THE JASON EXPEDITION: Disappearing Wetlands

http://www.jasonproject.org/

          Two of my Survival Series novels--written with collaborator and dear friend Karen A. Bale--are being recommended as literature elements in the 2004-2005 school year's JASON Expedition curriculum. I am thrilled to be included in such an exciting program!  Karen and I worked  hard to write exciting, accurate stories.  All eleven of the Survival novels are meticulously researched--each one set against a real historical backdrop.

The  JASON Expedition has chosen:

survival: SWAMP (Bayou Teche, Louisiana 1851)

survival: FLOOD (Mississippi, 1927) 

MORE INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS:

A terrific resource. PBS! More information, as well as real sounds and images from the 1927 Flood of the Mississippi River can be found here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flood/index.html  

ONLINE SOURCES FOR YOUNGER STUDENTS:

http://www.bartleby.com/65/mi/MissipR.html

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Great-Mississippi-Flood-of-1927

http://www.fact-index.com/g/gr/great_mississippi_flood_of_1927.html

For older students and teachers:

An overview of the delta's history and cultural heritage:
http://www.cr.nps.gov/delta/volume1/stories.htm

An Introduction to the Mississippi's eco-systems and more:
http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/SNT/noframe/ms137.htm

Primary Source Audio of one man's experience in the flood:
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/113/

Newspaper article excerpts:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flood/filmmore/ps_headlines.html

Environmental Protection Agency Summary of Delta:
http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/SNT/noframe/ms137.htm

Enviromental Activist Organizations:
There are many organizations working hard to save rivers and wetlands from pollution and other threats. Here are a few of them:
http://www.amrivers.org/
http://www.rivernetwork.org/
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/wrp/
http://www.wildlifeforever.org/mississippi.html

1927 FLOOD PHOTOS:

Photos of Mississippi during the flood:
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/~mmarti3/smith/indexb.html

Not from Mississippi, the flood year hit much of the US:
http://www.uvm.edu/perkins/landscape/1927_flood/flood.htm

wildlife: images and information 

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/brittoncrocs/csp_amis.htm#imag

http://www.alligatorfarm.com/index.html
This is a commercial, pivate zoo. click on "explore zoo" then on "photo galleries" for some amazing images of wetlands wildlife 

http://southeast.fws.gov/
US Fish and Wildlife southeast region refuges

For Teachers and older students:

John M. Barry's  RISING TIDE published by Simon and Schuster is a detailed account of the flood, its aftermath and long-term effects on the region and America and was of great use in the writing of SURVIVAL: FLOOD

ONLINE ARTICLE from the Sierra Club:
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200111/miss_printable.asp