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Volume 7: Summer 1: Global Education Project: Child Mortality: Water Borne Illnesses	Printer Friendly Version

Water Borne Illnesses

Water Borne Illnesses

http://www.peacecore.gov/wws/educators/enrichment/africa/lessons/HShealth01/index.html

This lesson was prepared in collaboration with the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water at the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S.

As part of the lesson, students will learn about how water becomes impure with parasites and other contaminants; they will read personal accounts of unsafe water; and they'll work together to brainstorm solutions to the water problems of communities in Africa.

The lesson plan covers eight class periods, but teachers may find that they will be able to cover the material more quickly.   Access to a computer lab (or computer connected to a projector) will be needed to view the photos during the first part of the lesson.   Students will need to use the computer lab for research during the latter stages of the lesson.   They will also need access to poster board or other material for their final product.

An evaluation rubric is provided with the lesson as are links to sites providing additional information.   This lesson would be useful in grade 11 Social Studies, Unit 3:   Environment.

Curriculum Links and Objectives

Social Studies 20, Unit 3:   Environment

• Know that the environment is a complex system of interacting, interdependent, living and non-living parts, with the whole environment being greater than the sum of each part.
• Know that a habitat is the place where plant and animal species naturally live, and that if a habitat changes significantly, the species depending upon that habitat for resources may not survive.
• Know that effective problem solving requires the ability to define and understand problems clearly and accurately.
• Know that the power of technology affects both the natural and social environments and has consequences attached to its use.
• Know that socio-technology is a social process in which knowledge created by science and technology is put at the disposal of people who may not understand these knowledge bases and may use them for narrow personal purposes.
• Know that resources are those parts of the environment considered valuable because they meet human needs.

Evaluation Links

Saskatchewan teachers have been provided support resources for student assessment and evaluation from the provincial ministry of education, Saskatchewan Learning. Specifically, teachers have been provided with the document Student Evaluation: a Teacher Handbook, in print format. Chapter 4 on specific student assessment techniques contains a variety of ready-made rubrics, rating scales, checklists, portfolio set-ups and templates that could be adapted to each task developed in your classroom. This resource is available on-line at: http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/evergreen/policy/studeval/chap4001.html. The simple templates outlined on this Saskatchewan Learning site, will help you tailor your assessment to match any activity and ensure that your objectives are being met.

Another source of easily adaptable evaluation material is Discovery School located at http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/assess.html.  The site has both subject specific evaluation tools and evaluation instruments for process oriented tasks.  You will also find rubric builders, portfolio evaluation instruments, graphic organizer evaluation strategies, etc. all at this site.

Another rubric generator can be found at http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/.  And, for a discussion on the value of using rubrics in the middle grades, teachers may want to go to http://www.middleweb.com/rubricsHG.html.

Produced with the support of the Government of Canada through
the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).