Introduction
Task
Process
Resources
Evaluation Conclusion
Working in groups of four, it is your job to learn about a local ecosystem. Each one of you is responsible for gathering information on a particular aspect of the ecosystem and sharing it with your group. You must be able to answer your guiding questions accurately and support them with specific facts often as possible to add credibility to your responses. Don't forget to note where you got your information from.
As an environmental team, you must identify the connections between the facts you discover and be able to show as precisely as possible how your information is interrelated. Your main goals are to identify some of the major interactions in ecosystems and express the ecological problems that are occurring in the Windsor area because of human influence. Both individually and as a group, you must suggest methods of making some positive changes.
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Person 1: You are an Atmospheric Scientist. You must explore acid rain and the effects it has on an ecosystem with particular emphasis on the lakes and rivers and the things that depend on them. (You will find the Detroit River and one of the Great Lakes (Lake Erie) in this area.) Some questions to guide your research are: What is acid rain? Why does it form? When does it become dangerous and why? Which human factors contribute to its formation? How does acid rain affect a natural ecosystem, including the plant, animal, and human components? How can we stop acid rain from occurring? What might happen if acid rain continues forming in our environment at the same rate of progress as it is today?
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Person 2: You are an Air Pollution Scientist. You will investigate how air pollution affects an ecosystem, including plant, animal and human components. Your guiding questions are: What is air pollution? What are some of the major contributors to air pollution? Why is it of concern to the constituents of an ecosystem? What are some of its negative impacts, particularly in the Windsor area? What can we do to prevent air pollution? What do you think might happen if we do not change our present behaviours and ways of doing things?
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Person 3: You are a Population Health Investigator who is interested in the current physical conditions of life in the Windsor area. You must be able to answer these questions: What is the current state of health of the general plant, animal and human populations in this area? (Give some specific examples.) Why do these current heath conditions exist? What are some of the major factors influencing health in this ecosystem? If the rate of change of health in Windsor stays the same, what do you think this ecosystem might be like ten years from now? What kind of positive changes can be made to help this area?
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Person 4: You are an Environmentalist who wants to know what current initiatives are in place to take care of the natural and human elements of the local ecosystem. Your questions include: What are some of the current initiatives that are in place to help build a healthy ecosystem? What prompted these initiatives? What specific parts of the ecosystem are people trying to improve? What can students do to help make this ecosystem and their world a better place to live? Based on the projects people are currently working on, what would you predict for the future of this area?
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