Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“How Do the Underwoods Compare to Real Activists?”

After reading Flush and considering what the characters are willing to go through to protect the environment, students create presentations comparing and contrasting these characters with a real-world environmental activist (or activists) of their choice.

For this activity, you will create a presentation that uses words and images to convey similarities and differences between a real-world environmental activist and the characters in Flush.

• Make a three-column chart. In the first column, list the main actions that Noah and Paine take to protect the environment. In the second column, make notes about the motives for their actions and the internal struggles they face as they decide what is the right thing to do. Finally, in the third column, make some notes about how the choices that Noah and Paine make impact them, others, and the environment. Be sure to list page numbers for any evidence that supports your interpretations of what Noah and Paine feel and how they affect others around them.
• Use reputable online sources to research an environmental activist (or a group of activists) who has undertaken some significant action to defend the environment.