| Grade Level: |
Subject Areas |
|
High School
Senior Project |
- Environmental Science
- Current Events
- Technology
- Ethics
|
Description: Students
will undertake a comprehensive study and analysis of a local body of water
(i.e. river basin, lake, river, etc.), including a 10-15 page research paper,
physical product (i.e. brochure), portfolio and oral presentation on water
quality.
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| Skill
Areas |
- Library research
- Internet research
- Time management
- Interview skills
- Application of knowledge/skills acquired
|
| Vocabulary |
- water quality
- conservationist
- preservationist
- Clean Water Act
|
| Class
Time |
- Senior Project / This activity may be adapted for a unit study
on water quality
|
Goals and objectives
|
Materials and Equipment
- "Troubled Waters" Video
- Senior Project Guidelines
- Internet Access
- Microsoft PowerPoint
|
As
a result of this senior project students will discover some causes for changes
in water quality along coastal areas and how people effect and are affected
by the water quality. Students will have the opportunity to:
- Take on the roles of a scientist, government liaison, fisherman,
coastal resident, and conservationist/environmentalist
- Interview people in all of these roles in their own community on
the issues of water quality
- Research issues from each of these positions
- Provide relevant data on each of these positions
- Produce a product representative of each position
- Produce a paper for the Concerned Coastal Citizens
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Teaching
Preparation
The quality of the environment influences the quality of life in areas of
the country. Our coastal areas are being threatened. With an interest in
being near water, more of the population moves near the sea. This influx
of people stresses the ecological system, strains the sewage and water systems,
and provides a means for further environmental degradation.
With the enactment of the Clean Water Act in 1972, the nation rejected past
practices that had resulted in widespread pollution of rivers, lakes, and
coastal waters and made a new commitment to restore and maintain the chemical,
physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters. Despite impressive
progress, many of the nation's rivers, lakes, and coastal waters do not
meet water quality goals. Many waters that are now clean face the threat
of degradation from diverse pollution sources. States report that close
to 40% of the waters they surveyed are too polluted for basic uses like
fishing or swimming. The success in cleaning up pollution from point sources
like factories and sewage treatment plants has not yet been matched by controls
over polluted runoff from sources such as farms, urban areas, forestry,
ranching, and mining operations. Natural areas that are critical to the
health of aquatic systems, such as wetlands, stream corridors, and coastal
areas, are not adequately protected. In addition, water pollution poses
a continuing threat to public health. The number of fish consumption advisories
and beach closings is rising each year and new threats, such as the toxic
microorganism Pfiesteria, demand effective responses.
As public awareness of the environment grows, so does the knowledge that
no one part of it is isolated from the rest and that, what were once thought
to be harmless activities are now known to have potentially large consequences
to the quality of our lives. To most citizens, however, these concepts are
only just beginning to be understood. The idea that air and water pollution,
for example, are threatening the quality of our environment, has only recently
become part of the consciousness of the general public. It is now understood
that many human activities that were once believed to be gentle toward the
environment and to ourselves like pollution, waste disposal, and habitat
degradation have and will continue to reduce the overall condition of our
environment.
Water quality is a major environmental issue because of the emphasis on
non-point sources of pollution. Point sources of pollutants, such as outflows
from major industries, received a large share of the focus of past efforts
toward reducing levels of pollution in both inland and coastal areas. More
recent research has shown, however, that non-point sources represent a broader
range of pollutant sources and taken together, may contribute even more
to the overall problem of poor water quality.
Most coastal areas are entering or have been through an unprecedented phase
of economic growth with beneficial impacts. Care must be taken to preserve
the natural resources, which make the area unique and attract visitors and
residents to the coast. Exploitation of these natural resources must go
hand in hand with preservation of them for future generations. The Concerned
Coastal Citizens are here to maintain the delicate balance between resource
conservation and economic growth.
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Student Activity
Students will write a research paper, create a product, a portfolio, and
presentation.
- Students will need a mentor to help guide them through their project.
Some suggestions are an environmental scientist from a university, school
scientist, and a teacher on the Senior Project Board.
- Student's research paper topic should be exploratory/perspective on
each position and include the effects on local water quality. The conclusion
of the paper should explain how the student, as an individual, could
have less of an impact on these fragile coastal areas.
- Students should use resources that include library, Internet, interviews,
periodicals, and any other pertinent information.
- Students will create a product in the form of a video and/or brochure
for the hypothetical organization "Concerned Coastal Citizens."
The product will consist of a section for each concerned citizen.
-To represent the Scientists, students
will provide water quality data and a list of issues pertaining to
the coastal water under study.
-To represent the Government Liaison, students will
provide data on regulations concerning the Clean Water Act.
-To represent the Fisherman, students will provide
data on yearly catch recreational & commercial fisheries.
-To represent the Coastal Resident, students will
produce information and issues on tourism and population as well as
produce a map of the coastal area being studied with facts and places
of interest marked.
-To represent Conservationist and Environmentalist,
students will provide data on water quality, coastal facts, problems,
solutions, and treasures.
Students must spend 15 hours or more for development of these products.
- Students will keep a portfolio with various stages of their project
shown. Students will take photographs of their product during the process.
- Students must create a presentation to present to classmates for peer
evaluation before senior project board submittal. Students should also
prepare a speech focusing on the research, the product, and self-evaluation.
Lastly, students will create a PowerPoint to present information about
the topic, physical products, and the stages of the senior project journey
to the judges.
Search the "Troubled Waters" script
for John H. Morris', Director of the NC Division of Water Resources, interview
on the excellent programs for pollution in conjunction with The Division
of Water Quality.
Also check out Sandra Postel's, Director of Global Water Policy Project,
and Dr. Richard Spruill's, Associate Professor of Hydrology at East Carolina
University, interviews on water quality.
Sandra Postel
Interview (Microsoft Word document)
Richard Spruill
Interview (Microsoft Word document)
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Extension
“If
you look at this area and say, 'Can you bring together local governments?
Can you bring the engineers together? Can you bring the state environmental
protection folks together? And can you reach a marriage and common
understanding on what’s the best thing to do given this critical
resource?' The answer is yes.
”
Billy Ray Hall
President,
North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, Inc. (Rural Center) |
N/A
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Additional
Resources
Senior
Project at SERVE,
http://www.serve.org/seniorproject/index.html
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),
http://www.enr.state.nc.us/
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