Mary Dodson Wade - Amazing Champion of the Earth Rachel Carson

Helping the Environment

Read about Rachel Carsona scientist and writer who wanted to protect nature.

Young readers will learn just how amazing some Americans are as they pore over the pages of these biographies.

Rachel Carson was a courageous woman, and this book is a great way to introduce early elementary children to the idea of using words courageously, and to the idea that writing is powerful.

About the Author

Author Mary Dodson Wade is a book lover, a people watcher, and a compulsive writer. She spent 25 years as an elementary librarian, surrounded by things she loved.

Rachel Carson was born in 1907 on a Pennsylvania farm. The quiet little girl loved to explore the woods. She grew up to be a famous writer. Her strong words would change the way people treat our environment. No one had ever written about this before.

Rachel, sitting on her mothers lap, with her sister, Marian, and her brother, Robert.

When Rachel was young, her mother read nature stories to her. Rachel wrote her own stories. A magazine paid her $10 for a story. She was only 10 years old.

Rachel went to college to study writing. Then Rachel took a science class. She changed her mind. Now she would be a scientist and a writer!

Rachel Carson graduated from college in 1929.

After college, Rachel studied turtles on the coast of Massachusetts. She loved the ocean. She went back to school to learn more about it.

Rachel Carson on a research boat in 1929.

In 1936, Rachel got a job with the government in Washington, D.C. She wrote booklets about fish.

Then Rachel wrote a report about ocean animals. It was so good that a popular magazine bought it. Rachel wrote more. Soon she had written Under the Sea-Wind, her first book.

Rachel Carson wrote booklets like this one when she worked for the government.

Rachel wanted to write more books about the ocean. A famous scientist told her to go deep-sea diving. She laughed. She was not a good swimmer! But she went diving to learn more about the ocean.

Rachel worked during the day. She wrote at night. She lived with her mother, who was more than 80 years old. Her mother typed the pages for Rachels second book.

Rachel Carson was one of the first women to sail on this boat, the Albatross III.

TheSea Around Us was a best seller. It was made into a movie. The movie won an award.

By 1952, Rachel had enough money to quit work. She bought a house in Maine. She walked the beaches and woods. She kept writing.

Rachel Carson, and her co-worker, Bob Hines, look at something in the water in Florida in 1952.

One day Rachel got a letter from a friend. All the song birds around her house had died. Rachel learned why the birds died. They had eaten insects that were poisoned by pesticides.

Rachel wrote about this in her book, Silent Spring.

Silent Spring is one of Rachels most famous books (above). These men are spraying DDT, a type of pesticide, to kill the spruce bud worm that is hurting the trees (below).

Pesticide companies did not like her book. They did not want people to stop buying pesticides. They said Rachel was wrong. President Kennedy asked scientists to find out the truth. Rachel was right!

Rachel Carson died in 1964. She was 56 years old. Today, her words still remind us of the beauty of nature and how we need to protect it.

The Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Maine was created to protect salt marshes for birds and other animals.

Rachel Carson said that if we looked at the beauty of nature, we would not want to destroy it.

Her sisters grandson came to live with her. They took walks together. They found tiny sea animals at the edge of the ocean. The little boy could look at them. Then he had to put them back where he found them.

Why did she have him do that?

In 1980 Rachel Carson was given the Presidential Medal of Honor for her work in saving nature.

What can you do to make your home or school a better place?

1907

May 27, born on a farm near Springdale, Pennsylvania.

1917

Sold a story to St. Nicholas magazine for $10.

1932

Worked at the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries writing about fish.

1937

Atlantic Monthly magazine bought Undersea.

1941

Wrote first book, Under the Sea-Wind.

1951

Wrote second book, a best-seller called The Sea Around Us.

1955

Wrote third book, The Edge of the Sea.

1962

Wrote fourth book, Silent Spring.

1964

April 14, died.

deep-sea divingGoing to the deeper parts of the ocean.

environmentOur surroundings: the air, water, plants, animals, and the Earth.

pesticidesChemicals used to kill bugs and other pests.

scientistA person who studies science to learn new things.

Ehrlich, Amy. Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson. San Diego: Harcourt/Silver Whistle, 2003.