1: What observations did Rachel Carson make about her environment? Explain in detail.

A town where all life seems to live in harmony with its surroundings, there was a prosperous amount of farms. Her environment had various trees like oak, maple and birch. Different types of plants that lived along roads delighted the person traveling that road. Even in winter, it was a place of beauty. In the country, there was an abundance of birds and fish. 2: How have chemicals changed the environment? What is DDT? What is it used for and what are the consequences of its use? Chemicals have changed the environment by contaminating the air, the earth and in water. Chemicals have entered plants and vegetation like corn. Chemicals will kill vegetation, sicken cattle and harm the people who drink contaminated water. DDT is a toxic chemical that is used to kill off 'pests'. Some of these pests are insects, weeds, rodents and other organisms. The consequences of DDT are that it can also lead to poisoning of household pets, farm animals, etc. This causes an even stronger DDT to be created, and after that, a stronger one. Spraying DDT also causes resurgence, numbers that are greater than before. 3: Carson uses Robert Frosts poem, The Road Less Traveled, as an analogy for making choices about our future- what does she say about what we must do? Instead of looking for poisonous chemicals to solve the problems, people should seek different ways to solve these problems. There are varieties of chemical control of insects available. Carson says that some have already been created and some are in the stage of laboratory testing. These solutions are based on the understandings of living organisms. Entomologists, pathologists, geneticists, physiologists, biochemists and ecologists are putting all their knowledge to creating a new science of biotic controls. 4: This book was written in 1962- have people heeded the warning about the toxins in our environment? Yes, people have heeded to the warning about the toxins in our environment. Some laws passed include the Toxic Substances Control Act (1976) and the Food Quality Protection Act (1996). People began to take control after this book was released. 5: What is your opinion of the book excerpt? Explain. My opinion of the book excerpt is that people need to find new ways to kill off pests, besides using toxic chemicals like DDT. As said in the excerpt, the chemicals aren't only harming the pests, but it is also harming other living organisms like the plants and us humans as well. The chemical will pass on from one organism to another in a chain of poison and death.