Big Ideas
Water is a commons—we share it, we all depend on it and we are all responsible for healthy waterways
It is the role of government to create policies and regulations that monitor and protect our water supply (water is a commons!)
Children, young people, families and community groups have rights to clean water and responsibilities to keep our water clean
Increasing Green Infrastructure in a city solves more than one problem at a time
Summary
Adopting a green infrastructure approach to stormwater management grew from adopting a watershed-wide approach and a 25-year commitment to change.
Engage
Guiding Question:
Where does fresh, clean (pure), delicious and safe drinking water come from?
What does it rely on?
How can we protect our source water in the long run?
Students will engage in an exploration of water quality issues and introduce the idea of how they can be stewards in protecting water resources.
Explore and Explain
Green Infrastructure Plan
This activity will lead students through how the process the City followed prior to adopting their Green Infrastructure plan. The slide deck will guide students through an exploration of the history of this process.
A green infrastructure plan is a system of interdependent components that provide the ingredients for solving urban and climatic challenges by building with nature.
You can find a breadth of information about PWD’s Green City, Clean Waters Program on their website here. Green City Clean Waters
You can find a published Program Summary for a “deeper dive” here.
Philadelphia is nested inside the larger watershed–and we are interdependent on each other.
Green infrastructure solves more than one problem at a time (triple/quadruple bottom line) and does not create new problems—there is no down side to it.
Elaborate
Use the jigsaw method to have groups of students review the documents to look for evidence of how the State and Federal governments define our right to fresh water.
These are very rigorous documents so students may need support in how to review and look for key ideas and details.
- PA Constitutional Bill of Rights (Amendment 27: Clean Air and Pure Water)
- 1972 Federal Clean Water Act and Amendments (aka Federal Water Pollution Control Act) Here you can read all 234 pages and here is a summary from the EPA website
- The 1974 Federal Safe Drinking Water Act here is a summary from the EPA website
Collect their findings to come up with a common understanding of our right to fresh water as defined by the government.
Who ensures our rights?
A list of various local and national agencies are linked. Students may be interested in looking at what they agencies do.
Teacher Support
Essential Question:
How can we create a healthy, beautiful, and sustainable Philadelphia for everyone?
Guiding Questions
Where does fresh, clean (pure), delicious and safe drinking water come from? What does it rely on? How will we protect our source water in the long run?
Explore and Explain
What is a green infrastructure plan?
Why did they decide on a green infrastructure plan?
What rights do we have to fresh, clean (pure), delicious and safe drinking water?
Elaborate
For people in Philadelphia, who ensures our rights to fresh, clean, delicious and safe drinking water?
What is a consent agreement and who signs the agreement?
Students will be able to:
Conduct a close reading of the following three documents that all describe our water rights to address the guiding question.
Cite specific textual evidence in their journals to support their analysis of these primary sources.
Watershed Journal
Documents linked in slide deck for unit
There is no vocabulary list for this Learning Experience
Ask students to conduct a close reading of the following three documents that all describe our water rights to address the guiding question. Ask students to cite specific textual evidence in their journals to support their analysis of these primary sources.
- PA Constitutional Bill of Rights (Clean Air and Pure Water),
- 1972 Federal Clean Water Act and
- The 1974 Federal Safe Drinking Water Act
Ask students to write a reflection on whether these documents and the rights they ensure, have an impact on you, your family, friends and neighbors drawing evidence from the texts. What impact do you have on them?
Write a persuasive piece of writing addressing the following question in order to develop a rationale for a green infrastructure plan: Why should we look to plants, trees, soil and wetlands for stormwater solutions and how can copying nature serve as infrastructure?
PA STEELS Standards
Environmental Literacy and Sustainability
3.4.6-8.E Environmental Literacy Skills: Collect, analyze, and interpret environmental data to describe a local environment.
3.4.6-8.G Sustainability and Stewardship: Obtain and communicate information to describe how best resource management practices and environmental laws are designed to achieve environmental sustainability.
3.4.6-8.I Sustainability and Stewardship: Construct an explanation that describes regional environmental conditions and their implications on environmental justice and social equity.
Related Standards
Common Core
ELA RH.6-8.1 Reading History – Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
Education for Sustainability
EfS C4 The Dynamics of Systems and Change – See and be able to describe the interrelatedness of at least two variables.
EfS F.7b Natural Laws and Ecological Principles – Make a case for why global citizens should understand the basic natural laws and principles including the basic principles of ecology
EfS F.7i Natural Laws and Ecological Principles – Make a case for why global citizens should understand the basic natural laws and principles including photosynthesis.
Student Materials
Articles linked in slide deck