Aldo Leopold

 



The young Aldo Leopold, who grew up to be a famous American conservationist, was encouraged by

his mother, Clara, to keep a journal and inspired by his father, Carl, to love the out of doors. His

parental influences came together at a time in his life when he was also being exposed to a popular

program for school-age children championed by the US Nature Study Movement. The movement was aprototype of modern-day environmental education, aimed to instill an appreciation of nature among

children through direct contact with the natural world. Nature study was introduced through a series of

pamphlets and books which required students to record their observations.  


Aldo Leopold began keeping journals that documented his observations of natural events while he was

a schoolboy growing up in Iowa, and he continued keeping track of nature until the day he died in 1948.

His journal entries that spanned half a century reveal a life-long passion for phenology, the study of the

timing of seasonal events in nature.  His view was that keeping records enhances the pleasure of the

search and the chance of finding order and meaning in these events.  In this connection, phenology was

one of the popular activities which encouraged diarists to note the seasonal changes in the plant and

animal life in their area. Phenology typically involves recording the first occurrence for the year of some

natural phenomenon, such as the first blooming of a plant or the first sighting of a migratory bird. Aldo

Leopold caught the phenology “bug” early. He dutifully recorded the first dates on which he observed

various natural phenomena. His childhood journals are a testament to his newfound passion.  Nature

study introduced Aldo to scientific observations of nature as a way of understanding how the world

works, but it also helped instill in him an emotional connection with nature. Thus, nature study promoted

in young Aldo both scientific thinking and ethical values that were requisites of progressive citizenship.

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