Back in January I wrote about interesting and different biographies that can be found in the library. One person I highlighted was John Muir, America's environmentalist. Last week the latest copy of Appleseed Magazine was delivered to the library and low and behold it was all about John Muir. In case you didn't know, Appleseed Magazine is a social sciences magazine for children ages 8-11. Like most classroom magazines each monthly edition focuses on a specific topic. For April 2011 it is Earth Day and John Muir. After reading the magazine from cover to cover here are some things I learned about John Muir.

1. One of America's most famous environmentalists, John Muir is also known as the "Father of Our National Parks". 
2. Muir was an inventor. Some of his inventions include a self-setting sawmill, an automatic feeding machine for horsed and an early rising machine that tipped the sleeper out of bed when an alarm went off. 
3. President Theodore Roosevelt known to be a nature lover himself, requested that Muir take him on a tour of Yosemite Valley to see first hand the destruction humans have on nature.
4. After their trip together Roosevelt was convinced Yosemite Valley had to be preserved and with Congress passed a bill in 1906 making it a national park. 
5. In 1892 John Muir helped found the Sierra Club, named after the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The club helps people explore nature and teaches about plants, animals and landforms. They have a special program for inner city kids to help expose them to environmentalism. 
6. John Muir was an author and poet. His words inspired many people to learn to love and care for nature. 

"Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy" - John Muir

Earth Day

Since SP, along with many other schools, organizations and the government are celebrating Earth Day I find it only fitting to include it in my blog. Earth Day is, in this Falcon's opinion, one of the most important days of the year. While we should start treating every day like earth day, it is nice that we have a yearly reminder. Since this is a library blog I thought it would be fun to introduce some resources that will teach you about Earth Day and what you can do to make a difference.

First of all, I looked up Earth Day in our World Book Encyclopedia. I found that "Earth Day is an annual observance, held on April 22, to increase public awareness of environmental issues. Each year on Earth Day, millions of people throughout the world gather to clean up litter, to protest threats to the environment, and to celebrate progress made in reducing pollution." Earth Day was first observed in 1970 the same year the United States Congressed created the Environmental Protection Agency. The job of the EPA is to enforce pollution standards. See what you can learn from an encyclopedia!

To find out more information on Earth Day, conservation and our environment stop by the library and check out one of these great fiction and nonfiction books!

Our Big Home by Linda Glaser
Each Living Thing by Joanne Ryder
Global Warming by Angela Royston
Plants by Jonathan Bocknek
Endangered Planet by David Burnie
Dying Oceans by Paula Z.
Reducing Your Carbon Footprint at Home by Sarah David
The Prairie Builders by Sneed B. Collard
Transportation Solutions by Daniel Gilpin
The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry
Someday a Tree by Eve Bunting
Clean Air by Rufus Bellamy
This Land is Your Land by Sylvia Whitman.

And my personal favorite.....

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss


Citations:

“Earth Day.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 2009 ed. 2009