Last updated: October 29, 2019
Lesson Plan
Conservation vs Preservation and the National Park Service
- Grade Level:
- High School: Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade
- Subject:
- Literacy and Language Arts,Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 60 Minutes
Essential Question
What is the difference between conservation and preservation and how does the National Park Service plays a role in each?
Objective
Given an introduction to conservation, preservation, and the mission, history, and resources of the National Park Service, students will be able to complete a Venn diagram, distinguish between examples, and express their opinion through a writing prompt.
Background
Conservation and preservation are closely linked and may indeed seem to mean the same thing. Both terms involve a degree of protection, but how that is protection is carried out is the key difference. Conservation is generally associated with the protection of natural resources, while preservation is associated with the protection of buildings, objects, and landscapes. Put simply conservation seeks the proper use of nature, while preservation seeks protection of nature from use.
During the environmental movement of the early 20th century, two opposing factions emerged: conservationists and preservationists. Conservationists sought to regulate human use while preservationists sought to eliminate human impact altogether.
Aldo Leopold, often called the father of ecology, called for wilderness protection and an enduring land ethic. Wilderness preservation is fundamental to the idea of deep ecology – the philosophy that recognizes an inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs.
One of the largest conservation organizations in the world, the World Wildlife Fund, was created in 1961 to protect large spaces for wildlife conservation. Conservation generally follows an economic motive; in this case wildlife preserves in Africa during the dissolution of the British Empire in the late 1940s to ensure big game hunting remained commercially viable.
In 1962, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring launched the modern environmental movement. Preservation groups such as the Sierra Club shifted from protesting to working with politicians to influence future environmental policy.
National Park Service History and Mission
By the Act of March 1, 1872, Congress established Yellowstone National Park in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming "as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people" and placed it "under exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior." The founding of Yellowstone National Park began a worldwide national park movement. Today more than 100 nations contain some 1,200 national parks or equivalent preserves.
In the years following the establishment of Yellowstone, the United States authorized additional national parks and monuments, many of them carved from the federal lands of the West. These, also, were administered by the Department of the Interior, while other monuments and natural and historical areas were administered by the War Department and the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture. No single agency provided unified management of the varied federal parklands.
White House letter to Stephen Mather after the President signed the Organic Act creating the National Park Service on August 25, 1916. On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service, a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for protecting the 35 national parks and monuments then managed by the department and those yet to be established. This "Organic Act" states that "the Service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments and reservations . . . by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the said parks, monuments and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."
Preparation
Please review Background Information and have handout ready for students.
Materials
Procedure
Anticipatory Set – Pair Share – Students work with a partner to draft definitions for conservation and preservation, then share briefly with the class as a whole. Identify common themes and thoughts to definitions; ignite discussion on the subtle differences between the terms.
Input – Venn Diagram / Sentence Stem – Students work individually (or differentiate with partners) to complete the Venn diagram comparing conservation with preservation. Facilitate discussion on key differences and similarities between the terms and complete the sentence stem as a class. Transition to mission statement of National Park Service, highlighting how both components are represented.
Guided Practice – Identification – After introducing the National Park Service’s mission and brief history, students work individually or in pairs to distinguish between examples of conservation or preservation.
Independent Practice – Writing Prompt – Students work individually to complete a writing statement of differentiated length and detail. Students need to determine which philosophy adheres with their own and explain their decision.
Input – Venn Diagram / Sentence Stem – Students work individually (or differentiate with partners) to complete the Venn diagram comparing conservation with preservation. Facilitate discussion on key differences and similarities between the terms and complete the sentence stem as a class. Transition to mission statement of National Park Service, highlighting how both components are represented.
Guided Practice – Identification – After introducing the National Park Service’s mission and brief history, students work individually or in pairs to distinguish between examples of conservation or preservation.
Independent Practice – Writing Prompt – Students work individually to complete a writing statement of differentiated length and detail. Students need to determine which philosophy adheres with their own and explain their decision.
Input – Venn Diagram / Sentence Stem – Students work individually (or differentiate with partners) to complete the Venn diagram comparing conservation with preservation. Facilitate discussion on key differences and similarities between the terms and complete the sentence stem as a class. Transition to mission statement of National Park Service, highlighting how both components are represented.
Guided Practice – Identification – After introducing the National Park Service’s mission and brief history, students work individually or in pairs to distinguish between examples of conservation or preservation.
Independent Practice – Writing Prompt – Students work individually to complete a writing statement of differentiated length and detail. Students need to determine which philosophy adheres with their own and explain their decision.
Assessment Materials
This lesson is designed as a formative assessment. Teacher will evaluate initial definitions, responses during discussion, detail of Venn diagrams, accuracy of example identification, and depth of understanding in written response. Based on quality of proving behavior, teacher will reteach or progress.
Additional Resources
Connect with local resources:
- Ask students to research a nearby example of conservation or preservation
- Ask students to visit a local natural history museum and write about their experience
- Invite a local archaeologist to speak with the classroom
Albright, Horace M., and Robert Cahn. The Birth of the National Park Service: The Founding Years, 1913–33. Salt Lake City: Howe Brothers, 1985.
Sellars, Richard West. Preserving Nature in the National Parks: A History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.