Canada's National Water Crisis

Due to the ongoing debate about these issues, much of the students information will be found in online newspapers.  

Grade:
 10
Subject:
Science
Unit:
 Water
Topic:
 Water pollution and conservation
Integration:  
Task: This web quest will allow students to explore these issues.
  • Should Canada sell water?
  • Why do other countries need our water?
  • Is our own water supply safe?
  • How can we protect our water?
Objectives:

In this unit students will increase their abilities to:

  • A-1 appreciate the complexity within natural systems;
  • A-2 examine the impact of historical and contemporary human activity on the biosphere;
  • A-3 examine the impact of human activity on traditional lifestyles;
  • A-4 identify ways that the impact of human activity can be reduced;
  • A-5 analyze the environmental impact of personal activities and lifestyles;
  • A-6 analyze the effect/impact of the environment on personal activities and lifestyles, and the effect of personal activities on the environment;
  • A-7 use a wide range of language experiences to develop their knowledge of natural systems (COM);
  • A-8 promote both intuitive, imaginative thought and the ability to evaluate processes, experiences, and objects in the context of understanding the impact humans have on the biosphere (CCT);
  • A-9 understand that technology both shapes, and is shaped by, society (TL); and,
  • A-10 meet personal learning needs (IL).
Procedure:
  • CBC News has an excellent "indepth" report on this subject.  It can be found at http://cbc.ca/news/indepth/water/.  This could be a good way of introducing the subject although the report is rather biased.
  • The Assignment:  Students work in four groups to present their side of the story.  There are more specific roles with two of the groups.  Guiding questions have been given but students should be encouraged to be creative and create their own analysis.
  • To assist in Resource Based Learning the students are given detailed instructions but should have the freedom to develop opinions and questions.  They should also be encouraged to find the answers to their own questions and evidence to support their opinions.  Rather than giving the students more detailed instructions, there are general questions for the students and role specific help for the teacher. 
  • To assist with the Adaptive Dimension the various roles in the project require unique skills and abilities.  Special Needs students may be encouraged to take the role of the "National Cartographer" or the "Water treatment and pollution expert".   This role will require a computer for each individual.
    •
    Evaluation:
    Research Summary 25
    Group Work 15
    Presentation 25
    Debate 15
    Personal response 20

     

    Group self-evaluation

    Group members: _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________

    By group consensus, decide how to rate your group with respect to each criterion below. Use the numbers 1-3 to represent the terms indicated in the key.
    1. Yes 2. Somewhat 3. No
    We allocated responsibilities fairly. ____________
    We considered everyone's ideas. ____________
    We made sure everyone participated in group discussions. ____________
    We helped each other fulfil our assignments. ____________
    The best thing about our group was ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________

    We could make our group work better by ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________

    LINKS:

    Students Start Page

    LINKS for TEACHERS

    • Project Wet  

      • Water Education for Teachers:  This site lists resources (print) that may be purchased.  They also offer workshops for teachers including binders full of excellent resources.

    • Water Science for Kids: Challenge Questions

      • http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/sacsc.html

      • This site has intriguing questions about water consumption but may not fit into this lesson?  That's why it is only listed on the teachers page!

    • "Troubled Water," Briarpatch, Vol.29, #6, July/Aug. 1999, p.16

    • "Redistributing Rainfall," Canada and the World Backgrounder, World Trade 1998, Vol. 64, #2, Oct. 1998. (Available in Macromedia)

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