Activity

Silent Spring

Characters:

Rachel Louis Carson Homestead (Rachel Carson)

Theme: Ecosystems

Competencies

Competence in Linguistic Communication

Mathematical competence in science, technology and engineering

Personal, social and learning to learn competence

Citizen Competition

Subjects and year by Educational System

Spain > Biology and geology > 1st ESO > Ecology and sustainability

Spain > Biology and geology > 3rd ESO > Ecology and sustainability

Enunciation

<img title="Women's Legacy logo" src="//inclusion.womenslegacyproject.eu/images/LogoWL.svg" /><hr />Since ancient times, humans have fought against pests that ruin about 20% of the world's crops every year. One of the first pesticides used on a massive scale was DDT. This non-biodegradable organochlorine insecticide accumulates in the fatty tissues of animals, as it is soluble in fats and insoluble in water, interferes with the nervous system and the deposition of calcium in egg shells or mollusc shells.&nbsp; Its use is currently very restricted. Rachel Louis Carson, author of "The Silent Spring", studied the devastating effects that pesticides, especially DDT, have on wildlife.&nbsp;
 Read the following text carefully and answer the questions posed.
In 1985, the WHO ordered the spraying of the island of Borneo with dieldrin (an insecticide similar to DDT) in order to destroy the malaria-transmitting mosquito, which was successful in reducing the disease. However, dieldrin also killed other domestic insects such as flies and beetles, which led to the disappearance of lizards that lived in the houses and were poisoned to death. Then the cats, which fed on lizards, died and, as a consequence, domestic rats increased exponentially, which led to the appearance of the human plague transmitted by fleas that parasitize rats.&nbsp; Dieldrin also killed wasps that fed on a caterpillar, which was sustained by leaves used to make roofs, and then the roofs of houses fell in.&nbsp; &nbsp; QUESTIONS:&nbsp; (a) What factor triggered the imbalance in this ecosystem?&nbsp; b) What new problems arose because of human intervention in the ecosystem?&nbsp; c) What is bioaccumulation?&nbsp; d) How does it occur in this case? &nbsp;

Observations and context

Precursors of Rachel Carson were the conservationist Beatrix Potter and the nature photographer, writer and ecologist Jane Stratton-Porter. Shirley Briggs, in addition to being an ornithologist and naturalist, collaborated in her work as a photographer.
Scientist Theo Colborn continued to research and publish on toxic chemicals extending Rachel Carson's legacy. Frances Oldham Kelsey, a contemporary and connoisseur of the author's work, devoted herself to pharmacological medicine and prevented the use of thalidomide in the USA, which prevented the tragedy that occurred in other countries.
In 1974, Françoise d'Eaubonne coined the term "ecofeminism" in her work Feminism or Death, where she affirmed the need to rethink the relationship with nature from new parameters.
The ecological movements that emerged after the author's death are a continuation of her legacy of environmental awareness. We can also relate her to environmental activists such as Yayo Herrero, Vandana Shiva, Berta Cáceres, Sunita Narain or Greta Thunberg.

Silent Spring

Enunciation

Observations and context

Description

Answer

Documents