To understand how runoff water can be polluted if land uses are not properly managed

Transcription

1 Lesson plan - catchment land use impacts Objective To understand how runoff water can be polluted if land uses are not properly managed Materials Catchment land use impacts map (printed colour or black & white) Catchment land use impacts worksheet (for each student) Turbidity and Phosphates factsheets class set (or one per two) Setup Print catchment land use map in colour or black & white (for each group or pair) or display on screen in colour. Please advise the Warragamba Dam educators if your class has already completed this activity as a pre-excursion lesson. Lesson schedule Introductory discussion (5-10 mins); Interpreting land use map (15-20 min) Syllabus links pages 4 & 5 1

2 Lesson activity whole class Introductory discussion (5-10 mins) Sources of pollutants Lakes and rivers are polluted when fine particles and/or liquid waste are washed from the catchment land surface and into the water, making the water dirty (or turbid). Also, the soil particles may have chemicals such as pesticides attached to them. Animal waste from dairy sheds can flow directly into the water. Inland towns and cities have wastewater treatment plants which discharge effluent (treated wastewater) into waterways. Potential pollutant sources include: Rural residential. Onsite wastewater systems (septic tanks), chemicals (not stored properly), soil washed off the surrounding land during heavy rainfall or floods Urban residential. Industrial waste, industrial effluent discharge into waterways, stormwater from streets (possibly carrying litter, oils from roads, chemicals, pet droppings), sediment from building sites, overflows of untreated sewerage from sewage treatment plants into waterways (possibly carrying phosphates from detergents, faecal matter and pathogens) Agriculture. Fertilisers, eg superphosphate, manure from feedlots and dairies, agricultural chemicals such as pesticide Mining. Industrial chemicals, sediment Good management practices can reduce or stop these pollutants from entering the waterways. The Sydney Catchment Authority undertakes a range of education and training, funding, planning, monitoring and compliance activities which influence the use of best practices throughout the drinking water catchments. Ask students to draw lines to link land uses and pollutants (worksheet, page 2) 2

3 Lesson activity group work Interpreting land use map (15-20 min) 1) Ask students to read the Phosphates and Turbidity water quality fact sheets Q&A discussion related to fact sheets Example questions (refer to the Phosphates and Turbidity factsheets) What are sources of phosphates in waterways? What can cause high phosphate levels in waterways? What are some causes of high turbidity? What are some impacts of high turbidity? 2) Students work in small groups or pairs and use the Catchment land use impacts map to consider pollutant sources for each test site (10-15 mins) Answer questions 1-3 on worksheet It may be necessary to guide students through completion of Question 1 Student guidance for: Question 1) The water flows down towards the ocean. Find Sample Site 1 on the map and think about where the water comes from. Does it go past any land uses which could cause phosphates to get into the runoff water and into the rivers? Look at the Phosphates fact sheet for Sources of phosphates Question 2) Find Sample Site 3 on the map and think about where the water comes from. Does it go past any land uses which could make the runoff water dirty and cause the river to be murky? Look at the Turbidity fact sheet for Causes of Turbidity Question 3) Think about what the map shows for land uses upstream of Sample Site 4 3

4 Syllabus links - NSW Geography curriculum Focus Area: 5A1 Investigating Australia s Physical Environments Focus: The unique characteristics of Australia s physical environments and the responses of people to the challenges they present. Contributes towards these Outcomes A student: 5.1 identifies, gathers and evaluates geographical information 5.2 analyses, organises and synthesises geographical information 5.3 selects and uses appropriate written, oral and graphic forms to communicate geographical information 5.6 explains the geographical processes that form and transform Australian environments Maps use various types of maps and flow charts describe and explain relationships on a map ******************* Syllabus links - Australian Curriculum Geography Introduction The SCA Schools Education Program is focussed on the managed water supply for some 4.5 million people and strategies to reduce the impact of catchment land uses on the quality of the water. As water is an essential resource collected largely from the populated Warragamba Catchment, the schools program makes many links to the Australian Curriculum Geography. It will be further developed as the new curriculum is implemented. The catchment areas feature a wide range of land uses including industry, mining, major roads and rail links, major regional centres, agriculture and horticulture, and Special Area all of which can have an impact on run off water quality. 4

5 The current Stage 5 program addresses a number of the skills and content within the Australian Curriculum Geography, including the following examples: Year 9 Unit 1: Biomes and food security The human alteration of biomes to produce food, industrial materials and fibres, and the environmental effects of these alterations industry, urban development and agriculture are significant land uses within the Warragamba Catchment. Students can learn about environmental effects of these land uses and the Sydney Catchment Authority s programs in place to address the threats they pose to run off water quality Unit 2: Geographies of interconnections The effects of the production and consumption of goods on places and environments throughout the world and including a country from North-East Asia balancing the requirements of competing land uses through regulation, planning controls, environmental monitoring, mitigation programs, community land management, capacity building and education is a key challenge faced by the NSW Government and agencies including the Sydney Catchment Authority Year 10 Unit 1: Environmental change and management The human-induced environmental changes that challenge sustainability The application of geographical concepts and methods to the management of the environmental change being investigated The Sydney Catchment Authority is itself a case study in the use of geographic methods to address environmental challenges. These include developing a geographic information system (GIS) - based Catchment Decision Support System to help understand the risks from the different pollution sources and decide which areas should receive priority action. Priorities areas have included intensive animal production (primarily dairies), grazing, landfills, gully erosion, roads and horticulture, sewage treatment plants, on-site wastewater management systems and stormwater. 5