PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Rachel Carson understood that our environment was a fragile place and can be put off balance by pollutants.
Born in Springfield, Pennsylvania in 1907 Rachel Carson was raised around nature. Rachel got to know all different kinds of creatures, wild and tame.
Rachel loved to read as a child. Soon she started to write her owns stories and poems. When she was 10 she started to submit her writings to St. Nicolas magazine. When she was 11 she got one of her stories published in the magazine.
Rachel worked hard at her studies. She went to Pennsylvania College for Women. It was close to her home and offered scholarships.
In Rachel's junior year she took a biology course. She liked it so much she changed her major. She took a summer course at the Marine Biology Laboratory. She got a scholarship at Johns Hopkins. She graduated in Zoology.
Rachel decided on a career in Marine Biology. When the U.S. plunged into the Great Depression Rachel was able to find a job as a lab assistant. She didn't have enough money to pay her college debt so she got a second job as teaching assistant.
Rachel's father died so she was now responsible for her mother. The Bureau of Fisheries was looking for a scientist to write brochures. She took an exam for a full time position and got it!
Rachel's sister had died so she took in her two young nieces. She needed more income so she submitted one of her articles to a magazine. She got a national audience so she decided to write a book. While it was a financial failure it had great reviews.
She decided to write another book: The Sea Around Us. It was an instant best-seller and was on the best-seller list for 81 weeks.
When Rachel wrote her book about pollutants she knew it would be the most important work of her life. She had to be correct about everything and make sure everything is perfect. If she was wrong she would be ruined by the U.S. government and chemical suppliers.
People attacked Rachel for her book. They said she was a bird lover. When the government had her book fact checked they discovered she was correct.
By Hannah Carr and Kara Stone