Author: Melissa Hamilton

E-mail Address: mhamilto@mail.sandi.net

School: Kearny High School

Grade Level: 9-12

Principal Curricular Areas Addressed: Science (Oceanography and Environmental Science)

TPFS Section: Tuesdays@Marston

This project will study coastal erosions: what causes it, what people do to prevent it, and the effects of those preventative measures. Students will play the role of an environmental agency that is trying to determine the best solution to a hypothetical situation of coastal erosion and then compose a letter (with illustrations) to the Mayor of that city.

Learning Goals:

This lesson correlates with the standards that have been adopted for science by the San Diego City School District. In particular, the standards of using technology, investigation procedures, and environmental issues are addressed.

Student will learn...

• How the oceans affect the stability of the coastal regions
• How man-made barriers can often cause more harm than good
• How to capture images from the Web and incorporate them into a word-processing program

Learner Task:

The class will be divided up into teams of four. Each group will represent a different agency trying to solve the problem of eroding coastal areas. The members of the team will each have their own area of "expertise" in the matter. Each group will have a student to play the following roles:

• Marine Engineer: What are the different types of barricades that could be used in the hypothetical situation? What are the pros/cons of each of these barricades in preventing erosion? Give Examples.
• Ecologist: How will the proposed solutions affect the ecosystem (the plants and animals that live and interact in that area)?
• City Council representative: How will the proposed solutions affect that area of the city? (Will areas of the coast be off limits to humans?
• Financial Advisor: What is the most cost effective solution to this problem? Be sure to consider both short term and long-term effects and explain why the proposed solution is the best answer to the problem.

Group members will discuss each of the possible solutions, come to a concessus about which would be the most effective and put together a letter to the Mayor of the city. The letter will be composed using Claris Works and the students will be required to incorporate images captured from the Web that illustrate the points they raise in their document. All four sections must smoothly flow into each other and there must be at least one graphic image for each section.

Resources:

Resources for this project idea might include....

• World's Oceans by Duxbury
• Oceans and Coasts by Black
• Class notes
• Internet sites: