Social Studies 8
October 2002

To begin your assignment, click on the "Instructions" button, and continue from there.

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R. Derksen,

Instructions

The class is provided with a list of Environmental Concerns.

• deforestation
• extinction
• overpopulation
• global warming
• drought
• threatened reefs

From this list they will choose one topic to explore for their Research Project.

Learning Objectives

Technical Skills: Map making, Note taking, Research Skills, Oral presentation skills, Constructing Graph, Table or Chart, Making illustration, Bibliography

Other Skills: Working in a team, Organizating information, Meeting deadlines, Becoming the "expert" on a topic.

Format

1. State Problem: 5 Ws. What it is, Who caused it, Why, Where, When and How
• Effects of this problem on the world
• What groups are doing something about the issue
?
• What will happen if nothing is done
2. What local, national or world organizations are doing something about this problem? What are they doing?
3. What can you do to help this situation? example: Endangered Species: don't buy exotic pets, write to pet stores who sell them
4. Assignments:
• Illustrations
• Graph, Table or Chart
• Map to scale with legend and directions
• Bibliography
• Oral Presentation
• Project Poster: Title, Researched Essay, Pictures, Captions, Map, Graph, table or chart, and Bibliography
• ASSIGNMENT TO BE COMPLETED ON WORD PROCESSOR

Social Studies 8 Group Assignment Guidelines

1. There will be 3 students per group.
2. Assignments will consist of:
• 3 researched texts including headings
• Minimum of 3 Illustrations (at least 1 to be hand drawn)
• Graph, Table, Chart, or Timeline
• Map to Scale with legend and directions
• Bibliography
• Project Poster: Border, Participants' names, Title, 3 Researched Essays with headings, Map with legend and directions, 3 Pictures with Captions, Graph / Table / Chart or Timeline, Bibliography. NOTE: See handout for example of Poster Layout
• Group Oral Presentation
3. Assignment to be completed on word processor

Text Format

Heading #1 Environment Concern:

Pay special attention to the 5W/H facts to explain how this problem affects the world. (What it is, Who caused it, Why, Where and How). What will happen if nothing is done?
MINIMUM of 120 words

Heading #2 Who's Helping and How:

What local, national or world organizations or individuals are doing something about this problem, and what are they doing? How is what they are doing helping?
MINIMUM of 100 words

Heading #3 What I could do as a global citizen:

What can you do to help improve this situation?
Examples can be made in point form

Environmental Assignment Requirements

1. Title must have a specific font
2. Your map must be hand drawn and coloured with a legend and directions
3. Your Bibliography must consist of at least 2 websites and 1 book or encyclopedia
4. All 3 texts, including captions and headings, must be word processed.
5. Text #1: Environmental Concern - minimum words: 120
6. Text #2: Who's Helping and How - minimum words: 100
7. Text #3: What I Could Do as a Global Citizen: examples in point form
8. Your poster border needs to be 3 cm. wide and be decorated
9. 1 picture must be hand drawn, the 2 others need to be cut and pasted from the 'Net
10. Group Oral Presentation must be 5 minutes long. Criteria will be determined later

Project Checklist

• In all, there are 11 items in this assignment. Check the Assignment list on your Guidelines sheet to make sure you have completed the project
• Do you have headings for all 3 texts?
• Environmental Concern
• Who's Helping and How
• What I Could Do as a Global Citizen
• Does each text answer all of the questions?
• Have you included captions with your illustrations, maps, graph / table / chart or timeline?
• Did you decorate your border?
• Do you have 3 illustrations (1 hand drawn and 2 from net)?
• Does your Bibliography consist of at least 2 websites and 1 book?
• Have you checked your work for neatness, spelling and grammar errors?

Print Resources

You can go to the Reference Section to see what the encyclopedia have on your topic. However, your best bet is to check the online resources first.

You can also check WebCat to see what books we have on your topic, if any. Be sure to narrow down your search by selecting CEDS so that you will search only in the Cedar Secondary School Library!

Online Resources

General

• EarthTrends is the main page to environmental concerns information from the World Resources Institute. The issue sections below refer to specific parts of this web site.
• Environmental History Timeline surveys environmental concerns over the last 2,000 years. See if your topic is mentioned.
• Global Environment Outlook a United Nations report by regions. It covers several topics on your globals issues list.
• Planet Diary has updates on many of the issues you are dealing with. Check out especially the "current phenomena section.

Overpopulation

• Global Trends in Population and Human Development from World Resources Institute. Aside from good information, this site has great maps and graphs.
• Population Action International Check especially the sections "Population Issues" and "Resources".
• The Population Bomb from PBS is based on one of its television programmes. Use the four major headings near the top of the page (the show, etc.) and in each section use the menu buttons on the right-hand side.

Deforestation

• Forests, grasslands, and drylands from the World Resources Institute.
• Global Forests Watch The information is organized by country. You can choose from among 9 countries. Be sure to make use of the maps and photographs.
• Forests.org deals with many aspects of the life of forests as well as deforestation.

Global Warming

• Climate Change and Energy from the World Resources Institute. Be sure to check the maps and graphs.
• Air is a "fun site" from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. There are lots of good pictures. Check the sections on global warming and the ozone layer.
• Global Warming from the U.S. EPA is an excellent site.

Threatened Reefs

• Coaster and Marine Ecosystems from World Resources Institute. Check out especially Reefs at Risk in Southeast Asia is a one-article summary of a book, but a good introduction nonetheless.
• Reefs at Rish from World Resources Institute provides good information and excellent links to other resources.
• About Coral Reefs from the U.S. EPA is an excellent site.

Drought

• Fresh Water Systems from World Resources Institute studies our use of fresh water and risks to the world's water supply.
• Drought Information Online from the University of Saskatchewan dealing with current drought conditions on the prairies. The articles deal with the effects of the drought on farming. One good section to read is the one on Farm Stress.
• Drought Monitor is a site that follows drought conditions in the United States. Great maps. Use this site as a "bonus" to give you some extra materials for your assignment if you need it.
• Drought: Background on a Hot Issue ... That Needn't Be Dry presents background information on current droughts in the United States for journalists who wish to write about it. Perhaps it can help you too in finding some way to present your report.
• Horn of Africa Drought from ReliefWeb presents a list of document resources reporting on the drought and its effects. A great case study of a horrific problem. You can use this resource to illustrate the very serious aspects of droughts.

Extinction

• Threats to biodiversity from World Resources Institute provides a good introduction to the problem.
• Plants and Animals is a "fun site" from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. There are lots of good pictures.
• Endangered Species is a large site which also has a good section on extinction.
• The Tragedy of the Dodo is a fascinating case study of a bird that became extinct over 300 years ago! However, we can learn a lot from this bird's fate about how fragile life is.