Lynne Cherry

LYNNE CHERRY'S 2008 SPEAKING/
BOOKSIGNING/CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

JULY 10 OR 17 NATIONAL CONSERVATION TRAINING CENTER (NCTC)Shepherdstown, West Virginia

JULY 21-23
WORLDFORUM
FOUNDATION.org

SEPTEMBER 20
Climate Ride 2008

Climate Ride 2008 is the first multi-day bicycle ride where your pedal strokes help raise money and awareness for meaningful climate change and renewable energy legislation! This transformative event is ideal for anyone who believes that change is possible and that America can take the lead in a green economy.

Beginning on September 20th, one hundred Climate Riders will pedal 320 miles from New York City to the nation’s Capitol in Washington D.C. in five days, departing from the heart of Manhattan and then meandering along country roads through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. On the fifth day, riders will cycle past the iconic Washington Monument to arrive near the marble steps of the Capitol building. Here we will celebrate the riders’ amazing accomplishment and valuable contribution to the advancement of climate change education and renewable energy policies.

Along the way, expert speakers will educate and inspire Climate Riders about the science, the policies and the solutions to the climate crisis. Our riders and the communities we pass through will learn that our government, businesses, and each individual American will benefit from a cleaner, healthier climate. This is a unique event—a fundraiser and climate conference on wheels.

OCTOBER 15-19
Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ)
Roanoke
Lynne's Round table scheduled Friday, October 17, 2008 from 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM

OCTOBER 17-18 Earth Summit 2008
(Lynne not participating but you should go!)
Syracuse, NY

OCTOBER 18-20
ASTC Conference
Philadelphia, PA.

NOVEMBER 8
GREEN FESTIVAL
WASHINGTON, DC
LYNNE CHERRY AND GARY BRAASCH,co-author of How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warmingspeaking & book-signing-- and perhaps a kids reading in the kids section

DECEMBER 1 Episcopal Academy Princeton, NJ

MARCH 1-5 2009 APPL Annual Convention & Trade Show Baltimore, MD.

Description of Lynne's School & Conference Talks
Lynne Cherry speaks passionately about teaching students a respect for the earth and how living in our democratic society enables children to make a difference in their world. In her 45-minute presentation, she talks about how her books were inspired by her love of the natural world and how using nature to integrate curriculum makes a child’s learning relevant.

Lynne describes how her new book, co-authored with photojournalist Gary Braasch, How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming makes science exciting and relevant. It begins with "What is Science?" and then goes on to describe how many climate scientists discovered clues about Earth's climate through studying tree rings, ice cores, mud cores, and the ranges of birds, butterfiles and plants. Lynne talks about how the kids in the book replicate in their classroom the studies that these "real" scientists did and how Citizen Scientists often provide data for "real" scientists to help them understand the natural world.

A national study showed that when teachers teach core curriculum: math, social sciences, literature, science, art--essentially everything--under an umbrella of nature/environmental studies, students' test scores go up. With traditional teaching, children often do well on the standardized tests, but they do not retain what they’ve learned. When what they’ve learned has a “handle” –a relevance to their lives—they retain the knowledge.

And kids also learn better when they get at least one "Green Hour" a day--one hour of unstructured time where they can run around outside, explore nature or plant a vegetable garden. The importance of outdoor time for children is documented in Richard Louv's book "Last Child in the Woods".

Lynne Cherry's remarkable slides show Amazon flora and fauna that she photographed while researching The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest, The Shaman’s Apprentice and Flute’s Journey. Her slides of the Nashua River, the subject of A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History, show the condition of the river before and after it was cleaned up. Children and teachers are appalled by the condition of this river before the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency or the Clean Water Act. Lynne Cherry shows slides of the old growth forests she visited to research The Dragon and the Unicorn, a tale of the ancient forest.

Lynne introduces geography by showing maps of where she lives and where she has traveled to research her books: the rainforests of Brazil, Suriname, Costa Rica, Peru, and Madagascar. While talking about The Armadillo from Amarillo, her fanciful geography for children, she shows images of earth from space that she obtained from an astronaut friend.

Lynne Cherry suggests ways that her books may be used to integrate math, science, social studies, history into curricula through environmental themes.

For instance, The Great Kapok Treecan be used to teach about how all living things are interconnected or to teach about the rainforest comparatively—i.e. how is the rain forest similar to the forest near your school? How is it different?

Flute’s Journey will help children realize how rain forest ecosystems are connected to the ecosystem in your community.

The Sea, the Storm and the Mangrove Tangle will inspire children to write letters to save mangroves and children in Florida might want to go out and replant and protect mangroves in their communities.

How Groundhog’s Garden Grew, will inspire schools to transform their schoolyard into nature centers which also provide a peaceful place to read a book and make connections to the other living things with whom we share our world.

How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate tells stories of kids who have reduced the carbon footprint of their homes, schools, communities and even their whole states! Lynne talks about how everyone can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they put into the air.

And Lynne will also talk about the feature film she is making based on How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate.

Her talk gives the audience ideas about teaching and learning in exciting new ways, and leaves them empowered--with hope and inspiration for the future.

Honorarium and Expenses:
Lynne Cherry's fee is $2200 a day plus travel and hotel expenses (negotiable for local appearances and for environmental groups). (Note: A dinner or evening presentation is an additional $500.00.) A day consists of two presentations and one or two book signings (and a possible additional evening presentation and signing.)
Lynne enjoys speaking to groups of students who want to work on a specific project such as land preservation in their community, starting a school garden, creating schoolyard habitat, ridding their school cafeteria of styrofoam or, in general, creating a more sustainable school and community.

For more information about having Lynne Cherry speak, please contact Dawn Publications: Nature@Dawnpub.com