and development of the different  regions of South Carolina.

Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac, Oxford University Press, New York, 1949.
This classic of nature writing was one of the first texts to examine the ethical reasons of why humans need to preserve wild places.

Ricklefs, Robert E. and Gary L. Miller. Ecology, W.H. Freeman Company, 1999.
This college textbook is a great resource for finding out how wildlife communities interact with each other as well as the abiotic factors of their environment, and what human influences can be on these communities. 

Safina, Carl. Song For The Blue Ocean, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1997.
A beautifully written look at how human actions have been affecting ocean wildlife populations.

Teal, John and Mildred. Life and Death of the Salt Marsh, Ballantine Books, New York, 1969.
An in-depth look at the characteristics and organisms found in the salt marshes of the Coast region and the dangers to them from human development.

Wallace, David Rains. Life in the Balance, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, New York, 1987.
This text looks at ecological interdependence in a variety of ecosystems and of the human efforts to preserve these ecosystems.

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Teacher Reference Websites
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/wetlands/index.html
This EPA website provides information about wetlands and the EPA wetlands program, as well as links to other wetland websites. This is a wonderful site for providing an understanding of one the habitats often destroyed by urban sprawl.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
http://state-of-coast.noaa.gov/bulletins/html/pop_01/pop.html
This page on the NOAA website discusses the hot spots of growth around the country, population change and compares and contrasts the demographics of different regions in the United States. It is excellent for understanding the dynamics behind population growth and urban sprawl in the United States.

South Carolina Coastal Conservation League
www.scccl.org
The Coastal Conservation League offers summaries of the methods used to control urban sprawl in South Carolina under the link titled "Programs, Land and Communities". There are also links to other related projects being conducted across the state.

The Strom Thurmond Institute
www.strom.clemson.edu/teams/dctech/urban.html#
This page has a Strom Thurmond Institute article on "Modeling and Predicting Future Urban Growth in the Charleston Urban Area." Click on "View the Map Show" at the end of the article for great color coded maps that show the spread of urban and non-urban areas from 1973 and predicted through the year 2030. The maps will update themselves continuously showing the sprawl. A wonderful visual learning tool!

United States Census Bureau
www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/popclockw

www.census.gov/cgi-bin/popclock
These two websites offer world and United States "Population Clocks." They update the world and U.S. population estimates on a minute to minute basis.

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Student Reference Books
Bruning, Nancy. Cities Against Nature, Childrens Press, Chicago, 1992.
A student's look at how urban development affects wildlife communities.

Cone, Molly. Come Back, Salmon, Sierra Club Books for Children, San Francisco, 1992.
Learn how the students of Jackson Elementary School in Everett, Washington, cleaned a nearby stream, stocked it with salmon and protected it from pollution.

Herda, D.J. Environmental America: The Southeastern States, The Millbrook Press, Brookfield, CT, 1991.
A student's look at the environmental issues affecting the Southeastern United States.

Hoff, Mary and Mary M. Rodgers. Our Endangered Planet: Life on Land, Lerner Publications Company, Minneapolis, 1995.
This book discusses different wildlife communities and some of the issues affecting them.

Hoff, Mary and Mary M. Rodgers. Our Endangered Planet: Population Growth, Lerner Publications Company, Minneapolis, 1995.
This book explains population growth, how this affects wildlife communities and what can be done about it.

Hoffman, Nancy. Celebrate the States: South Carolina, Benchmark Books, New York, 2001.
A children's book on the history and culture of South Carolina as well as sections on the geography and wildlife of the region of the state.

Kent, Deborah. America the Beautiful: South Carolina, Children's Press, Danbury, CT, 1990.
A children's book on the history and culture of South Carolina as well as sections on the geography and wildlife of the region of the state.

Liptak, Karen. Saving Our Wetlands and Their Wildlife, Franklin Watts, New York, 1991.
This book describes the different types of wetlands and the wildlife found there. It also includes ideas for protecting the wetland habitats.

Mattson, Mark. Scholastic Environmental Atlas of the United States, Scholastic Inc., 1993.
This excellent reference book is filled with maps and charts that help kids to understand different aspects of environmental issues such as overpopulation and waste disposal.

McVey, Vicki. The Sierra Club Kid's Guide to Planet Care & Repair, Sierra Club Books for Children, San Francisco, 1993.
Learn how activities we do everyday affect the environment. Includes tips for improving our environment as well as classroom activities for students.

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Student Fiction Books
Cherry, Lynne. The Great Kapok Tree, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, New York, 1990.
A man getting ready to chop down a tree in the Amazon rainforest falls asleep and is visited by many different members of the rainforest wildlife community who tell him why they do not want the tree to be cut down.

Cherry, Lynne. A River Ran Wild, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, New York, 1992.
A beautifully illustrated story of how a river in New England has changed during the last 400 years as more people moved to live on its banks.

George, Jean Craighead. My Side of the Mountain, Puffin Books, New York, 1959.
A boy runs away from the urban sprawl of New York City to live by himself in the Catskill Mountains and must learn to survive in this environment.

Jeffers, Susan. Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A Message From Chief Seattle, Dial Books, New York, 1991.
A beautifully illustrated book of the ecological message of Chief Seattle, an Indian chief who lived in the Pacific Northwest from 1790 to 1866.

Seuss, Dr. The Lorax, Random House, New York, 1971.
The story of what happens to a community when the Once-ler cuts down all of the Truffula Trees.

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Curricula
Aquatic Project WILD
Aquatic Project WILD is an interdisciplinary curriculum for K-12 teachers on aquatic wildlife and ecosystems. The activities cover a broad range of environmental and conservation topics. For information on signing up for workshops, call the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources at (803) 734-3814.

For more information click on:
www.dnr.state.sc.us/cec/educate/edu1.html#teacher

Project WILD
Project WILD is an interdisciplinary curriculum for K-12 teachers on a broad range of environmental and conservation topics. For information on signing up for workshops, call the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources at (803) 734-3814.

For more information click on:
www.dnr.state.sc.us/cec/educate/edu1.html#teacher

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Field Trip Sites
Urban Sprawl
In South Carolina, Greenville-Spartanburg, Columbia, Beaufort, Charleston and Myrtle Beach all are currently experiencing rapid population growth as well as the urban sprawl that goes along with this. A good field trip extension for this activity would be to visit one of these urban areas and then visit a nearby area of preserved natural land to allow students to see how the wildlife community has changed because of development.

Greenville-Spartanburg Area
Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area (Jones Gap and Caesars Head State Natural Areas) - The Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area covers more than 10,000 acres of exceptional mountain habitat including Jones Gap and Caesars Head state parks. Education at this site strives to foster an understanding and appreciation of the Mountain Bridge, the Southern Appalachian Mountains and the Blue Ridge Escarpment. Through expert instruction and hands-on field experiences, students can investigate the ecology, hydrology and geology of the area. For more information call Caesars Head at (864) 836-6115 or Jones Gap at (864) 836-3647.

Columbia Area
Harbison State Forest
Located right next to Columbia, this state forest offers many interpretive materials for an educational look at the wildlife communities of the Sandhills. For more information call (803) 896-8890

Charleston or Beaufort Area
ACE Basin National Estuarine Research Reserve
This reserve, located between Edisto Beach and Hunting Island, contains 12,000 acres of tidal marshes and estuarine waters. The area is rich in wildlife: fish, crustaceans, birds and even mammals can all be found here. Boat tours are available through this area for high school and college students. For more information call (843) 762-5032.

Myrtle Beach Area
Huntington Beach State Park - With its marshes, maritime forest and beach, the educational focus of Huntington Beach will foster understanding of how natural communities are interdependent on each other and dependent on us. To protect our natural heritage, we must learn that we are part of, not apart from, the natural world. Through observation and hands-on activities, students gain an understanding of the importance of the resources found on this park and enhance their appreciation of environmental issues facing their own communities. For more information call (843) 237-4440.

If you are aware of other books, videos, websites, curricula, fieldtrip destinations or other materials that would make excellent resources for this activity, please e-mail them to us for inclusion in this list at: Education@scaquarium.org