Intended as a follow up to the Protecting Your Drinking Water activity, young environmentalists use their assessment of the a hypothetical town's water supply to debate the installation of underground chemical storage tanks. With the class broken up into five special interest groups, students share their group's thoughts and concerns about the expansion of a local factory as they weigh the pros and cons for the community as a whole. This cross-curricular lesson engages young adults in the real-world struggle between environmentalists, government officials, business executives, and average citizens.

Concepts

debate, public speaking, aquifers, contamination, groundwater, pollution, water

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Additional Tags

contamination, water, pollution, debate, aquifer, town hall meeting, groundwater, science

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Pros

• All necessary materials are included for holding a mock town meeting
• A meeting agenda is provided to help guide the proceedings of the town council meeting

Cons

• Scaffolding may be required to support students with preparing the arguments of each special interest group

Common Core

SL.9-10.1.a SL.9-10.1.c SL.9-10.1.d SL.9-10.3 SL.9-10.4 SL.11-12.1.a SL.11-12.1.b SL.11-12.1.c SL.11-12.1.d SL.11-12.3 SL.11-12.4