WOODROW WILSON ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE INSTITUTE RUTGERS 1998

 

    RATIONALE
    OBJECTIVES
    BACKGROUND
    MATERIALS
    PROCEDURE
    CLOSURE
    SAMPLE DILEMMAS

RATIONALE:

    It has been demonstrated that humans accomplish those tasks that they individually or collectively value.  How do we develop a practice of valuing water?  Through knowledge and understanding?

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OBJECTIVES:

    The students will be able to:
    Examine their own values and beliefs related to water issues.
    Evaluate possible actions they might take that have an impact on water in the environment.
    Examine, express, clarify, and take responsibility for their own reasoning.
 

   NATIONAL SCIENCE STANDARDS APPLICATIONS:

    TEACHING STANDARD A:  Teachers of science plan an inquiry-based science program for their students.
        In doing this, teachers:
 
        Select science content and adapt and design curricula to meet the interests, knowledge,
        understanding, abilities, and experiences of students; and

        Work together as colleagues within and across disciplines and grade levels.

    CONTENT STANDARD C: As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop
    understanding of  behavior of organisms.
 
         THE INTERDEPENDENCE OF ORGANISMS

          Organisms both cooperate and compete in ecosystems. The interrelationships and interdependencies of
          these organisms may generate ecosystems that are stable for hundreds or thousands of years.
          Living organisms have the capacity to produce populations of infinite size, but environments and
          resources are finite. This fundamental tension has profound effects on the interactions between organisms.

          Human beings live within the world's ecosystems. Increasingly, humans modify ecosystems as a result of
          population growth, technology, and consumption. Human destruction of habitats through direct harvesting,
          pollution, atmospheric changes, and other factors is threatening current global stability, and if not addressed,
          ecosystems will be irreversibly affected.
 

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BACKGROUND:

    The water resources that we have in the regions of our world are always precious, regardless of their relative abundance.  The well-being of any region in the world is closely tied to adequate supplies of water.  Farmers and ranchers depend upon precipitation to grow their crops and raise livestock.  Our cities and towns need dependable sources of water to meet their increasing domestic and commercial/industrial needs.

    Meeting our water needs may become a formidable task.  There are many reasons for this.  Foremost is the different water values that people hold.  To what extent a person values water has a great deal to do with:

                Upbringing - A person's past has a lot to do with the way he or she values water.  Did your parents have
                ample supplies of water or did they have little?  Did they ever live in an area where a drought occurred?
                A person who has experienced a drought will no doubt have a different value than someone who has not.

                Occupation - Some professions are more dependent on water than others.  For example, the success of
                a very important industry - agriculture - is closely tied to receiving adequate amounts of moisture at the
                right times.

                Location - Certain areas are more prone to water problems than others.  For example, if you live in the
                low-lying area along a river and experience a flood and your house is flooded, you will have a much
                greater appreciation for floodwaters.

                Presence or Absence of Modern Conveniences - Technological advances have had a great deal to do
                with the improvement of our quality of life.  An example of how we have improved our quality of life is
                the change from hauling water by bucket to running water and the miracle called "indoor plumbing."

    Your students will have other ideas, some of which you want to write on the board for further discussion.

    As stewards of our natural resources, we have an obligation to manage the resources to the best of our abilities.
This means weighing the good and the bad points of any action.  At a personal level, you are faced with hundreds of choices that reflect your water values.  For example, you can build a septic system at your lakefront cabin or you can leave the present system that is polluting the lake.  What do you do?  What types of things will you consider when making your decision?
 

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MATERIALS:

    You will need Dilemma Cards - they should be on separate cards, printed as suggested or made up independently by the teacher and/or students.  See SAMPLE DILEMMAS.

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PROCEDURE:

    Students will read, discuss, make judgments, and write about hypothetical dilemmas concerning water issues and natural resources in their region.  They will talk about water resources as being important to their communities, to rural water users, and to other water interests, and how each of us will be asked to make more and more personal choices on water use and water conservation.

*    Copy the dilemma cards.  The students can also create their own dilemmas on blank cards, ones that are
      possibly more specific to their region.  There should be one card per student.

*    Divide the students into small groups.  Have the students put their cards in a pile, face down, in the center of
      the group.

*    Each student takes a card and reads it silently.  Give the students several minutes to study the situation and
      decide what they would do and why.  After time is up, have each student read his situation and options aloud to
      the group.  He then gives his chosen option and why.

*    The rest of the players decide to what degree each agrees with the other player's answer.  Rating is done on a
      scale of 0-10.  Zero is total disagreement and 10 means total agreement.  A rating of "5" means "no opinion"
      or "needs more information."

*    Each player is given a chance to announce how he or she rates the other player's decision and give reasons
      why.  The person being rated should have the opportunity to ask questions and offer clarification.  Ratings
      should not represent a judgment of the person but a way for students to experience have their ideas examined
      by peers.  The ultimate purpose is to provide the students with an opportunity to examine, express, clarify,
      and take responsibility for their own reasoning.

*    Continue the process until all players have had a turn.  The process may be continued to another day.

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CLOSURE:

    One member of each group could report on the most controversial dilemma the group discussed and the class
as a whole could informally evaluate the option that was selected and provide alternatives that might be better.

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SAMPLE DILEMMAS:

Dilemma 1.    You have changed your car's oil.  What do you do now?
    1.  Put the oil in the back of your garage.
    2.  Place it in a garbage can for disposal in the landfill.
    3.  Pour it on the ground someplace out of sight on your land.
    4.  Burn it.
    5.  Take it to an approved disposal site several miles from home.
    6.  Other solution.....

Dilemma 2.       You have one gallon of water for one week.  How will you use it?
    1.  Ration some for yourself each day for drinking only.
    2.  Share with your dog or cat.
    3.  Water your dying plants with some.
    4.  Learn how to gather some more from the air conditioning on the underside of a closed plastic-covered
         container in the sun, and use that for plants and animals.
    5.  Other solution.....

Dilemma 3.     You and a friend are out hiking and you see someone dumping a 55-gallon drum of what may be
    hazardous material into a wash.  What do you do?
    1.  Go over and ask what is going on.
    2.  Run home and call the police.
    3.  Wait until the dumper leaves, then go touch and feel the stuff.
    4.  Take down the license number and report it to the authorities.
    5.  Other solution.....

Dilemma 4.    Irrigation of crops is drying up streams, impacting fish populations and recreation.  What would you
    do as the governor of the state?
    1.  Ask irrigators to stop irrigating.
    2.  Ask fishermen to use the larger rivers.
    3.  Establish a committee to study the problem.
    4.  Propose a dam/reservoir to store water for release when needed.
    5.  Purchase/lease irrigated acres to eliminate the demand.
    6.  Establish a water conservation program with incentives for less use.
    7.  Check records to see if the stream usually has autumn water.
    8.  Other solution......

Dilemma 5.     You are walking to your class and you see that one of the sprinklers on the school grounds has
    broken and is spraying water across the sidewalk and into the street.  What do you do?
    1.  Put your finger on the sprinkler and send a friend to report it.
    2.  Tell your teacher about the leak.
    3.  Report the leak to the custodian.
    4.  Send and anonymous letter to the principal.
    5.  Walk carefully under the water to keep from getting wet.
    6.  Forget about it.  It's a small leak.
    7.  Go to the pump house and turn the water off.
    8.  Pull the fire alarm.
    9.  Other solution.......

Dilemma 6.    Your city is running out of water and everyone will face severe conservation restrictions.  Which
    would you choose?
    1.  Ban the building of private swimming pools.
    2.  Limit grass watering to 15 minutes three times a week.
    3.  Ban all car washing.
    4.  Restrict household use to 30 gallons per day per person.
    5.  Other solution.....

Dilemma 7.    You own a cabin on a lake that is 100 miles from your permanent home.  There are 400 other cabins
    on this rather good-sized lake.  Sewage from your cabin is moving from your septic system's drain field, through
    the ground, into the lake.  You have been notified by the health district that the lake's water quality is poor, and
    weed, algae, and odor problems could result because of the septic system problems.  What do you do?
    1.  Sell the cabin.
    2.  Ignore the problem.  It's not your problem because you don't swim, fish or boat.
    3.  Have your sewage pumped and hauled to a safe disposal site.
    4.  Form a lake association and try to resolve the problem with the help of others in the same "boat".
    5.  Other solution.....

Dilemma 8.    You are the mayor of a city which has an area known to flood.  A developer wants to build 5 new
    homes on the location.  What do you do?
    1.  Inform the developer no building will be allowed.
    2.  Let him build in that area, after all he is a big campaign contributor.
    3.  Insist on "elevated" homes to avoid flood damage.
    4.  Instruct him to find alternative sites out of the flood plain.
    5.  Other solution.....

Dilemma 9.    The well on your farm is not meeting your domestic and livestock water needs.  What do you do?
    1.  Haul water in by tank, truck, or wagon.
    2.  Sign up for the new rural water system proposed for your area.
    3.  Drill a new well on your property.
    4.  Reduce your farm's water consumption to an amount less than the well's yield.
    5.  Dig a trench from the nearby river to divert it to your use.
    6.  Other solution.....

Dilemma 10.    You own 320 acres of farm land directly over the area's sole source aquifer.  You are offered
    $10,000 per acre for it.  What do you do?
    1.  Sell and move to Maui.
    2.  Inquire about the buyer's intentions for the land.
    3.  Talk with you family about it.  After all, crop prices have been down the last few years and there are more
          and more regulations on what you can do.
    4.  Refuse to sell at any price so that the land and aquifer will be safe from development and pollution.
    5.  Offer to sell to agricultural interests only.
    6.  Other solution.....

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