Lesson Plans

Exploring Downstream: Water Resources

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Ugandan marine police guard the tiny fishing-rich island of Migingo in Lake Victoria. Kenya, like Uganda, claims ownership. (photo by Ouko Okusah)

Water Walker, Fadi Jilo, with reporter Jessica Partnow.

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The Great Wall of China ends in the western Jiayuguan of Gansu Province. After hundreds of years of erosion from wind and water, the wall is slowly being attacked once again.

This curriculum was created by Kristen Collins.

STUDENT PREPARATION:

Prior to delving into the stories contained within this web portal, ask your students to think about the following:

  1. How many times a day do you use water? In what capacity?
  2. How might your day be different if you didn't have safe, clean drinking water at your disposal? Where would you get your water? How would you ensure that it was safe to drink/use in your cooking?
  3. Read or play the video introduction to this project for your students.

THE LESSON

Part 1: Water Wars: Ethiopia and Kenya

  1. Go to the project "Water Wars: Ethiopia and Kenya."
  2. Have your students read the introduction to this project, or read it to them aloud.
  3. Read the lesson plan resources "Diminishing Water Resources Threaten Peace" and "Kenya Seeks Cheap Power at the Expense of Turkana." You may wish to print these out and divide them among your class to read. Then, have each group summarize their article and discuss how the need/desire for water is fueling conflict.
  4. Access the article "Africa's Growing Water Crisis." Have your students read the article and answer the following questions:
    1. Many of the people of southern Ethiopia are pastoralists, meaning that their livelihood is based on moving their herds in search of fertile pastures. Because there has been so little rain, what is happening to their livestock?
    2. Why is there such a water shortage?
    3. How has the scarcity of water fueled conflicts between the tribes?
  5. After students have read the article, watch the lesson plan resource "Troubled Waters." Play this for your students and have them answer the following questions: *Note: this video is NOT through Youtube
    1. What is happening to Lake Victoria? (Explain the reason for this.)
    2. What countries are involved in the dispute over loss of water in Lake Victoria?
    3. What, politically, is the potential impact of this dispute in this region?
  6. Access "Haramaya: Voices from a Vanished Lake." Play this audio slideshow for your students and ask them to answer the following questions:
    1. Describe Lake Haramaya in 1987, 2004, and then in 2008. What are 2-3 reasons cited for the loss of this lake?
    2. Why should the rest of the world take notice when lakes such as this one disappear?
    3. What has been the impact of the loss of this lake on the local population?
  7. Access "Water Walker." Have your students listen to this story and answer the following questions:
    1. Describe a day in the life of a "water walker."
    2. How would not having easy access to water impact your daily routine?
  8. Access the radio program titled "Clean Water for Kenya." Have your students listen to the story (or they can read the transcript) and answer the following questions:
    1. Why is the water in the Kibera slum of Kenya so expensive?
    2. Even if you buy the water, is it guaranteed to be safe? Why or why not?
    3. How does Solar Water Disinfection (SODIS) work?
    4. Since the inception of the SODIS program in 2004 there has been a 20% decrease in diarrhea in the slum. How else might access to clean water help to enhance the lives of people in the Kibera slum (other than not having to contend with being sick)?

Part 2: South Asia's Troubled Waters

  1. Go to "South Asia's Troubled Waters" and have your students read the introduction to this project, or read it aloud to the class.
  2. In the lesson plan resources section, access the story titled "Bangladesh Fights for Survival Against Climate Change."
  3. Have your students read this story and discuss the following questions:
    1. What is a char? How are chars proving helpful to the people of Bangladesh? Why is life in the lowlands, where chars form, so precarious?
    2. How is climate change affecting Bangladesh?
    3. What is the government of Bangladesh trying to do to combat the country's water problem?
  4. Access "Fleeing Catastrophe, Stuck in the Slums of Bangladesh" in the lesson plan resources. This story is connected to "Bangladesh Fights for Survival Against Climate Change" because many Bangladeshis have been displaced from their homes and villages as a result of rising waters. This video is about a young couple that fled to Dhaka's slums to escape the rising waters, but they, like so many others, face terrible conditions and the lack of opportunities in the city.
  5. Ask your students to ponder what options people like those highlighted in this video might have for a better life.

Part 3: Desertification in China

  1. Access the project titled "Desertification in China" and have your students read the introduction, or read it to them aloud.
  2. Access the story titled "Desertification: On the Trail of Abandoned Cities" in the lesson resources (you may wish to help students locate, approximately, where in China journalist, Sean Gallagher, was reporting using a classroom map). Have your students read this article and answer the following questions:
    1. What is desertification?
    2. How has desertification been affecting parts of western China?
    3. What was the significance of the city of Yinpan, and what led to its demise?
    4. Why is important to protect historically significant places like Yinpan? Why is China unable to provide this protection?
  3. Access the BBC World story "Interview about Desertification in China" and fast forward to 16:56. Have your students answer the following questions:
    1. What is the Chinese government doing to help people that are fleeing desertification?
    2. What is an "environmental refugee"?
    3. According to Sean Gallagher, how did most of the people that he interviewed feel about living in these fabricated cities?
    4. When Gallagher stayed with the farmer and his family, what did he say the farmer was doing that was in violation of government policies concerning desertification?
    5. If you were a farmer that raised animals in this part of the world, what options might you have to ensure the survival of your flock?
    6. Why are tourists now heading out to the edge of the desert?
  4. Access "Showcase: Shifting Sands" in The New York Times. Have your students examine the images of desertification in China and the photo captions. After viewing these images ask them to discuss the following:
    1. What stood out to you about these photos?
    2. What do you think it would be like to be caught in a sandstorm like the ones you just saw?
    3. In your opinion, what ways of life do you think this environment could support?
Educator Notes: 

These videos are linked to the web portal through Youtube. If you do not have Youtube access at school, you may request a copy of the video from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, or assign your students to view the video at home.

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