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Children of the Universe
Cosmic Education in the Montessori Elementary Classroom (Paperback)
by Michael Duffy (Author), D'Neil Duffy (Author), Amber Amann (Illustrator), Aline D. Wolf (Introduction)

Written by two Montessori elementary teachers, who are also teacher-trainers, this book describes in detail Maria Montessori's unique program of study for six to twelve year-olds. Montessori believed that children of this age could be properly educated only in the context of the whole of reality. As a unifying element, this curriculum embraces all the academic subjects in a way that leads students to the perspective of the oneness of all things.

In the years when their curiosity is at a peak, cosmic education guides children to examine the questions, "Who am I?" "Where did I come from?" and "Why am I here?" By promoting univeral values that can inspire them to care for the earth and work for peace, Cosmic Education can help children to see themselves, not as self-engrossed consumers in our society but as Children of the Universe with all that this image entails.
 

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Everglades
An Environmental History
by David McCally
 
From the Publisher
This important work for general readers and environmentalists alike offers the first major discussion of the formation, development, and history of the Everglades, considered by many to be the most endangered ecosystem in North America. Comprehensive in scope, it begins with south Florida's geologic origins--before the Everglades became wetlands--and continues through the 20th century, when sugar reigns as king of the Everglades Agricultural Area.
 
Charting the effects of human intervention upon the region, David McCally traces its habitation from the Calusas and other native groups to the modern period dominated by agribusiness. In between, he discusses the Spanish contact period, the first efforts to farm the region, the first attempts in the 1880s to drain it, and the era of the "engineered" Everglades that was largely created by the state of Florida and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Today, he declares, the desire to convert the ecosystem to farm use continues to guide American thinking about the region at a tremendous environmental cost.
 
Urging restoration of the Everglades, McCally argues that agriculture, especially sugar growing, must be abandoned or altered. To buy time for public debate over the final form of a sustainable Everglades, he suggests the creation of a park modeled on New York's Adirondack State Park. Sure to be influential in all discussions of Florida's future, The Everglades also will be significant for environmentalists focused on any area of North America.
 
David McCally teaches U.S. history at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg campus, and environmental history at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg..

h Florida at St. Petersburg Lib. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information
 

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The Sea, The Storm, and The Mangrove Tangle
By Lynne Cherry

From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3–Using a beautifully balanced format that combines panoramic illustrations with a storylike narrative, Cherry imagines the life cycle of a mangrove over a period of more than 100 years, from propagules (sprouting seeds) to a single tree to a tangle (a cluster of trees) to an island. As the unusual tree slowly increases in size, it sends out dozens of visible prop roots that anchor it to the sea floor at the edge of a Caribbean lagoon and becomes both shelter and food source for an amazing array of living things. Richly hued watercolor-and-colored-pencil paintings show birds, fish, and sea creatures in sufficient detail to allow for easy identification. The endpapers feature maps of mangroves around the world surrounded by borders containing a small, labeled painting of each species. An introduction and author's note explain the importance of mangroves to their ecosystem and encourage their preservation. Although Cherry has chosen to anthropomorphize a few of the animals by including snippets of conversation, the information is well researched and clearly presented, and the lesson in ecology is an important one.–Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserve
 

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The Talking Earth
by Jean Craighead George

From Publishers Weekly
A young woman of the Seminole tribe begins to question the validity of old customs over the more pressing problems of nuclear war and pollution, in a tale by the Newbery Medalist. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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