River of the Dammed

Kallina Dunkle, Austin Peay State University

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Summary

This activity is designed to engage students in an active debate about land use and planning, human populations, ecosystems, and sustainability by assigning every student to a "community" along a theoretical meandering river.

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Context

Audience

This is used in an upper level environmental geology course.

Skills and concepts that students must have mastered

Students should have a general understanding of fluvial geomorphology in regards to meandering rivers, as well as a general understanding of dams and levees.

How the activity is situated in the course

This is a stand-alone exercise typically done in the second half of the semester.

Goals

Content/concepts goals for this activity

Understanding pros and cons of dams and levees, importance of wetlands, and river ecosystems

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

Evaluating various land use changes along a river system, synthesis of ideas

Other skills goals for this activity

working in groups, finding and reading peer-reviewed journal articles, oral presentation, debate

Description and Teaching Materials

This activity is designed to engage students in an active debate about land use and planning, human populations, ecosystems, and sustainability by assigning every student to a "community" along a theoretical meandering river.

River of the Dammed (Acrobat (PDF) 229kB Apr29 13)

Teaching Notes and Tips

Teaching notes can be found on the last page of the file. Note it is important to assign students into groups at least a week before the planned debate.

Assessment

Assessment is based on their ability to incorporate material from the peer-reviewed journal articles, as well as assigned resources during the debate. I make notes about participation of every student in order to determine if they are synthesizing information and considering both sides of the various debates, such as whether or not to construct a large dam.