"The Wildcats"
Lisa Bietau, Kimberly Staples, Debbie Ledford Kansas State University |
ECHO Danube Project 2004 Environmental, Cultural, and Historical Outlooks Landscapes of the Middle Danube
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There are no passengers on spaceship Earth. We are all crew. - Marshall McLuhan
Our world is ever changing! What can we do to insure that Earth and its inhabitants will survive far beyond this century? The key to securing a sustainable future is located within our personal understanding of the dynamic nature of the environment. Today we are faced with environmental issues such as pollution in our air, water, and soil. Our natural resources both renewable and nonrenewable must be used with efficiency if we are to pass on a healthy environment to our descendents. First we must be educated about the environment, then we can work together to find solutions to our problems.
On a global level, we should seek to extend our knowledge of other nations to explore factors that influence present and future conditions of our world. On July 5, 2005, the K-State "Wildcats" embarked on a 5-week journey to investigate the environmental, cultural, and historical aspects of four countries located along the Duna (Danube River). As represented by the flags above, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, and Serbia-Montenegro were studied as a part of the ECHO Danube Project 2004.
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In order to develop a citizenry of a scientifically literate populace, students must develop and apply unifying processes to understand the world around them. These unifying concepts and processes include but are not limited to: a) patterns in nature, b) change over time, c) models, and d) interactions.The team developed a web guide as a resource for teachers to enhance interdisciplinary content instruction. The activities provide students opportunities to examine the effect of environmental change on the habits of people in the local community and around the world. The focus of the web guide is to examine the impact of living in regions bounded by one of Earth's natural resources - Water!
There are many accounts to uncover and issues to explore in the study of our rivers. Students will examine evidence across time that demonstrates the ability of humans to apply their ingenuity to make the best use of their river environments. The preservation of these histories of living helps to guide students to more responsible actions today. In an effort to improve life there is a productive tension to protect the delicate river ecosystem against the tides of change that could threaten the quality of water and quality of life. When looking at the unique human behaviors relating to a selected river we can see a river’s impact on history. The never ending mission to manage the river leads to monumental efforts to adapt and protect this environment. Studying the varied technology used in the past and present students being to see the limits and possibilities of their world. Through these histories, students ascertain that quality water is essential to human existence, and achieve a more holistic understanding of the motivation to both preserve and manipulate our rivers.
The complexity of the river ecosystem can be understood by students first developing a “sense of place” in their local setting. Once they have developed a "sense of place" they will apply the same processes to explore habitats across the globe. The interdisciplinary activities guide students through a variety of experiences that enhance their knowledge of major rivers near and far. Through this exploration they uncover evidence of continuity and change in their world.
GRADE LEVEL: K- 6 (adaptable to middle and secondary levels)
Subject Areas: Science, Social Studies, Mathematics, Reading, and Language Arts
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES):
As a result of the web guide activities, students will be able to:
- Design a timeline that connect the past to the present.
- Compare primary resources (artifacts and oral histories) from the past to the present.
- Identify patterns of change in the environment.
- Create models of past and present systems.
- Describe the effect of human interactions with their environment.
IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIES (ACTIVITIES):
Activity 1 - Home Sweet Home