Activity 4.5: Global Warming: A Good Thing?
TIME FRAME
1-2 days
OBJECTIVES
Students will:
- consider the possible benefits of global warming;
- create a table comparing positive and negative consequences of global warming;
- research articles on global warming and prepare reviews of those articles;
- demonstrate critical thinking about information presented in the press;
- and consider the impact of global change on plants and animals as well as humans.
MATERIALS REQUIRED
- Video: Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes (National Film Board of Canada)
- newspaper and magazine articles about global warming (Use CD-ROM source, if available)
- chart paper
PROCEDURES
1. View the video, Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes, from the National Film Board of Canada.
2. Have students discuss and list possible consequences of global warming on plants, animals, and humans.
3. Create a chart listing both positive and negative consequences that arise out of the discussion.
4. Discuss how plants and animals, as well as humans, in North America adapted to the last ice age, when sheets of ice covered much of Canada. Students should list ways that plants, animals and humans might cope or respond to global warming.
5. Assignment: Students will review articles in newspapers or magazines that discuss the environmental impact of global warming. This will involve researching articles, thinking critically about the quality of the reporting involved, and the accuracy of the data upon which the conclusions in the article are presented.
6. The review should attempt to include specific data that indicate that the environmental problem has been caused by global warming and should attempt to indicate where other factors may also be involved.
7. Students will discuss their articles and their findings with the rest of the class.
ASSESSMENT
The assessment of these activities must relate to the objectives of the lesson:
- Did students consider the positive outcomes of global warming, as well as the
negative outcomes?
- Did students create a table listing the positive and negative consequences of global warming?
- Did students consider the impact of global change on plants and animals as well as humans? Is this evident in their tabled lists? Is it evident in their research reviews?
- Did students think critically about the articles they found and researched for their reviews?
- Did students complete their news article reviews adequately?
Activity 4.16: Alternative Fuels
TIME FRAME
2 days
OBJECTIVES
Students will:
- conduct research about a variety of fossil fuel alternatives for
automobiles;
- discuss the pros and cons of a variety of fossil fuel alternatives; and
- prepare research presentations comparing various fossil fuel
alternatives.
MATERIALS REQUIRED
- magazine articles
- reports from government and consumer agencies
- automobile and gasoline company brochures
- other information sources as available
PROCEDURES
1. Day 1: Read the background information about this activity in the teacher's guide to Global Change and Canadians. Discuss the background information with students. Note that there are a variety of fossil fuel alternatives currently under research and development. Have students brainstorm a list of fossil fuel alternatives.
2. Assignment: Have student teams do research to discover as much as possible about alternative automobile fuels or power sources. The teams should present their findings to the class.
3. Day 2: The teams, or the class together, should try to create a table showing the positive and negative features of the various alternatives.
4. Be sure to address the problems that might be associated with producing alternative fuels or power sources. Note that sometimes proposals for new developments merely relocate environmental problems. For example: if battery powered cars still require large amounts of electricity for battery charging, and the electrical power is still generated in coal-fired power plants, the gain in air quality may be less than expected.
ASSESSMENT
This is a short learning activity that involves research, communication, critical thinking, and discussion. Assessment should relate to the objectives and the successful participation and completion of the activities presented by the teacher. For example:
- Did the students conduct research about a variety of fossil fuel alternatives for
automobiles?
- Did the students participate and generate useful ideas about the pros and cons of
variety of fossil fuel alternatives?
- Did the students make a table outlining the positive and negative aspects of the
fossil fuel alternatives?
- Did the students extend their ideas to include the environmental impact of using
alternative fuels that might be created by burning fossil fuels (for example)?
How well did they do these activities? Did they demonstrate practicality, use of research information in discussion and arguments, understanding of connections, critical assessment of information and ideas, and creativity?
EXTENSION
Ask students to create a web showing as many of the environmental consequences as possible for each alternative auto power technology. This could become a major research assignment, involving webbing, research reporting, journal writing, articles for an environmental journal, etc. Remember to plan with the teacher-librarian so that students have the skills and the resources necessary for success.
Activity 4.23:
Rainforests, Tropical and Temperate
TIME FRAME
1-5 days
OBJECTIVES
Students will:
- assemble maps and other graphics to represent tropical rainforests;
- locate tropical rainforests on a map of the Earth;
- determine why it is important to preserve tropical rainforests;
- compare tropical rainforest degradation to the degradation of rainforests in
Canada's moderate climate;
- outline solutions to the problems facing tropical rainforests and Canadian
temperate rainforests; and
- create a display or learning centre for use by the entire class.
MATERIALS REQUIRED
- maps
- pictures of tropical rainforests
- pictures of Canadian temperate rainforests
- information sources for research, such as: The State of Canada's Environment
- Statistics Canada information sources
- magazine articles, newspaper articles, etc.
- display material (large colored card stock, glue, tape, felts, etc.)
PROCEDURES
1. Students will be working to answer the questions: Why is it important to protect tropical rainforests? How does the environmental degradation in the tropical rainforest ecosystem compare with the environmental degradation in Canada's temperate rainforests?
2. Students will gather maps or other graphics to represent tropical rainforests, as well as Canada's temperate rainforests. Working in groups, students will investigate the following:
- Where are tropical rainforests found on Earth?
- Where are Canada's rainforests?
- What is the environmental problem presented by the conservation of sustainable development of tropical and temperate rainforests?
- If rainforests are threatened, why? Are there differences in the way tropical and temperate rainforests are threatened? Why?
- Why should we care about tropical rainforests? Why should we care about our own rainforests?
- What can be done to protect the tropical rainforests? The temperate rainforests?
3. Students will create displays and learning centres which focus on findings in this research activity. Students will be responsible for using all of the learning centres to develop understanding of the topic. Particular focus should be placed on alternatives to the typical adversarial arguments between utilizations and protection.
ASSESSMENT
Students should be assessed on their own research activities, on how well they display information for other students, and on how well they learn the material presented in each display or learning centre.
Assessment should relate specifically to the objectives of the activity, and how well the students answered the questions raised in the procedures.
EXTENSION
Students can also relate environmental degradation in the tropical rainforests to clear-cut logging and other resource use practices in Canada's temperate forest ecosystems. Are Canadians doing a better job of managing and conserving our forested lands?
Students should be assessed on their own research activities, on how well they display information for other students, and on how well they learn the material presented in each display or learning centre.
Assessment should relate specifically to the objectives of the activity, and how well the students answered the questions raised in the procedures.
EXTENSION
Students can also relate environmental degradation in the tropical rainforests to clear-cut logging and other resource use practices in Canada's temperate forest ecosystems. Are Canadians doing a better job of managing and conserving our forested lands?
Activity 4.29:
Investigating our Waterways
TIME FRAME
1 day
OBJECTIVES
Students will:
- investigate major sources of potential water pollution in their local area;
- develop a map of the local region displaying the potential and actual water
pollution sources;
- discuss how various sources of potential pollution treat their wastes;
- discuss the enforcement of water quality standards;
- investigate violations of water quality standards; and
- investigate the consequences of pollution control violations for the environment
and the violators.
MATERIALS REQUIRED
- local area maps
- mapping materials (paper, colored pens, overhead transparencies)
PROCEDURES
1. Preparation activities: outline the activity to the class a week or two ahead of time, after planning with the teacher-librarian so that skills and resources are readily available.
- Students will investigate local water pollution sources.
- Students should make note of agriculture, feed lots, and other food producing
activities such as orchards, dairy farms, etc.
- Logging activities in the region can also contribute to water pollution in the
watershed.
- Urban industry, residential areas, manufacturing operations, can all add to the
water pollution in an ecosystem.
2. In class, students create a large map of the local region locating the potential and actual water pollution sources.
3. Class discussion should focus on the following questions:
- How do the various potential and actual sources of pollution treat their wastes?
- What enforcement is practised to control and check pollution sources?
- Have there been any recent violations of water quality standards?
- How were violations addressed by the regulators?
- How do the violations of water quality standards affect the environment?
- What conclusions can be drawn about water use in the local region?
- Are more controls needed?
ASSESSMENT
Assessment should focus on the objectives of the lesson, as well as on the quality of the completed activities. For example:
- Did students discover the major sources of water pollution in their local area?
- Did
they clearly demonstrate their discoveries on the map?
- Did students investigate the pollution controls and enforcement procedures in
effect for the various possible polluters in the region?
- Did students extend their research to include activities that could be potential
- Did students draw conclusions about the water quality/pollution problems in the
local area?
EXTENSION
Invite water quality professionals from your local or regional water control agencies to speak to the class about the water quality of the local watershed. Students then investigate the role of water quality professionals in determining and enforcing water quality controls locally, regionally, provincially, and federally.
Activity 4.34
What's Happening to Canada's Fisheries
TIME FRAME
2 weeks
OBJECTIVES
Students will:
- select specific fisheries to investigate;
- investigate fisheries since World War II;
- write a research report or essay on changes to the fisheries studied;
- present finding to the class; and
- develop a collaborative report entitled "Canada's Fisheries-Past, Present, and Future".
MATERIALS REQUIRED
- resource people in the fisheries industry
- resources, such as:
- Statistics Canada E-STAT
- The State of Canada's Environment
- maps
- mapping material
- word processors, computers, desktop publishing programs (optional)
PROCEDURES
1. Students will brainstorm to make a list of different Canadian fisheries, in different locations. The list might include:
- Atlantic Cod
- Bottom Fish in Atlantic Canada
- Atlantic Lobster
- Pacific Crab, Prawn and Shrimp
- Pacific Bottom Fish and Halibut, Herring and Roe Herring,
- Pacific Salmon, etc.
2. Students will select a particular fishery to investigate, either in groups or individually.
3. Students might investigate the following topics for their fishery:
- How many people are directly employed in the industry?
- How many people are indirectly employed by the industry, or whose jobs are
supported by the industry?
- What is the dollar value of the product?
- What is the significance of the product as a food item?
- Where is the product marketed? How is it manufactured? How is it transported?
4. Students should focus their investigations on changes to the fishery since World War II. Cooperatively plan with the teacher-librarian so that students can write a research essay on the changes to the fishery since then and include the information listed in 3, above.
5. Students can present their findings to the class. The information could be combined in a class report titled: "Canada's Fisheries-Past, Present, and Future".
ASSESSMENT
Assessment can focus on the research paper, and relate to the criteria listed as part of the research assignment. Check that students did investigate a Canadian fishery, did discuss in their research paper the changes to the fishery since World War II, and answered the questions outlined in 3, above.
Further assessment will depend on the focus of conclusions drawn or extended activities as outlined by the individual teacher. If students have been asked to address causes of fisheries decline, or the environmental impact of various fisheries practices, then assessment procedures must also address those criteria.
EXTENSION
If possible, interview fishers or those who work in the fisheries industry, particularly long-term personnel. Interview, if possible, retired fisheries personnel who may have been actively involved in the fisheries industry since World War II.
Create a "Canada's Fisheries-Past, Present, and Future" book, including photographs, newspaper clippings and articles depicting how fisheries have changed since World War II.
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