Wilderness Act - Tic.Tac.Toe.

Wilderness Act – Tic.Tac.Toe.
Duration: One hour
The Western concept of wilderness could be empowering some people and at the same time disempowering others, but when teaching children the history and the basic wilderness values should be covered. When I was asked by a student in the one room school house, an alternative school for K-8, which I am doing internship for; when do you (I) capitalize the word wilderness? The answer to this question is use a capital letter when referring to a specific wilderness or the act it self. Use lower case when referring to wilderness as the “place” where human is a visitor who does not remain.

We started the lesson by asking all the students to think of their favorite outdoor location. We then had a discussion about whether or not these places are wilderness areas. We then used a power point presentation to relay some of the ideas below:

Key Material: The Wilderness Act
I. Discussion of ESA (review from last week)

II. History
a. In 1935, The Wilderness Society (Bob Marshall and Aldo Leopold) – influenced conservation of wilderness lands
b. The act was signed by Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964 to establish a national preservation system
c. The United States was the first country to designate areas as wilderness
d. “A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

III. Purpose of the Act
a. Establish national wilderness preservation system
b. Protect watersheds, critical habitats, air quality
c. Protect scientific, education, scenic, historic values
d. No roads, dams, permanent structures
e. “administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such a manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness”

IV. Importance/Values
a. Out of 261 basic ecosystems, 157 are within wilderness areas
b. Biodiversity
c. Water and air quality
d. Ecosystem health-allow nature to operate freely
e. Education
f. Recreation

V. Managing
a. Managed by the National Forest Service
b. Restrictions
i. Motorized/mechanized vehicles
ii. No fires
iii. Control of animals
c. Leave No Trace Ethics

VI. Fun Facts
a. Originally 9.1 million acres, now 109,492,799
b. 13 states
c. Smallest wilderness= Pelican Island, Florida (6 acres)
i. 15 ES
d. Largest Wilderness= Wrangell-Saint Elias, Alaska (9,078,675 acres)

The activity of the day is Human Tic.Tac.Toe. The only materials that are needed is four, ten to twenty foot cords to make the playing board and questions to ask students. The students are formed into two large groups. The first student to choose a square and get the correct answer can keep the desired spot. The game continues such as a normal round of Tic.Tac.Toe., students form a line and everyone gets a couple of turns with multiple rounds. If using a larger group, pair older students with younger students.

We ended the lesson with a coloring and map activity. The students could choose if they wanted to color a wilderness scene (from carhart.wilderness.net) or color in a USFS map. Have students color all the water blue; roads black, and forests green.
Overall the lesson was very successful and I would use the format and activity again.
Useful Links:

(education through wilderness experience)
(large source of educational reference K-8)

“In wilderness is the preservation of the world.” – Henry David Thoreau.