Progressive Conservation: Roosevelt, Muir, & Saving America's National Parks

All these resources go with this History For Humans Video.

This is a complete, everything you need, learning activity for distance learning! It starts with a youtube video-lecture from History for Humans (this is free on youtube, link below) and comes with a follow-along interactive note sheet that could be completed digitally or with pen and paper. It also has a quick 7 question Google Form or PDF quiz to check for understanding. Lastly, it has an extension lesson that would take about 45 minutes that fosters historical thinking skills and thinking artistically and creatively. Students first read an excerpt from an excellent Roosevelt speech, "Conservation as a National Duty", answer a few scaffolded questions for comprehension, analysis, and connection. Then students learn about the National Park Service logo and design a new logo of their own. It gets them thinking creatively, artistically, and connecting deeply with history!

The video is not just engaging but also teaches in a way to help struggling learners. It tells the amazing story of how Roosevelt and Muir spent three days camping in Yosemite Valley and ended up discussing the future of conservation in America and the National Parks Service. The video though also interweaves essential history standards like Roosevelt's rise to the presidency, his progressive reforms like trust-busting and the Meat Inspection Act, as well how industrialization put America's open lands at risk and were in need of national protection.

My other lessons on the Progressive Era:

1) Triangle Factory Fire and the Spark of the Progressive Era
2) Roosevelt, Muir, and the Camping Trip that Saved America's National Parks
3) The Night of Terror & Fight for Women's Suffrage

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