John Muir

Week 1: Early Life

Character Lexicon
  • daring: adventurous or audaciously bold
  • observant: quick to notice things
  • autodidactic: a self-taught person
  • inventive: having the ability to create or design new things; to thing originally
  • passionate: showing or caused by strong feelings or belief
Comprehension Questions
  1. One of John’s favorite scooters was to hang from the bedroom windowsill in his nightshirt. (Pg 1)
  2. The loon bird returns just before spring. (Pg )
  3. The Scottish call the Aurora Borealis, the Merry Dancers. (Pg 6)
  4. John decided to make inventions during his five solid hours. (Pg 9)
  5. John’s invention of an alarm clock caused the most excitement at the fair. (Pg 12)
  6. When the Civil War broke out John thought killing a man was unthinkable. (Pg 13)
  7. As soon John was well enough to walk outside he went to the nearest field to let nature pour into him. (Pg 14)

Week 2: Life’s Work

Character Lexicon
  • tenacious: tending to keep a firm hold of something; clinging or adhering closely
  • aesthete: a person who has a special appreciation of art and beauty
  • wanderer: someone who moves out aimlessly or without a fixed course or goal
  • naturalist: a student of animals and plants
  • educator: someone who instructs or teaches
Comprehension Questions
  1. On the first page of his traveling notebook, John Muir wrote, “John Muir, Earth-planet, Universe.” (Pg 16)
  2. When in Florida the living thing that most thrilled John was the palm tree. (Pg 18)
  3. On his journey to the Sierra Nevada Mountains John carried, a blanket, flour, some tea, and a journal. (Pg 21)
  4. The sheer wall of the valley appeared to John to be a rainbow, a wall of light. (Pg 22)
  5. After John finished building the sawmill he built himself a hanging nest. (Pg 24)
  6. John discovered that glaciers were alive and moving. (Pg 28)
  7. John Muir’s first article was about glaciers. (Pg 29)

Week 3: Later Life and Legacy

Character Lexicon
  • endeavoring: to strive or reach
  • resourceful: the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties
  • conservationist: one who advocates for the protection or preservation of the environment
    or wildlife
  • clearheaded: having a clear understanding
  • indefatigable: persisting tirelessly
Comprehension Questions
  1. John was exploring a glacier near Taylor Bay. (Pg 30)
  2. John and Stickeen got caught in a terrible storm and had to face deadly glacial crevasses. (Pg 32)
  3. When Stickeen was almost in reach of John’s arms when he leaped over him and landed safely by his side. (Pg 34)
  4. John Muir’s dream came true when a bill was passed and signed by President Benjamin Harrison that created Yosemite National Park. (Pg 36)
  5. By the time he was fifty years old, John Muir devoted himself to writing and conservation. (Pg 36)
  6. John Muir convinced President Theodore Roosevelt to create a bureau of forestry to manage and protect the trees of forest reserves. (Pg 37)
  7. In 1892 John Muir founded the Sierra Club to build strong conservation policy and to protect forests and meadows. (Pg 39)