Weather Wheels at Ho Chunk Nation Head Start

The librarians from UW-Wisconsin's Water Library recently did some STEM story time and outreach activities with the students at Ho Chunk Nation's Head Start Program in Baraboo, WI. 

The theme was rain, as part of the water cycle, and the students did a "weather wheel" craft. One student colored their weather wheel almost entirely with pink, purple and yellow marker. When asked the types of weather days the drawings represented the student responded by pointing to each picture and saying: 

"This is a really nice day, this is a pretty day, this is a beautiful day and this is a cloudy day!"

Either this student does not actually live in Wisconsin, or she has a very positive outlook about the long winter. 

You might even say this student has a very sunny disposition ; ) 

Book Review! On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson, Author of Silent Spring

Throughout March, The Water Library's book display is highlighting books featuring female explorers, environmentalists, scientists and scientific activists for Women's History Month.

On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson by William Souder was published in 2013 and made an excellent addition to The Water Library's collection. 

Rachel Carson made environmentalism a topic of discussion in the United States with the publication of her book Silent Spring, but her life and writing spanned far beyond that single publication. Souder's biography carefully traces the many events of Carson's life that inextricably linked her to a deep sense of compassion and curiosity for the Earth. The narrative details the post-World War II fear that led to the overuse and promotion of chemicals in everyday life alongside Carson's burgeoning interest in fisheries and ecology. From the first paragraphs of On a Farther Shore there is a sense of the incredible impact Carson had on the popular conception of environmentalism: The book opens with a description of a press conference delivered by John F. Kennedy in 1962 when Kennedy alluded to Carson's book Silent Spring in response to the inquiries of a news reporter. 

Souder writes, "In this brief exchange something new came into the world, for this was a cleaving point--the moment when the gentle, optimistic proposition called 'conservation' began its transformation into the bitterly divisive idea that would come to be known as 'environmentalism.'"

William Souder's On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson is a compelling read. Souder offers great insight into the origins of environmental activism and the roots of Rachel Carson's legacy.