1. Swain notes that America's expanding population is swallowing up rural areas, sometimes destroying natural wonders. Explain how the needs of Americans for housing and marketplaces can be met without destroying the natural world.

2. Note how in "Tree Dreams" Swain uses the wood of his bed to draw himself into the natural world. Examine some of the wood furniture in your house—the legs of a couch, chairs, table tops, or your own bed, perhaps—and figure out what kind of wood it is. Then find out where that kind of wood might have come from—for instance California, Oregon, or Maine.

3. In "Dime-Store Turtles", Swain remarks, "In our eagerness to be protected, once again we seem to have cut ourselves off from nature." Is he right?

How can people balance the need to protect themselves from diseases...