Sequence | Background | Objectives | Materials | Activity | Extensions | Evaluations

TOPIC-TITLE Marine & Aquatic Pollution - The Coastal Town: Scientific Design and Planning AUTHOR Cynthia Louden Carolyn Elliott Karen Jardine Kimberly Dernowski GRADE SUITABILITY Middle School SCOPE Marine Policy/Management

Sequence This lesson would complement completion of a unit on oceanography. You could use it to review a multitude of concepts. You may modify the problem cards for classroom appropriateness. < < go top

Background Summary Citizens of coastal towns often need to plan for problems people from landlocked towns can ignore. Biological, geological, physical, chemical, and political considerations must be addressed to plan for the future of a coastal town. Economically, the success or demise of coastal towns is linked to the environment. This activity provides an opportunity for students to develop a plan to solve various problems for a hypothetical coastal town. < < go top Objectives Students will be able to do the following: Formulate a written plan for the future of a town based on their own interpretation of typical coastal problems and solutions. Define their plan in an oral presentation to the other students in class. < < go top Materials The following biological, geological, physical, chemical, and political cards must be constructed by cooperative learning student teams: Biological Considerations A fishing industry, based on menhaden, thrived in your area in the 1950s and 1960s. Because of a lack of fishing restrictions and regulations, the menhaden population decreased dramatically, which forced the closure of the processing plant in 1967. Since 1967 the menhaden population has increased to healthy levels. Your area is one of only six locations worldwide where an endangered species of fish, Hall ullmanensis, is found. A European (exotic) species of algae, with little food value, was transported in the bilge water of a ship and established itself in the water column adjacent to your town. It has now "out-competed" many local species of algae and is the primary producer in the water column. Farmers want to have regulations changed to enable them to use sludge from the sewage treatment plants to fertilize their tomato fields. Other citizens are concerned that scientists do not know as much as they should about viruses derived from sewage sludge. These citizens are worried that unknown viruses, able to infect humans, could live through the sewage processing. The virus would be in the sludge, and tomatoes grown with the sludge could transmit the virus to unsuspecting humans. Water craft are the latest fad among teenagers in your town. People are beginning to notice damage to subaquatic vegetation. This damage was most likely caused by water craft. A storm recently destroyed dune grass along the dunes in your town. Citizens are interested in beginning a program to re-establish the dune grass. Geological Considerations Some of the homes along the oceanfront of your town are in danger of falling into the ocean because of beach erosion. Last year your town spent $2 million replenishing the beach with sand from the continental shelf area. Geologists predict the replenished beach will last only three years because the grain size of the offshore sand is different from the grain size of the natural sand. Some of the homes along the beachfront of your town have seawalls to protect them from erosion. These sea walls were built long ago. More current regulations prohibit the construction of seawalls because they focus the wave energy and can cause larger problems than they solve. Some citizens are requesting removal of the seawalls to comply with the more current regulations. However, homeowners with seawalls are concerned about erosion's destroying their homes if the seawalls are removed. Business owners have proposed a new boardwalk for the town. Other citizens are concerned the boardwalk will increase beach erosion. A local group of beachfront homeowners wants to build groins to protect their property. Other beachfront homeowners are against this action because the structures could increase beach erosion on their property. The Army Corps of Engineers proposes construction of a jetty at the inlet to your town's harbor. This proposal originated because they wish to stabilize the inlet, thereby enabling boats to pass in and out of the small harbor. Many citizens are concerned the jetty will cause erosional and depositional problems elsewhere. Physical Considerations Your town is close to the Gulf Stream. This location supports a thriving tourism industry for your town. Longshore currents in the region of your town flow toward the south. State officials are proposing a tidal power generation system to be placed in a local estuary. An oil spill has just occurred fifty miles offshore to the northeast of the coast of your town. Town officials want to close the beach for several days because there is a violent storm at sea. Town officials are worried that swells and rip currents enlarged by the storm present a hazard to coastal property. Chemical Considerations Your new sewage treatment plant has improved the quality of treated water flowing into the adjacent inlet. However, nitrogen and phosphorous contents in the effluent are still high. Your sewage treatment plant is now operating at 80 percent capacity. Federal law states when a plant is that close to 100 percent capacity, the municipality must begin to plan for increasing the capacity or building a new plant with a larger capacity. A local factory is releasing mercury (a toxic metal) into a creek that flows to the sea. Salt water intrusion occurs in the aquifer that provides drinking water for your town. High levels of pesticides have recently been detected in the estuarine waters of your town. Political Considerations The state has decided to shift environmental regulation to local regions. Block grants totaling $1 million have been provided for your town to finance a study of the environment within town limits and the adjacent ocean region. A plan for regulating environmental quality needs to be produced within this project. A developer friend of the mayor has purchased seafront property and is requesting rezoning to construct condominiums. The present zoning allows for single-family homes only. The Republicans have just gained seats in Congress. They intend to decrease the federal subsidies to your town by $10 million. The local military base is on the government's list of bases to be closed. The state plans to build a new aquarium and natural history museum in your town. Tourism officials project the combined attractions will draw 1 million additional visitors to your town each year. When levels of Escherichia coli become high, the law requires beach closure, because this bacterium indicates human feces are present and that other pathogenic bacteria may also be present. Beaches have been closed. The state responded by increasing the quantity of bacteria allowed before beach closure. Many citizens are disturbed by this decision, since they believe their children may become sick. < < go top Activity Divide students into cooperative learning groups of five students per group. Each group of five is a town council from a coastal town. The mission of the town council is to develop a future plan for their town that addresses and, hopefully, solves existing problems. The students can choose a name for their town. Five stacks of cards should be prepared before the arrival of the students. Each stack contains problem scenarios. The stacks are based on the following categories: Biological considerations Geological considerations Physical considerations Chemical considerations Political considerations. Each group must pick one card from each stack. These cards contain information on the problems that must be addressed in the future plans of the town. Each group must take its set of five considerations and design a coastal town that complies with the considerations. The students must then collaborate to create a plan that will best serve the interests of the town. Each group must then present the plan in an oral presentation to the rest of the class. Students not in the group presenting will serve as the citizens of the town. While the group is presenting, the teacher will evaluate the group based on a pre-desired rubric. The students serving as citizens will then complete a questionnaire designed as an election form. This will keep the citizens on task and provide feedback to the students presenting. < < go top Possible Extension The students could videotape the presentations and then complete a written critique of their own presentation. Students could attend an actual council meeting for their own town. The students could create maps of their hypothetical town. Students could also create pictures and a computer simulation. < < go top Teacher Evaluation Assess student performance in the oral presentations. Administer a rubric in advance then use it as a guide for grading. Use pre- and posttests if desired. < < go top