Grade Level:7- 8-9

1. The Topic or Essential Questions: Water:

What is the problem with Boston Harbor? How did the problem come about? What are the options and consequences for what needs to be done? Is the benefit worth the cost and who should pay for it? What are the benefits and the drawbacks of solving the problem?

2. State Curriculum Frameworks Learning Standards Addressed:

English Language Arts:

• Composition Strand: Generate questions, take notes and summarize information gleaned from reference works and experts for a research project (Learning Standard (LS):23)
• Formulate open ended questions research questions, explore a topic interest and design a methodology, form and way to document sources for report or a display of information they gathered. (LS: 24)
• Generate citeria for evaluating their report or display and explain these are important before applying them.

• Students recognize the intended and unintended consequences of technology advances on the enviorment. Students will also understand the economic changes that affect the physical world and evaluate efforts to manage their consequences in a developed region of the world. (LS. 10)
• Learn of Masschusetts major ocean resources (LS. 7)
• Students will recognize relationships between primary and secondary sources and will compose a reseach paper. (L.S. 3)
• a study of a unit on Massachusetts govenment-cities, towns and regional authorities (L.S. 17)

• Describe trends and patterns in data even when patterns are not exact. Represent data and findings using tables, models, demonstrations and graphs.(Strand 1)
• Owning the responsibility for science and technology and examining it in our community - students will understand that decisions we make as individuals, groups and communities can affect society and the natural environment and these changes are not easy to reverse. Students will give examples of how science and technology have influenced the clean up of Boston Harbor.(Strand 4)

Independent life long learners and teaching for understanding. (McCall Middle School)

3. Tasks and Activities: (to know or be able to do)

To Know:

• Clean up of the Boston Harbor is not beyond hope but it will take time and money to rectify the pollution of the harbor over the past two hundred (200+) years.
• Research and technology are the keys to solving the problem.
• It takes a good deal of political and economic support to manage the problem.
• There are many benefits to managing a clean harbor which include: recreation (fishing, boating, swimming,etc.) improving the natural resources of the harbor (island state parks, harbor commute, etc.)
• The demand to clean up Boston Harbor has led to improved waste management. ( ie. Wastes taken from the Boston Harbor are now made into fertilization pellets and sent to Florida orange groves)

• Examine data from a ten-year period to determine the improvement of water quality and correlate it with the expectations and goals of the project.
• Given statistics of the increase of the water bills, interview a senior citizen, your parents or neighbor and see if they believe the cost of the clean up the harbor is worth it? Students will also answer this question.
• Take a field trip to the harbor islands and include a representative from the MWRA to speak with the students on the progress of the clean up project.
• MWRA provides waste managment programs for the schools within the MWRA District. Invite a speaker to show and demonstrate how filthy the harbor was/is and how it is becoming cleaner over time.
• Research the history through on line world wide web, e-mail, magazine, newspapers and books in the library and materials from the MWRA as to discover who made the final decision to clean up the harbor and in our state and federal governments and who where the key individuals who either move the project forward or stalled the clean up.
• Do a comparison of rates for water and sewer between districts
• Camp Dresser McGee(CDM)is the company that built Deer Island system and is continuing to work on harbor clean up projects. Public Services Group bids for the operation and gets it- find the local representatives and invite them to answer questions or provide materials for study on costs of clean up and operations.
• Study the maps of the harbor plan the improvements based on a clean Boston Harbor
• Check out Websites on Boston Harbor. Here are a few:

http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/
http://masser.usgs.gov/
Boston Harbor Basin Map

Quick Assessment:

• Whip around the class: After a speaker, field trip a presentation by teacher ask each student to share their observations, thoughts or facts they gleaned from the speaker, trip or presentation. (Can be done quickly and you get a good idea of what they learned,observed,and/or valued).

• Think pair share: Thinking abuut a problem, two students will share their observations agree and disagree or add to each others findings.

• Take two pairs and combine them to brain storm and come up with a group list of observations/ findings that they can present to the class as a possible solution to the problem.

• Half of the paper will be written and the other part must include charts, graphs, hand sketched drawings, and time line or chronology of events or goals for project.The paper must be expository: the student must set the stage for the thesis (who, what, where, when, why and/or how) state the thesis(what the student intends to prove) Support the thesis( with data,observations, facts, etc.) and conclude with a summary of best argument and recomendation for the future.

Present an oral defense on the clean up of Boston or their postion on cost/ benefits of the project after interviewing family , friends and members of community. It should be expository with a clear thesis, support and conclusion.

Open Ended Question on some aspect of the Boston Harbor Clean Up
1.Students will argue in defense of the clean up based on one or more of the following: Health/Safety, Tourism, Sports and Recreation, Government, Law, Transportation.
2. Students will indicated by example and explantion the important technological methods used to clean up the harbor and rank order.
 Objective Test on the Factual Information :
Have students in their study design multiple choice, matching or fill in the blank questions to be shared with the class in an objective test. On the test, give students credit for design of test question. Have students review with the class the facts which they have used for their question(s).

Class Activity:
Class Act: The class will demonstrate the process of cleaning up harbor and the technolgy used on Deer Island to a elementary school class or younger middle school class.

Culminating Activity:
Orange party. Bring oranges into class and review the use of fertilizers that are developed from the clean up of the harbor that is used to fertize the orange groves in Florida.

Note to Teachers:
This lesson was developed during the Summer of 1997 before the completion of the 8th Grade Social Studies Frameworks. This lesson no longer applies to Eighth Grade Social Studies whose course of study goes from 1750 to 1877. It will work in the earth science program in both middle and high school.
It would be better in high school social studies with 11th or 12th grade students in 20th Century Studies or in civics. Please contact  Arthur Talatinian for answers to any questions you may have. He has taught this unit with his students in earth science.