ICBL Strategy 2: Recognize Potential Issues

Ask students to spend 2-3 minutes silently reading the case again. This time they should be noting words or phrases that seem to be important to understanding what the case is about. If students have a printed copy of the case, they might underline these phrases. Otherwise, they might jot down ideas and questions about these phrases.

Example of selected phrases (bold) in Goodbye Honeybuckets for further discussion.

Even in 2001, there are still villages without a municipal sewer system. John Kepaaq is a member of the Tribal Council in Icy Valley and he is concerned about the type of sewer system that is being considered. Everyone in northern Alaska has heard stories about outside developers who did not realize the unique problems of construction in the arctic.

Icy Valley is a village of about 200 people who know what it is like to live with permafrost, darkness, and long cold winters. John wants to be sure that the sewage system proposed for their village is appropriate for the cold temperatures and safe for the tundra environment.