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Reading selection ("Climbing the Redwoods") as practice for part of final exam; discussion topics:
1) Does the author deliver the science?
2) Who is/are the audience(s)? How can you tell?
3) How is "interconnectedness" expressed?
4) Is/Are there still more world(s) to explore?
5) How many new words (generic, scientific) did you encounter? Did the author help you out?
6) How does Sillett's world compare to Humboldt's?
7) How does this narrative text compare to Humboldt's text (allowing for the condensed form of Jaguars & Eels)?
8) As you were reading this text, did you look up anything about the topic? - examples: climbing the world's tallest tree (note the climber's name!); climbing huge trees in Washington; how "high climber" loggers top trees; "spring-boarding" a cypress (cousin of redwood) in western Canada; falling old growth redwood in Humboldt County, CA (look for the guy who gets to lie in the notch); Blake's Hitch - history and how to tie.
9) So what is this text actually "about"?
10) If you were applying for a $2500 grant to bring Sillett to PSU, how would you make your pitch to the funders? to the public, assuming you got the money?
11) How much of what Sillett does would you choose to do?
12) What role do numbers /math play in this text?
13) Have you ever seen a redwood tree? clumb one? touched a piece of redwood? bought any?
14) What controversies does the text report? What are your opinions about them?
15) What would you tell Sillett and Preston (the author of the article) about Humboldt?
Stephen Sillett's faculty page at Humboldt State University
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