A Sand County Almanac
69 pages • 2-hour read
Aldo LeopoldA Sand County Almanac
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During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
FOREWORD-PART 1
Reading Check
1. Where is Leopold’s farm?
2. What characteristic of the farm’s former owner does Leopold criticize?
3. What kind of fish does Leopold describe fishing for?
4. To what does Leopold metaphorically compare the river?
5. What bird does Leopold go hunting for in October?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. As Leopold fells the tree from the 1860s, what observation does he make about people’s ability to take note of divisions?
2. What is Leopold’s purpose in noting the movement of skunks and geese?
3. What is Leopold’s purpose in discussing the plover and the prairie plant Silphium?
4. What point is Leopold making when he describes the “red lanterns” as he is out hunting?
5. What factors influence Leopold’s decision about which of two trees to save when one must be culled to save the other?
Paired Resources
“Observing Nature in Your Backyard Is Not Dull but Radically Significant”
- In this essay, Oxford professor Yadvinder Malhi considers the merits of Gilbert White’s local observation approach to ecology.
- This resource relates to the theme of Nature as a Teacher.
- How did White’s approach to ecology differ from Humboldt’s? What are the merits of each approach? Which is most similar to Leopold’s? What aspects of Leopold’s book do you imagine professor Malhi might be particularly drawn to?
- This journal article reviews research into the correlation between time spent in nature during childhood and resilience in the face of environmental degradation.
- This resource relates to the themes of Nature as a Teacher and The Interruption of Natural Processes.
- What conclusion does Chawla reach about how to encourage young people to sustain hope despite negative changes in the natural environment? How does this research connect to Leopold’s ideas about close observation of nature?
PART 2
Reading Check
1. What does Leopold imagine traveling from a tree root through various animals, plants, and people?
2. What human addition to the landscape of White Mountain does Leopold discuss at length?
3. What specific human activities does Leopold worry will have changed White Mountain in a way that will disappoint him if he returns?
4. What mountains does Leopold share a memory of exploring with his brother in “Chihuahua”?
5. What invasive species of grass does Leopold discuss in detail?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What paradox leads Leopold to declare that “[a]ll conservation of wildness is self-defeating”? (108)
2. What costs and benefits does Leopold identify in his discussion of the arrival of Europeans in the Americas?
3. What assumption does Leopold make about his fellow passengers on the bus during his trip through Illinois?
4. What principle is Leopold illustrating through his story about shooting the wolf on White Mountain?
5. What conclusion does Leopold come to about the shortcomings of science in his discussion of the interconnected nature of the Rio Gavilan ecosystem?
Paired Resources
- This article from No Depression explains how Tim Southwick Johnson came to create the album Sand County Songs and explores the enduring significance of Leopold’s environmental messages.
- This resource relates to the theme of The Interruption of Natural Processes.
- Why does Johnson feel that Leopold’s messages continue to be important today? What frequent metaphor of Leopold’s makes turning his messages into an album especially apt?
- This Spotify page hosts song files of the songs on Johnson’s album. Note that a free Spotify account is necessary in order to access the sound files.
- This resource relates to the theme of The Interruption of Natural Processes.
- To what extent do the songs preserve Leopold’s original language? What does this indicate about the lyricism of Leopold’s voice? Does the addition of music increase the emotional appeal of Leopold’s message or merely distract from it?
PART 3
Reading Check
1. What does Leopold advise should preferably be “in large degree useless, inefficient, laborious, or irrelevant”? (182)
2. What does Leopold accuse American conservationists of being too focused on?
3. To what does Leopold compare the care extended to the land by the farmers planting tamarack trees?
4. What did Ohio housewife Margaret Rose Nice become an expert on?
5. What important economic activity from early in American history will, in Leopold’s text, remind people of a connection to wildness?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Leopold characterize the difference between “land” and “country”?
2. What does falconry exemplify to Leopold?
3. What does Leopold view as the greatest scientific achievement of the 20th century?
4. What does Leopold blame for the alienation of young biologists from the land?
5. What vicious cycle does Leopold identify related to improvements in hunting technology?
Paired Resources
“The World is Too Much With Us”
- This classic Wordsworth poem points out that nature is a more authentic source of satisfaction than money and material possessions.
- This resource relates to the theme of The Disconnect Between Economic Value and Nature.
- What values does Wordsworth promote in this poem? How is his perspective similar to Leopold’s, and how does it differ? When did Wordsworth write this poem? What does this tell you about human concerns about alienation from nature?
“What Is and Is Not Biophilic Design?”
- This article explores the contemporary trend toward biophilic design and what motivates it.
- This resource relates to the theme of The Disconnect Between Economic Value and Nature.
- What is biophilic design? How does it in some ways prioritize human connection to nature above economic value? In what ways does it simply preserve the status quo within a new facade? Does it in any way meet Leopold’s criteria for useless pursuits? What do you imagine his overall reaction would be?
PART 4
Reading Check
1. How does Leopold characterize the attitude most humans take toward nature in his time?
2. Whom does Leopold say is too often left in charge of managing ecosystems under conservation systems based on economic motivations?
3. What does Leopold say is at risk of disappearing for the first time in history?
4. What phrase does Leopold use to describe preserving the land’s health?
5. What does Leopold blame for decreasing enjoyment in fishing, collecting flowers, and other recreational hunting and gathering activities?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. At the beginning of Part 4, what argument does Leopold make for extending ethics?
2. Why does Leopold argue against basing the conservation system on economic motives?
3. What is Leopold’s central argument in his essay “The Land Pyramid”?
4. What is Leopold’s purpose in discussing long-grass prairies, old-growth pine forests, and wild coastlines?
5. What impacts does Leopold see transportation technology having on wilderness and human wilderness experiences?
Recommended Next Reads
- In this essay collection, botanist Kimmerer celebrates the relationship to nature learned from her own Potawatomi ancestors and considers how it might provide a more general model for a healthy human-environmental relationship.
- Shared themes include Nature as a Teacher, The Disconnect Between Economic Value and Nature, and The Interruption of Natural Processes.
- Shared topics include essay collection, environmental science, conservation and preservation, close observation of the local natural world, the complex interdependence of all life forms, and respect for and communion with nature.
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants on SuperSummary
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
- This collection of essays covers six months in Abbey’s life as a ranger at Arches National Monument. Abbey discusses the beauty of the land and his own distress over its gradual degradation.
- Shared themes include Nature as a Teacher, The Disconnect Between Economic Value and Nature, and The Interruption of Natural Processes.
- Shared topics include essay collection, environmental science, conservation and preservation, close observation of the local natural world, the complex interdependence of all life forms, and respect for and communion with nature.
- Desert Solitaire on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
FOREWORD-PART 1
Reading Check
1. Wisconsin (Foreword-“April”)
2. His lack of respect for the land (Foreword-“April”)
3. Trout (“May”-“September”)
4. A painter (“May”-“September”)
5. Grouse (“October”-“December”)
Short Answer
1. He observes that the people of the 1860s were well aware of divisions between people, as the Civil War was happening, but he thinks that they took less note of the division happening between humans and nature. (Foreword-“April”)
2. He uses these examples of animals’ instinctive responses to the changing seasons to illustrate the rhythms of nature to which he wishes more people would pay attention. (Foreword-“April”)
3. Both examples illustrate how careless management can endanger the continued existence of specific plants and animals. (“May”-“September”)
4. He is pointing out how attention to the natural world can pay off: because he understands that grouse are likely to be found near the “red lanterns” of blackberry bushes, he is a more successful hunter. (“October”-“December”)
5. He considers his personal preference for trees he planted himself and tree species he particularly enjoys, the expected lifespan of the species, and whether the tree is a native species. (“October”-“December”)
PART 2
Reading Check
1. An atom (“Wisconsin”)
2. Roads (“Illinois”-“Iowa”)
3. Forestry and tourism (“Illinois”-“Iowa”)
4. The Sierra Madres (“Chihuahua”-“Sonora-Manitoba”)
5. Cheat grass (“Chihuahua”-“Sonora-Manitoba”)
Short Answer
1. Conservation is motivated by knowledge of and affection for nature, but that knowledge and affection are generally gained by interactions with nature that can in and of themselves be threatening to the natural world. (“Wisconsin”)
2. Although Western settlers’ practices increased the average standard of living for humans, they also disrupted the environment by eroding topsoil and causing species loss. (“Wisconsin”)
3. He assumes that, unlike himself, they do not take note of the ways in which the landscape has been manipulated to meet human needs. (“Illinois”-“Iowa”)
4. The wilderness has its own methods of maintaining balance, and human interference, however well-meaning, can often disrupt this balance. (“Illinois”-“Iowa”)
5. Science often misses the interconnectedness of natural systems because it focuses its attention on the constituent parts instead of on the system as a whole. (“Chihuahua”-“Sonora-Manitoba”)
PART 3
Reading Check
1. Hobbies (“Country”-“The Round River”)
2. Charismatic species (“Country”-“The Round River”)
3. The love that parents have for their children (“Natural History”)
4. Sparrows (“Natural History”)
5. The fur trade (“Natural History”)
Short Answer
1. Leopold says that “land” is used to describe an area cultivated to human purposes, while “country” refers to an area that supports diverse species despite possibly appearing drab or underdeveloped to human eyes. (“Country”-“The Round River”)
2. He describes the huge amount of effort involved in falconry, as well as its uncertain and essentially useless results, as an example of the ideal hobby. He views this willingness to engage in useless pursuits as one of the highest accomplishments of humanity. (“Country”-“The Round River”)
3. Leopold characterizes the discovery of the complex, interrelated nature of the various elements of an ecosystem as the most important scientific achievement of the 20th century. (“Country”-“The Round River”)
4. Because laboratory biology was just taking off at a time when natural history was stagnating, academics became more focused on the laboratory and students in the field are now divorced from an understanding of the land and ecosystems. (“Natural History”)
5. Leopold believes that as hunting technology has increased, it has led to a decline in the value of sportsmanship, which has in turn led to more indiscriminate use of the new hunting technology. (“Natural History”)
PART 4
Reading Check
1. They take the attitude of conquerors. (“The Land Ethic”)
2. The government (“The Land Ethic”)
3. Wilderness/wild spaces (“Wilderness”-“Conservation Esthetic”)
4. “Land doctoring”(“Wilderness”-“Conservation Esthetic”)
5. Wildlife management (“Wilderness”-“Conservation Esthetic”)
Short Answer
1. He argues that the human sense of community should be extended “to include soils, waters, plants, and animals” (239). Humans would then be expected to restrain individual desire to protect the greater good in respect to the environment just as they are currently expected to do in respect to one another. (“The Land Ethic”)
2. Basing conservation ethics on economic value cannot be effective because most elements of the environment have no clear, defined economic value. (“The Land Ethic”)
3. His central argument is that ecosystems are like pyramids, with the land as the foundational layer and humans near the apex. The complex and interdependent nature of the pyramid’s layers means that rapid change at “lower” levels can create instability that might “topple” humans from below. (“The Land Ethic”)
4. He is using these as examples of wilderness spaces that have already been lost. (“Wilderness”-“Conservation Esthetic”)
5. As roads and mechanized transportation enter wilderness areas, the available wilderness begins to shrink and people within these areas begin to rely on mechanized transportation for the sake of convenience. This diminishes the enjoyment of people still using more traditional transportation, like canoes and horses. (“Wilderness”-“Conservation Esthetic”)
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