The Impact of 'Polish Gold'

Objective:

Students will be able to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using photography and digital text to present the effect of burning coal on air pollution in Poland in order to create and defend a presentation that they feel will best support advocacy for coal regulation

Essential Question:

What is the best way to communicate information in order to invest an audience in a cause?

Warm-up:

1. On your own: If someone wanted to get you involved in a cause, what would be the best way to get you interested? (Rank 1-5)

• Post a picture and headline on social media ____
• Send you an email explaining the cause_______
• Approach you on the street and explain the issue in person _____
• Create a billboard with a photo and tagline _______
• Film a video and post it to the television/youtube ___________

2. Think and Discuss: Compare with your classmates. (Ask a person next to you about their rankings or ask your teacher to take a poll to see what everyone ranked as their top choice) Identify some of the advantages and disadvantages of using each medium. Share with the class.

3. Optional discussion: What is an issue you are passionate about? What is something you hope to change in the world? How did you become passionate about it?

Introducing the Lesson:

Today’s lesson will explore how journalist Beth Gardiner reports on an issue she is passionate about: air pollution in Poland caused by burning coal.

Here is more information about Gardiner from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting’s website. The Pulitzer Center is an organization that supports international journalists.

“Beth Gardiner is a London-based journalist covering environment, climate and energy. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Guardian, the Wall Street Journal and The Times (London), among others. For ten years, she covered politics, culture, breaking news and more as a reporter in the Associated Press's New York and London bureaus, traveling to the Middle East, China and India on reporting assignments. In 2005, she spent a month in Aceh and Jakarta, Indonesia, reporting on the aftermath of the Asian tsunami as part of an AP team honored with a National Headliner Award for its coverage of that disaster. She is the recipient of a Society of Environmental Journalists’ Fund for Environmental Journalism 2014 travel grant and is currently focused on air pollution’s impact on public health in countries from Poland and India to the United States and Britain.”

Throughout today’s lesson, we will analyze how Gardiner uses different media to report on the impact of burning coal in Poland. Our goal will be to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of using digital media and print articles to convey information so that we can create a plan for our own resource that could be used to support Gardiner’s work.

Introducing Resource 1 “Poland: Coal’s Deadly Toll”:

This resource uses text and images to introduce the impacts of burning coal on the community in Kraków, Poland. Review the following article and slide show and then use the questions to analyze how the author uses text and images to impassion readers about the dangerous impacts of coal on Polish people. Think, what are the advantages and disadvantages of using this slideshow to introduce readers to the issue?

Optional post-reading: Share your responses with the group. (This can be done in small groups, with a partner, or facilitated by a teacher whole group.)

Introducing Resource 2: “The Fight against pollution in Krakow”

The following article was printed in The Guardian, a British newspaper. As you read the article, use the analysis questions to consider the advantages and disadvantages of using the article to engage readers in the issue of air pollution caused by burning coal in Poland. In addition to answering the analysis questions, underline particularly strong examples of images or text that get you interested in the issue presented by Gardiner.

Optional post-reading: Share your responses with the group. (This can be done in small groups, with a partner, or facilitated by a teacher whole group.)

Conclusion:

Creating plans to engage our communities

1. Imagine that Gardiner and the Kraków Smog Alarm have requested your support in getting your local community involved in advocating for regulation of burning coal in Poland. Create a plan for a resource that can be used to inform your community about this issue, a resource that would get them excited and engaged!

2. Your plan must contain the following elements:

• A detailed outline in paragraph form of the medium(s) you will use and how the medium(s) will be used. (video, photo on facebook with text, an article, etc.) Include a sentence or two sentences outlining why you have chosen the medium(s) you chose.
• Include 3-5 images/examples from the texts you reviewed today.
• Include an action step for the community you are planning to engage. What can they do to get involved? How can you communicate that information to them?