Title: Come on in- The water's fine305

Key words: oceans, shore management

Purpose/objective: the student will:

1.understand how coastal erosion can effect the human systems within a community
2.understand how people must make choices when manipulating their physical environment

National and State Standards: National standards#7,state standards#12.6.2

Materials: July 1996 copy of DownEast magazine

Procedures:
Explain to the students that in this lesson they will be studying the ways that seaside communities are dealing with the entrenchment of the sea due to erosion and deposition of the ocean.
Have the students read "Where is our community going" in Down East magazine July,1996
After the students finish have them specifically study the types of concerns that various people have within the community regarding the future of Camp Ellis.
During this study session have the students brainstorm questions that need to be addressed before some sort of decision can be made; i.e.: what are the advantages of dredging, what good does the seawall do, what are the long term impacts of letting nature take its course. Tell the students that they do not have to answer the questions yet, it will be enough for them to just generate the questions.
Assign the planning worksheet to each student so they can get the full perspective of the community. This can either be done individually or in groups.

Assessment/Evaluation: The culminating activity for this lesson will be to have a town meeting to make a decision regarding Camp Ellis. Assign students to be various interested parties (see attached sheet) and they will need to come in their role. Assign a moderator and have them run a discussion group that will end in a vote for or against making significant changes to the natural landscape of Camp Ellis.

Reflection: How successful was this lesson? Did all students benefit? Were there any surprises? What might you do differently another time? Please note any changes that will make this lesson more effective and useful in the future and pass them along to the NHGA. We appreciate your comments.
Thank you. The Authors.

AdvantagesDisadvantages

Are there other advantages or disadvantages to human intervention into the erosion problem that should be considered but did not fit into the above categories?

Roles:

The summer resident who owns a 250,000 dollar home at camp Ellis
The working fisherman who needs to get out through the channel to fish
The taxpayer of Saco who has seen his taxes rise continually
The mayor
The year round resident who can't sell their house because it is too close to the water
The owner's of Wormwoods
The environmentalist

Original file name: 305 (Converted) - converted on Tuesday, 20 October 1998, 20:56

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