Mark Catesby's Colonial Explorations and Modern Connections

Lesson Overview

Mark Catesby explored the British colonies of North America beginning in 1712 during a visit to his sister in Virginia.  Fascinated by the plants and animals that inhabited a landscape filled with both potential and danger, he began documenting his explorations with drawings and descriptions of the colonial environment.  According to the Catesby Trust, "he was the first to conduct a critical study of the lush and varied habitat of the southeast colonies of North America, particularly the environs of the Lowcountry and the Piedmont area. As a scientist, he was the first to empirically observe and recognize the natural and man-made dangers impacting species’ survival. As an artist, his meticulous paintings and etchings of birds, other animals including fish, and plants captured the diverse natural beauty of colonial America a century before Audubon." Catesby's explorations would be an excellent way to study the beginnings of the Carolina colony or the southeastern colonies in general. This lesson features a "flipped classroom" technique in which students will review websites, videos, and articles at home, and then they will complete Facebook style pages that analyze the information they have learned about Catesby's explorations and his impact on other naturalists, artists, and scientists.