Improving Water and Waste Management
Years 7-9 Technology, SOSE, Science and Multi-strand Science
Main Idea
In this unit, students will apply their knowledge, experience and resources to investigate products and processes that may help to reduce human related impacts on the Great Barrier Reef.
Students will examine the range of technologies available for managing the direct and indirect impacts of wastes and water run off on the quality of water entering the Marine Park. They will then investigate how these technologies may be applied to managing water runoff and waste generated in their school. Finally, they will appraise effectiveness of these technologies in achieving desired outcomes.
Key Understandings
Technologies are available to improve the quality of water entering the Great Barrier Reef.
These technologies have been developed to address specific problems and deliver outcomes that meet human needs and wants, capitalise on opportunities and extend human capabilities. These technologies may include man-made processes, structures, systems or services and elements of the natural environment. Use of these technologies may impact on and have consequences for individuals, local and global communities, and the environment.
Many innovative, workable, environmentally appropriate and socially acceptable technologies, built structures (hard and soft) and actions have been designed and engineered to achieve sustainable use and management of resources that may impact on and affect natural environments such as the Reef.
Focus Questions
Define the problem -
- How and why is the environment under pressure?
- What can we do and why is it important to get involved?
- What areas or sites need action first?
Address the problem -
- What must we consider when selecting an appropriate technology to manage the impact?
- How will this technology affect the surrounding environment?
- What are the anticipated benefits to the environment from the use of this technology?
- Do the benefits outweigh the costs (financial, social and environmental)?
- What is the cost of maintaining the proposed technological devices and who is responsible?
Evaluate the effectiveness of the management action or technology -
- How will the effectiveness of design be investigated and evaluated?
Key Terms
Alternatives, Best Management Practices (BMP's), biodiversity, clients, conflict issue, conflict resolution, conservation, construction, cost-benefit analysis, cultural values, design brief, devising, ecologically sustainable development (ESD), economic values, ecosystem, environmental protection, environmental values, ethics, evaluation criteria, features, function, impacts, implementation, indigenous peoples, information, innovation, integrated management, interest group, investigating, legislation, management plans, materials, methods, model, natural hazards, permits, political values, principles, processes, producing, prototype, rare, recreational, resource, restrictions, rural run-off, urban run-off, safety, stakeholder / user group, solution, technologies, tourism, zoning.
Key Learning Areas
- Technology
- SOSE
- English
- Science
- Mathematics
Key Competencies
- Collecting, organising and analysing information;
- Communicating ideas and information;
- Solving problems;
- Using technology; and
- Working in teams to achieve desired outcomes.
Learning Objectives
To enable students to broaden their knowledge and understanding of currently available technologies for managing the impacts of water runoff and waste in Australia and overseas.
To enable them to develop an understanding of the innovative, workable, environmentally appropriate, socially acceptable and cost effective water and waste management technologies available today.
Outcomes
On completion of this unit, teachers should be able to make judgements about each student's level of achievement with regard to the following criteria:
From Rich Task:
- Research the needs/purposes of the water or waste technology
- Research constraints
- Research considerations (eg climate, culture, aesthetics)
- Research construction methods
- Prepare a written design brief detailing the parameters of the design, together with their rationale
- Synthesise the research
- Display concept sketches and plans to convey the design and its aesthetics and highlight creative breakthroughs and key elements
- Make a model or sketch to explain the technology
Activity Ideas
Tuning in: Sample Activities
- Develop a futures wheel and/or concept map to unearth topics and threats related to water and waste management in schools;
- Brainstorm issues related to the management of water runoff and waste;
- Brainstorm water and waste related threats to the Great Barrier Reef;
Preparing to find out: Sample Activities
- Determine sources of information students have access to and are realistically likely to need, e.g. volumes of water runoff and waste produced, current methods of disposal or reuse, alternatives available;
- Express ideas, with a Council educator/ school groundsperson/ teacher playing the role of "devil's advocate" and take different poles on issues to expose a range of views and possible starting points;
Finding out: Sample Activities
- Explore the issues of managing water runoff and wastes in the school through class discussion, class and SRC meetings, guest speakers, searching local papers and media for ideas and sketching proposals and notions;
- Search the local papers and media for information about water runoff and waste related threats and issues affecting the Great Barrier Reef. Find out how these issues are being handled currently and how they might be managed better; and
- Use Edward De-Bono's six-hat thinking techniques to examine the issues, risks and threats from a range of perspectives.
Sorting out: Sample Activities
Encourage the students to refine their questions and clarify how their investigations will be conducted. For example:
- Individually or in groups, formulate possible lines of inquiry into water runoff and waste related threats and issues affecting the Great Barrier Reef. Investigate innovative water and waste management technologies used within Australia to improve environmental outputs;
- List the threats and/or issues under the headings- water runoff; organic waste; other pollution; actions we can take; possible and probable futures; technologies available today; possible innovations/inventions; and
- Prepare a table to collate information relating to the project. Include the names of those responsible for the project and detail where they will seek the information and how it will be gathered.
Going further: Sample Activities
Valuable information can be gathered by many means and students are encouraged to:
- Search the 'world wide web' for relevant sites and explore links to other sites.
- Conduct interviews with staff from the local Councils, Consulting firms, and government agencies such as the Queensland EPA and the DNRM;
- Identify and interview people from agencies such as the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority who are involved in issues that affect the Reef, such as water quality or pollution;
- Identify people who are knowledgeable in water runoff and waste management techniques, processes and technologies;
- Document known information;
- Compare issues and threats facing the Great Barrier Reef with those affecting other environments, both nationally and globally (e.g. rain forests);
- Cultivate contacts in the broader community for relevant information about water and waste management technologies; and
- Write or fax letters to groups involved with the design of innovative technologies. They may be industry groups, government agencies, research institutions and/or organisations.
Making connections: Sample Activities
Encourage students to:
- Tabulate the findings from their investigations;
- Consider the motives of the author(s) of the information;
- Apply De Bono's six-hat thinking to determine the orientation of statements found;
- Check one person's interpretation against another;
- Search for inconsistencies;
- Evaluate information which presents contrasting opinions;
- Make judgements about how to deal with conflicting information;
- Rearrange the information to reflect new patterns;
- Determine the features needed in any technology that might be used in the protection and conservation of the Reef;
- Examine the appropriateness of processes used in available water and waste management technologies
- Identify the key functional, aesthetic, political and environmental features of technological ideas and practices used to better manage water runoff and waste that enters the Reef; and
- Investigate how water and waste management technologies are used and explain their impact on the sediment and pollution loads in the Great Barrier Reef and explain their significance, if any, at a local and/or global level.
Taking action: Sample Activities
Once the investigations have been completed, and any additional information has been evaluated, students could:
- Write a series of generalisations about the water and waste related technologies, based on the information analysed;
- Initiate a question and answer session to discuss conclusions with other classes;
- Investigate the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits of various solutions proposed;
- Consider the consequences of different responses to the conclusions arrived at; and/or
- Present the worst and best case scenarios in a persuasive argument.
Once the information has been collated and discussed, students might undertake the following activities:
- Develop an action plan using flowcharts, consequence charts, timelines and visual tools to support understanding of how the use innovative technologies may help protect the Great Barrier Reef;
- Draft design sketches of some management technologies;
- Identify what is needed to build such technologies;
- Construct a model to demonstrate the workings of the technology;
- Generate detailed reports, multi-media presentations, or brochures outlining findings and solutions to the threats, issues and management practices;
- Mount a display inviting others' viewpoints and ideas; and
- Write letters to editors of newspapers expressing views on the use of innovative and environmentally acceptable water and waste management technologies to reduce impacts and threats to the Great Barrier Reef.
Reflection on outcomes
Encourage students to:
- Assess the effectiveness of the designs, processes and products;
- Examine the benefits and costs of the technologies in functional, social and environmental terms;
- Discuss the main obstacles and opportunities in obtaining information about the innovative water and waste management practices used protect and conserve the Great Barrier Reef;
- Write an account of the investigation or develop a flowchart identifying strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the strategies used by levels of Government and community groups in using innovative technologies to protect and manage the Great Barrier Reef; and
- Reflect on whether the investigation has changed students' individual attitudes to the use of innovative technologies, the Great Barrier Reef and the pressure it faces.
After reflection, stimulate group discussions to identify and deal with unresolved questions, and to initiate future investigations.
References
Armstrong, P (1998), The waste Wise Way: savings, benefits and school operating practices, Ecorecycle, Victoria.
Dodd, B. & J. Dodd (1994), Geographical Perspectives of People and their Environment, SECTRUM, The Jacaranda Press, Milton.
Environmental Audits. An Environmental Education Resource for Students and Teachers Years 5-8(1996), Gould League of New South Wales Inc.
Gell, R. & Beedy, R (1989), Its easy being green. McCulloch Publishing, Victoria.
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (1999), Reef Manual, GBRMPA, Townsville.
Keep Australia Beautiful Council (1998), School Environmental audit. A guide to best practice environmental management. Keep Australia Beautiful Council.
Tyler Miller, G. (1994), Living in the Environment, International Thomson Publishing, USA.
Preuss, P., G. Duke & J. Rogers (1998), A Sustainable Earth, VAEE, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne.
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Water and Waste Management activity
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