Title of Unit: Protecting Our Water Rights

Social Justice Theme and Topics Covered: Environmental justice, SES, marginalization,
equity, water justice, food justice, power and wealth

Social Studies Content Areas: History, Geography, Economics

Grade Level: 5th

Integrated Subject Areas: ELA, History, Science, Math

Name: Aaron Hansen

Rationale

The reasoning behind this one and half week long unit plan is to bring to light

the issues of environmental justice and how those environmental problems are

directly intertwined in social justice issues between historically marginalized

peoples and those people/corporations who make up the upper echelon of society,

as well as the distribution of wealth and power within different communities and

even cities within the same state. I felt that it was extremely important to focus

bringing awareness to environmental issues that occur in the world around us. Often

times if school incorporate any sense of environmental justice, they only scratch the

surface and talk about recycling and water conservation. Whereas this unit plan

tackles very serious issues about water justice, food justice, and meeting basic

needs which people (including students) struggle with on an everyday basis. This

unit will help students extend their thinking about social and environmental rights

beyond their classroom and community to a larger picture of the United States and

even a global viewpoint.

Within this lesson plan there will be many cross sectional activities in the

subjects of ELA, science, math, and history as well as developing crucial skills such
as critical thinking, reading strategies, writing a persuasive body of writing,

interpreting charts, graphs, and data while making inferences using the evidence

discerned from that data. Students will learn how to hold a formal discussion/debate

allowing students to freely speak their thoughts and opinions backed up with facts

and evidence while being respectful of all viewpoints. Social skills as well as social

justice are also incorporated in this lesson by having students work together in

groups, present information, empathy, fairness, and respect. In order for this unit to

run as smooth as possible, there needs to be a positive classroom environment. This

unit works best when students are driving the discussions and able to share their

ideas back and forth with each other. Therefore, the classroom must already be

established a safe space for students to express themselves without bullying and

putting down others.

Standards:

- Describe how a narrators or speakers point of view influences how events are

described. (5.RL.6)

- Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when

drawing inferences from the text. (5.RL.1)

- Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a

text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point(s). (5.RI.8)

- Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak

about the subject knowledgeably. (5.RI.9)

- Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and

information clearly. (5.W.2)

- Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and

teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others

ideas and expressing their own clearly. (5.SL.1)

- Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using

appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes;

speak clearly at an understandable pace. (5.SL.4)

- Describe how competition, markets, and prices influence peoples behavior. (5.E.2)

- Explain the effects (e.g., economic, cultural, environmental, political) of human

migration on places. (5.G.2)

- Analyze data obtained in a scientific investigation to identify trends and form

conclusions. (See M05-S2C1-03)

- Choose an appropriate graphic representation for collected data:

bar graph

line graph

Venn diagram

model

(See M05-S2C1-02)
 - Propose a solution, resource, or product that addresses a specific human, animal, or

habitat need. (5.CE.2)

- Evaluate the possible strengths and weaknesses of a proposed solution to a specific

problem relevant to human, animal, or habitat needs. (5.CE.3)

Unit Plan Schedule

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Inspiring Painting the Painting the Application Application

Wonder Picture picture
DAPL & Flint, City data
What is Search for What is MI article share comparison
pollution, Wealth and marginalization out. 2 column poster and share
political Power and SES? Photo notes out
cartoon Simulation activity

Monday Tuesday Wednesday

Past-to-Present Facilitating Facilitating

Change Change
What are
monopolies. Letter writing Letter writing
Historical U.S.
extortion

Lesson Plan:

Title: Scramble for Wealth and Power

Subject/Grade Level/ Date(s): Social Studies, ELA /5th grade

Time Requirements: 90 minutes

Materials List:

- 120 pennies
- 4 pairs of socks
- 2 pieces of chart paper
- Markers
- Paper and pens
- An area cleared for student movement

Type of Lesson:

- Whole class
- simulation activity
- Wealth & Power
- Equity

Connection to Standards: Include Social Studies Standards http://www.azed.gov/standards-

practices/academic-standards/social-studies-standard/ CC/ AZCCRS http://www.azed.gov/azccrs/

- Describe how competition, markets, and prices influence peoples behavior. (5.E.2)
- Describe how a narrators or speakers point of view influences how events are
described. (5.RL.6)
- Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others
ideas and expressing their own clearly. (5.SL.1)

Instructional Objective: Provide precise, measurable, and delineated goals for what you want your
students to be able to accomplish in order to demonstrate their learning after the lesson is completed.

SWBAT compare the distribution of wealth and power within different communities

SWBAT formulate and present a group distribution plan

SWBAT defend their group distribution plan

Active Instructional Plan: How will you teach your lesson step by step? What will you expect the
students to be doing? What will you/the teacher be doing? Consider including each of the following within
your instructional plan:

Anticipatory Set: This is the hook that draws your students into the new learning or concept of the
lesson.
o Call classes attention to the front of the room
o Today in class we are going to go on the hunt for wealth and power!
o Can anyone tell me what it means to be wealthy? What does it mean to be powerful?

Questions: What will you ask throughout your lesson to guide instruction and develop critical
thinking skills? Consider the relevance and levels of questions being asked.
o How did some groups propose to redistribute the wealth? Was there any
sort of bias reflected in the plan based on which group created the plan?
o Did you feel that the coins were distributed in an equal and fair way?
o *What about the participants with socks? What kinds of people do they
represent? Which group did they end up in?
o *Who are the haves and the have-nots in the world in your country
and in your community? How did they come to be in these positions?
o What can these people with little/no power do in order to change their situation? Can you
think of any current or past events in which people with little to no power were able to make
a change? What did they do?

Guided Practice: Students work together with you while you monitor and adjust instruction, assist,
and answer questions. Consider your response to student learning and needed scaffolding for a
variety of students.
o Students will be given the directions of the simulation as projected onto the SMART board
o Students will complete part 1 and 2 of the simulation (see schedule for in depth explanation
or the original plan created by http://www.eycb.coe.int/compass/en/pdf/2_41.pdf in the
physical materials/references)

o Students will complete part 3 of the simulation

Groups are tasked to create a plan on how to redistribute the wealth (if they even
want to redistribute it)
After working on their plans to change or keep the wealth, each group assigns a
speaker to share their plan with the rest of the class
The class then votes on which plan should be enacted, however the amount of
votes is different per wealth group (wealthy group: every vote counts as 5, some
wealth: every vote counts as 2 votes, little wealth: of a vote per person.

Closure: As a closure the class debriefs on the simulation discussion the questions mentioned
earlier. Students discuss their feelings before, during and after the simulation.

Independent/Assessment: Students before leaving will each write 3 sentences (minimum) about
what they learned throughout this simulation and their thoughts on how they think this simulation
applies outside the classroom.
Assessment/Evaluation: Describe your criteria for success and the specific results/actions you will
look for to determine student success with the lesson. Identify the specific assessment you will use. If you
are assessing throughout the lesson, identify where/how within your active instructional plan.

- Formative assessments will be given throughout the simulation based on the teacher walking
around listening to conversation, watching for participation, and that the group roles assigned are
being done appropriately.

- An exit ticket is also used in this lesson in which students reflect about three things they learned
during the simulation or how they think this simulation is applied in the real world.

Modifications/Differentiation: Describe modifications and ways you will differentiate; for example,
how will you support students with IEP goals, students who need extensions or who struggle, students who
benefit from ELL strategies? You may want to include planned modifications within your active instructional
plan.

- Providing sentence starters for the reflection portion

- Having students work with peers as a group to finish the simulation
- Important vocabulary words will be written on the board following the completion of the
simulation

Inspiring Wonder

This is the very beginning of the unit that will set the theme from the

following 6 days of class. The anticipatory set consists of diving into the students

knapsack regarding environmental justice and what it means to have wealth and

power. This will be done by showing the class a political cartoon drawn by Steve

Greenberg. Students will be given a minute or two to silently reflect and gather their

thoughts about the projected picture. After the reflection period students will share

out how they felt about the article and their thoughts on what the message of the

article is attempting to convey. As a class we begin writing down students ideas

about the cartoon on the whiteboard.

After some brainstorming I pose the question to the class What is pollution?

along with the question Are there different types of pollution? Students will share

their knowledge on pollution which will most likely be vast from prior experience. As

a class we then discuss who is being affected by pollution in this cartoon and what
kind of inferences can we make about the people living in the bottom as opposed to

those on top. I will then ask if those who are at the bottom are unhappy with the

pollution affecting them, do you think they have the power to simply get rid of the

pollution? The whole concept of this first day is to get students to think about the

important concepts such as wealth and power, pollution, and marginalization.

Painting the Picture

Painting the picture is a process that will take two days within the classroom.

The first day is when I will use the lesson plan regarding the simulation entitled

The Scramble for Wealth and Power

(http://www.eycb.coe.int/compass/en/pdf/2_41.pdf ). This simulation depicts the

struggle that people without wealth are marginalized and their voices lost to those

who have the ability to silence them. After the students complete the activity they

will have a class debrief on their thoughts on the simulation

answering/brainstorming as a class about what it felt like to be in power or vice

versa, how are people with no wealth or power supposed to meet their daily

necessities, who are the haves and the have-nots in the world in your country and

in your community? How did they come to be in these positions, etc. This activity

thusly paints the picture of the silenced America that currently exists.

The simulation is split into 3 different parts. The first part requires there to be

100 pennies located in the center of the class. Students are to collect as many

pennies as possible without touching other students (note the number of pennies

can be modified on the number of students in the class). Before the students are

released to gather pennies pass out socks to 4 students and explain to them that
they must put the socks on their hands in order to gather pennies (students will

debrief on their feelings about this later). Next, chose a handful of students to give

extra pennies too before the collection starts as before students feelings will be

described at a later portion. Have students commence the penny collection, remind

them that they may not touch other students and that they only have 2 minutes to

gather as many pennies as possible. After the allotted time, students will record the

amount of pennies they collected as class to be written on chart paper. Once all

students have shared the amount collected the teacher informs students that those

with 6 or more pennies can meet all survival necessities and their luxury wants.

Students who collected 3-5 coins are able to meet their basic survival needs, and

finally those students with fewer than 3 coins will struggle with getting the basics to

survive and may ultimately die due to lack of food, water, shelter, or by sickness.

Once this has happened, students move into the second phase of the

simulation in which those with an excess are allowed to donate their wealth to

those less fortunate but are not required to and will not affect their

grade/participation. Students who do decide to part with their wealth will have their

name recorded on the board as an honorable mention. Teachers must be sure to

check to see if any students have moved up or down in their wealth and power

status.

The final portion of the simulation has the class working in groups based on

their wealth status. The groups are tasked with devising plan in order to redistribute

the wealth so that there is more equity between the three separate wealth classes.

Students must be able to use their plans andexplain what needs to be done (if

anything), describe what the group plans to do and why, and show why their plan is

fair. Students then selected a reporter to share out and defend their groups plan of
action. After each group has presented their idea to the class a vote then takes

place in order to decide how the wealth is redistributed however, the amount of

votes is different per wealth group (wealthy group: every vote counts as 5, some

wealth: every vote counts as 2 votes, little wealth: of a vote per person. After

voting has finished the students will redistribute the wealth as by the enacted plan

and record their wealth status thus concluding the simulation portion of the lesson.

As closure, students will debrief and discuss the simulation thoroughly by talking

about the following : How did some groups propose to redistribute the wealth? Was

there any sort of bias reflected in the plan based on which group created the plan?

o Did you feel that the coins were distributed in an equal and fair way?
o *What about the participants with socks? What kinds of people do they
represent? Which group did they end up in?
o *Who are the haves and the have-nots in the world in your country
and in your community? How did they come to be in these positions?
o What can these people with little/no power do in order to change their situation? Can you
think of any current or past events in which people with little to no power were able to
make a change? What did they do?

The second day of this lesson is an activity that continues the discussion

about the simulation from the previous day and delve deeper into the concepts of

equity, wealth, power, silence, and marginalization. This days activity consists of

examining photos of different communities around the US and possibly across the

globe and having students discuss who they think lives in these areas, do you think

people in these areas can meet their daily needs, How do wealth and power affect

ones ability to enjoy human rights and human dignity?. Students partner up with a
buddy and discuss these very powerful topics answering the posed questions. After

5-10 minutes the class comes back together in order to discuss.

At this point, students are free to continue the discussion about these

questions as a class with the teacher as a facilitator. There needs to be rules set

into place before discussing that students opinion will be valued and that while

expressing our opinions we must be respectful of everyone in that class and that

some of the topics regarding poverty and marginalization may be very personal for

some students. Students are allowed to share out personal stories feelings, argue

from a different perspective than a fellow classmate and provide valuable insight to

their peers. If discussion does not seem to be taking off the teacher can begin to

incorporate the activity Philosophical Chairs where the teacher sets aside two

areas agree and disagree and asks students a question on which they must take

a stance. After students have moved to their designated area, 1 speaker from each

side takes turns talking about why they picked their stance. Whenever any student

talks they must reference the previous speaker by saying something along the lines

such as although I see where (student name) is talking about, but or While I can

understand (the students thinking) here is my opinion on the issue.

Application

On the first day of the application portion of the unit plan students will be

examining multiple articles regarding the DAPL and the Flint Michigan water crisis.

At the beginning to class I would give the overview of what exactly this article

assignment is. The class would need to be divided in half so that one half of the

class receives an article on DAPL and the other half receives Flint, MI. Within these
two groups there will be another subdivision in which one DAPL article is biased in

favor of building the pipeline and the other DAPL article which is against the

pipeline being built (this is also done with the Flint group). The reasoning for this, is

to show students that there are multiple perspectives regarding every issue.

Students dont have to agree with the stance their given, in fact being able to

disagree while understanding the reasoning behind an opposing view allows

students to extend their thinking and grow as individuals.

While reading through the articles, students will either make notes, mark, or

highlight important passages of note to each student. Students will be looking to

answer or at least think about the following questions to discuss in the second part

of the lesson. The questions that students will reflect on are as follows:

- Who is the author

- Purpose of the article/what is the problem
- Who is the audience
- Who are the people affected by this problem
- Area where the issue is occurring
- Who has the power in this situation/who does not have power
- Is there bias in this article? How do you know?

After about 15 minutes, the class will reconvene as a whole to begin sharing out

about their articles. Before the first group presents, student will create 2 separate 3

column notes(1 for each issue). One column has the question being answer, one

column is for the pro/for side view, the last column is for the con/against viewpoint

of the articles. Each group will present their findings within the article and give a

short explanation on their thoughts about the article. While these groups are

presenting, the rest of the class will fill out their 3 column notes with information.

Day 2 of application is going to revolve around the class interpreting different

types of data regarding two different cities in Michigan. Half the class will be given
data about Flint, Michigan while the other half of the class receives data about

Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Some of the data included in these data chart packet

includes average income, unemployment, education rates, ethnic makeup, and

family income. The class would be given chart paper in order to make a poster

about their assigned city. Posters should include the information above and any

other information that the group found interesting. Students will make inferences

based on the information they have learned as well as information from previous

days. The questions students should think about the following questions:

- If people dont enjoy living in Flint, then why cant they just move to

another city?
- Is there any relation to race and the city/area that the most differentiation

of peoples occurs? Is that fair?

- What do you think the typical job looks like in Flint? What about Grosse

Pointe?
- What do you think would happen if the water in Grosse Pointe was

tainted? Would the issue be resolved by now?

These questions will be discussed after all groups have presented and the column

notes have been filled out. The purpose of this assignment is to have students

critically examine data given to them in tables, charts, and graphs. While examining

this data, students are to extend their thinking in order to connect this data to the

inequity between cities and the same country. I want students to then extend

further and think about why these two cities are so different from each other and

relate that again back to the idea of wealth, power, and silence.

Past-to-present
 Past-to-present connection will only be one day long. During this time, as

students begin Social Studies, or as soon as they walk into class there will be a

picture of Monopoly projected onto the SMART board. The teacher will then ask

students what they know about the game Monopoly. After listening to student

answers the teacher then poses the question What is a Monopoly? Again the

class discusses the term Monopoly with guidance from the teacher about how one

acquires a Monopoly in game. After, the teacher provides the definition of a

Monopoly which will be written onto the whiteboard. After that, I would have

students create 2 column notes and explain that they would be watching a short

video. While watching the video, students are to fill out the name of the person who

owned the monopoly on one side while on the other side students fill in the industry

that that person had had a monopoly on.

When the video concludes Ill ask students to share one person they learned

about and what their monopoly was. After students have been called on, I will pose

the question Are there monopolies that exist today? Think about some of the

services you have currently. While students are thinking I will bring up a list of

companies that exist in the creation of oil pipelines. Students will have a minute or

so to examine the companies and discuss their thoughts regarding the information.

The question will then be posed If there are very few companies to provide the

same service, then who gets to decide the price of that service? What do people do

who cant afford the service? What if this service was a basic need for survival such

as food? Is this more of an issue for some people compared to others? The final

question to leave students with to think about is Will monopolies ever disappear?

Have monopolies changed from past to present?

Facilitating Change

The final two days of this unit plan is focused on facilitating change. The

project that students will take part in is a letter writing activity in which students

write a letter to officials in Flint or to the government officials regarding the DAPL.

As a class we will brainstorm ideas on what could be included in their letters. As a

class we also go over the style this letter should be written in, which is persuasive

letter using evidence from the previous days activities. Students should begin their

rough draft on the first day and collaborate with their peers in terms of editing,

sentence fluency, voice, etc. After students have completed their first draft and

have had 2 peers review their paper, students will have the teacher check their

paper. The second day consists of writing the final copy of their letter and typing

them up either in the computer lab or in the computers in the classroom.

Bibliography:

1) Politizane. (2012, November 20). Wealth Inequality in America [Video file].

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM

A great video talking about the distribution of wealth in America. This can be

shown to students following the simulation in order to follow extend thinking

about how there are many people in America who are silenced due to their

lack of wealth and power.

2) Young People's Trust for the Environment. (n.d.). River Pollution. Retrieved

December 11, 2016, from https://ypte.org.uk/factsheets/river-

pollution/polluting-the-rivers
 This is a great website to use in class or when students are researching about

how pollution affects rivers. This site provides many different pages with facts

and videos for students to watch and learn from.

3) The Environment: Water Pollution. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2016, from

http://www.ducksters.com/science/environment/water_pollution.php

This is another website to provide to students for information to help guide

their fact finding for their letter. This site contains links to the other types

pollution, if students with to include this info.

4) Consumption and Consumerism. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2016, from

http://www.globalissues.org/issue/235/consumption-and-consumerism

This would be a great resource for the teacher to look at before diving into

this unit. This site explains how much money the U.S. spends on its different

industries. If the teacher wishes the class can go over this website together

to see where most of our money is being spent.

5) 5 facts about economic inequality. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2016, from
 http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/07/5-facts-about-economic-

inequality/

This website has a great video that gives students facts about the

differentiation in wealth and power between peoples. This website also has

other links to explore such as articles focusing on workers from other

countries and the struggles they face.

6) Brehm, H., & Pellow, D. (n.d.). Environmental Inequalities. Retrieved

December 11, 2016, from https://thesocietypages.org/papers/environmental-

inequalities/

Another teacher resource in which the article dives deeply into the issue of

Environmental inequalities not only in the U.S but across the world. If the

teacher so wishes there are graphs that may be helpful to student

understanding but should be prefaced by the teacher instead of reading the

extensive article.

7) Section 5. Addressing Social Determinants of Health and Development. (n.d.).

Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-

contents/analyze/analyze-community-problems-and-solutions/social-

determinants-of-health/main
 Website contains a great video in which there is an interview on how social

determinants affect the health of our youth. May not be used directly in class

but is a good resource for the teacher to watch.

8) Corcoran, E. (n.d.). Corporations and Wealth Inequality. Retrieved December

11, 2016, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edward-corcoran/corporations-

and-wealth-inequality_b_5429079.html

This would be another site to provide to students or to read as a class

following the simulation in class. This articles talks about how major

corporations in America have brought inequalities with them.

9) Adams, J. (n.d.). Drinking Water Safety. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from

http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?

id=cqresrre2016071500

Overall, a website with tons of information about water safety and parts

specifically dedicated to Flint. The teacher can pull different parts of this

article to read as a class or discuss especially with students who choose to

focus on the the Flint, MI crisis.

10) JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2016, from

http://www.history.com/topics/john-d-rockefeller
 This is the website that is going to be used in class during past to present

connections. This site has all the Monopoly information in America alongside

many different videos to show the class.

11) Jacobson, L. (n.d.). Flint water still has problems, but Michael Moore

minimizes progress made. Retrieved December 11, 2016,from

http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2016/nov/21/michael-

moore/flint-water-still-problems-michael-moore/

This article is used for the groups of students that are analyzing the fact that

the Flint crisis has still not been solved but made lots of progress and is

almost fixed. This is the article that students will read through and use to

create their poster.

12) Davey, M. (n.d.). Flint Officials Are No Longer Saying the Water Is Fine.

Retrieved December 11, 2016, from

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/us/reassurances-end-in-flint-after-

months-of-concern.html?_r=0

This article is used by the students who are describing the fact that there is a

problem in Flint. Students will use this article in order to find information to

put onto their poster and for their discussion.

13) Yardley, W. (n.d.). There's a reason few even knew the Dakota Access

pipeline was being built. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-dakota-access-pipeline-permit-

20161104-story.html

This is the article used by the students who are on the side of explaining why

the DAPL should not be built. This information is then used for the students

posters and to help in their class discussion.

14) Blakeman, B. (n.d.). Why we must build the Dakota Access pipeline now.

Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-

blog/energy-environment/ 295216-why-we-must-build-the-dakota-access-

pipeline-now

This article if for the students who are assigned to find the information on

why the DAPL should be built. As with the other article, this is for students to

complete the reading assignment and to help provide the facts for their class

discussion.

15) The scramble for wealth and power. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2016,

from http://www.eycb.coe.int/compass/en/pdf/2_41.pdf
 This is the simulation that the detailed lesson plan is based off of. An

essential resource for the teacher so that the simulation can run smoothly an

according to plan. The teachers should look over this pdf in order to ask the

right questions to students to help extend their thinking.

16) Editorial Cartoons: Poverty/Environmental Justice. (n.d.). Retrieved

December 11, 2016, from Teaching Tolerance website:

http://www.tolerance.org/lesson/editorial-cartoons-povertyenvironmental-

justice

This website contains the political cartoon that is shown on the very first day

of this unit. The teacher can also look at this site to see potential questions to

ask students about their thoughts on the article in case the class has a hard

time starting discussion.

17) What is Pollution? - Lesson for Kids: Definition & Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved

December 11, 2016, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-pollution-

lesson-for-kids-definition-facts.html

This website has a video that students can watch on the first day of this unit.

The video discusses what pollution is and how pollution not only affects

humans, but the animals the world around us as a whole.

18) What is air pollution? (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2016, from

http://eschooltoday.com/pollution/air-pollution/what-is-air-pollution.html

This is a good website to use if students wish to extend out from just water

pollution. This age appropriate site is perfect for students who wish to do

extra research in their free time.

19) Effects of water pollution. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2016, from

http://eschooltoday.com/pollution/water-pollution/effects-of-water-

pollution.html

The same website as the previous air pollution facts site. This site has a lot of

information on types of water pollution, the effects of water pollution,

prevention/solutions, and specifically industrial causes.

20) Air Pollution in Minority Areas. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2016, from

Teaching Tolerance website:

http://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/air%20pollution

%20map.pdf

This website is a map in which it shows how much pollution (in this case air

pollution) is found in areas with a high minority population. This can be used

as a resource when students are researching their stance on how industry

 affects people's lives. This can also be used as a one off activity in which

students make inferences based on the information shown in the chart.

Physical Materials:

- Chart paper
- Pens and pencils
- White paper
- Laptops
- Markers
- Copies of the articles for each table group
- SMART Board
- Document viewer
- Reading notebooks (spiral)
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Article 1:

Why we must build the Dakota Access pipeline now

The key to America's national and energy security rests with our
ability to provide for our own energy needs with our own natural
resources, personnel and infrastructure.

A proposed $3.7-billion pipeline is planned for a 1,200-mile span

from the Bakken oil fields of western North Dakota to Illinois. This
will allow North Dakota to export half of its daily crude output to the
rest of America.

The Dakota pipeline will create over 8,000 immediate jobs in the
construction sector. It will be a huge boost to regional employment,
especially for welders, mechanics, electricians, pipefitters, heavy
equipment operators, truckers and other complimentary trades in
the manufacture of the materials needed to build the pipeline.

The economic benefit to the construction of the pipeline with the

state and local economies is an estimated $129 million annually to
property and income taxes. The service industries will also see a
benefit through additional income to hotels, restaurants, etc. Once
the pipeline is operational, it is estimated that state and local
governments can see an estimated $50 million annually in property
taxes and $74 million in sales taxes for the states of North Dakota,
South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, pipelines are

the safest mode of transporting crude oil. The Dakota crude oil
pipeline is designed to exceed stringent federal standards and will
be built and operated using the most advanced technology and
monitoring systems.

An exhaustive review process begun in 2014 for the building of the

pipeline and to date there have been close to 400 meetings,
surveys, hearings and lawsuits. This pipeline has been fully reviewed
and approved by all four states affected as well the Army Corp of
engineers. The North Dakota Public Service Commission is also in
support of the pipeline and has been involved in the review process
from its start. This project has been green-lighted and the necessary
permits have been issued for construction to begin.

So why then is the pipeline not being constructed?

It is being reported that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, represented

by the radical group EarthJustice, filed a lawsuit to halt construction.
It is documented that the Sioux, despite their claims they were not
given the opportunity to make their own review of the effects on
"cultural sites" as well as environmental impact on their lands, did
not participate in the approval process in spite of outreach to them.

A handful environmental rabble-rousers with a radical agenda seek

to stop a multibillion dollar project based solely upon unsupported
facts, threats and innuendo.

Presently before the federal court is the application by the

opponents for an injunction enjoining the construction of the
pipeline and thereby denying that which the nation and states
affected wants and needs. I say the court should either deny the
motion for an injunction outright or require the parties seeking an
injunction to post with the court a $1 billion dollar bond in good faith
of their allegation and claims.

We as a nation cannot cower or bow to environmental extortion. The

administrative process played out as intended and just because a
minority of activists does not like the decision cannot deny parties
what they are entitled as a matter of law.

The court must put an end to frivolous lawsuits whose sole purpose
is to bully, threaten, provoke and obstruct. The court should also
consider sanctions and the awarding of attorneys' fees as a further
message of deterrence. In addition, local authorities need to
exercise police powers in making sure criminal laws are not being
violated by protesters and those in opposition who are engaged in
trespassing, threats, destruction of property or worse.

In America, we must work within a system that respects the rule of

law and the outcome of lawful processes that have run its course.

The Dakota pipeline is needed. It will create a new and safer mode
of transporting needed domestic crude to our nation. It will provide
much-needed jobs and is in our national security and energy needs.

Blakeman is professor of public policy, politics and international

affairs at Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies and
was a member of President George W. Bush's senior White House
staff from 2001 to 2004. He is also a frequent contributor to Fox
News and Fox Business Channel.

ARTICLE 2:

There's a reason few even knew the Dakota

Access pipeline was being built
The bitter fight over the Dakota Access Pipeline seemed to erupt out
of nowhere this summer, and there is a good explanation for that:
Relatively few people knew the pipeline was being built.

In the summer of 2014, the pipeline was merely a concept, a major

crude oil transport project whose developers had not yet sought
permits. Barely 18 months later, it was under construction.

That might seem like a quick turnaround for a 1,170-mile pipeline

that would transport half a million barrels of crude oil a day, span
four states, cross water and wetlands hundreds of times, veer near
historic Native American sites, cut through farms and take private
land by eminent domain.

But there is a reason things moved quickly, and critics say it

highlights a serious but little understood flaw in the way big oil
pipelines get built. Unlike many other major energy projects drill
rigs off the coast of Alaska, large wind farms in the West, natural gas
pipelines domestic oil pipelines built largely on private land often
do not require an overarching permit from the federal government,
even those as sprawling and ambitious as the Dakota Access.

This is what happens instead: The Army Corps of Engineers, the

federal agency that issues permits for construction on and near
waterways, often does not assess major pipeline projects as major
pipeline projects at all.

Rather than broadly examining the impact a major pipeline could

have across its length, looking at cumulative effects on water, air
quality, land and animal species or the climate-changing emissions
a pipeline might enable, the Corps typically assesses big pipelines
as a series of much smaller ones, sometimes hundreds of smaller
ones breaking them up into segments to be reviewed at specific
water and wetland locations.

This piecemeal approach falls under a process called Nationwide

Permit 12.

Critics point to the language of the law and express exasperation at

the Corps interpretation of it. Nationwide Permit 12 allows for
activities required for the construction, maintenance, repair, and
removal of utility lines and associated facilities in waters of the
United States, provided the activity does not result in the loss of
greater than 1/2-acre of waters of the United States for each single
and complete project.

How, they ask, could the Corps view a pipelines every impact as a
single and complete project if its only being examined piece by
piece.

Its in violation with, if not the law itself, certainly the spirit of the
law, said Jim Murphy, a lawyer for the National Wildlife Federation
who specializes in the Clean Water Act and other federal regulations.

The Corps, in response, pointed to its website, which states its goal
in using this method is to reduce paperwork on projects that will
have minimal impact on the environment. In the case of Dakota
Access, it said it may only regulate the areas where the pipeline
crosses waters of the United States or federal real property interests
acquired and managed by the Corps for flood control and navigation
projects.

Treating a project this way spares it and the Corps layers of stricter
scrutiny, including wider public review and potentially analysis by
federal scientists through the National Environmental Policy Act, the
Endangered Species Act and other regulatory measures.

President Obama, to the consternation of many environmentalists,

has boasted at times of the efficiency of pipeline construction under
his administration.

Weve added enough new oil and gas pipeline to encircle the Earth
and then some, the president said in a speech in Cushing, Okla., in
March 2012.

He went on, making an election-year promise to be a fossil-fuel

friendly executive.

As long as Im president, he said, were going to keep on

encouraging oil development and infrastructure, and were going to
do it in a way that protects the health and safety of the American
people.

There are exceptions, however. The Keystone XL pipeline, which

would have transported crude from Canadas oil sands to Nebraska,
triggered a State Department analysis that ultimately left the final
decision to the president.

With the Paris climate conference approaching, President Obama

rejected the Keystone XL pipeline, in part to send a signal of U.S.
resolve to nurture renewable energy.

The decision was a departure for Obama. In that same Cushing

speech, Obama vowed that a different part of the Keystone system,
its southern leg, the nearly 500-mile Gulf Coast pipeline, would be
permitted and fast-tracked under Nationwide Permit 12.
Now, however, Nationwide Permit 12 is stirring a new level of
opposition. So far, courts have upheld its use, but the policy is
revised every five years, and environmental groups many that
paid little attention before Keystone XL and the boom in domestic oil
production have zeroed in.

"Oil companies have been using this antiquated fast-track permit

process that was not designed to properly address the issues of
mega-projects such as the Dakota Access pipeline," Dallas
Goldtooth, of the Indigenous Environmental Network, wrote this
summer, when his group and others submitted more than 35,000
comments during the formal review period.

"Meanwhile, tribal rights to consultation have been trampled and Big

Oil is allowed to put our waters, air and land at immense risk,
Goldtooth wrote.

The increasingly tense protests over Dakota Access have largely

focused on tribal concerns but protesters like Goldtooth have also
drawn attention to Nationwide Permit 12. The Obama administration
did so as well, if inadvertently, with its unusual decision in
September to withhold a final permit to allow the Dakota Access to
cross a small portion of federal land and Lake Oahe, a dammed
section of the federally regulated Missouri River that provides water
for the Standing Rock Sioux.

The administration acted just minutes after a federal judge denied a

request by the Standing Rock Sioux to halt construction on the
pipeline.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington,

D.C., referring to the way the Corps usually permits such
projects, said the pipeline needs almost no federal permitting of
any kind because 99% of its route traverses private land.

The crossing at Lake Oahe and the federal land next to it is not
private, giving the administration more leverage to invoke federal
authority than it has elsewhere along the route.

Energy Transfer Partners, the Texas company overseeing the

pipelines construction, has accused the administration of disrupting
a $3.8-billion project it says is 75% complete and largely paid for.

But one of the wrinkles and risks of operating under Nationwide

Permit 12 is that a company can choose to begin construction in
certain areas of a project without having permits for all of it. In the
past, that seemed safe to do. Now, because of the Native American
protests, Energy Transfer Partners finds itself stuck on the banks of
Lake Oahe.

ARTICLE 3:

Flint Officials Are No Longer Saying the Water Is Fine

FLINT, Mich. All along, through months of complaints from residents of

this city about the peculiar colors and odors they said were coming from their
faucets, the overriding message from the authorities here was that the water
would be just fine.
Yes, there had been a boil order when fecal coliform bacteria turned up in
some neighborhoods last year. And yes, the extra chlorine that was pumped
in to solve that problem seemed to create another one increased levels of a
different contaminant.

Still, the guidance from Flint officials about the temporary water supply they
switched to in 2014 partly to save money sounded assuring. In a notice
sent to residents in July, city officials declared: This is not an emergency. If a
situation arises where the water is no longer safe to drink, you will be notified
within 24 hours.

The soothing talk has vanished. In recent weeks, testing has shown increased
levels of lead in the blood of some Flint children and health officials
pointed to the water as a possible source.

First, the city advised residents to run their water for five minutes before
using it, to use only cold water for drinking and cooking, and to install lead-
removing water filters. Then county officials issued an emergency advisory
recommending that people not drink Flints water unless it is tested for lead
or filtered.

And last Friday, after corroborating that lead levels had risen in some
children, state officials called for the water to be tested at all Flint public
schools and for stepped-up efforts to replace lead service lines; they also
promised $1 million to provide filters.

Officials met here on Wednesday afternoon, and talks were underway,

officials said, for additional solutions that could come as early as Thursday.
Gov. Rick Snyder said on Twitter late Wednesday that he planned to make an
announcement about the situation on Thursday morning.

Private groups have raced to donate bottled water to schools, where the water
fountains are now shut off, as well as filters to families who cannot afford
them. Saying were just in a heck of a bind, Robert J. Pickell, the Genesee
County sheriff, began serving bottled water and food that need not be cooked
in water to hundreds of inmates in the county jail. Some residents have begun
washing their children and pets with bottled water.

And Flints mayor, Dayne Walling, who had attended a 2014 event to
celebrate the switch to the new water supply, called for returning to the citys
old water supply and urged state officials to provide millions of dollars to help
pay for it.

The contaminated water was just the latest blow to Flint, an economically
battered city that has struggled for years with factory closings, job losses and
population decline.

Along Saginaw Street downtown, where at least one business had an un-
leaded sign posted by a jug of water, residents had lingering questions:
Would filters really do enough to make the water safe? What about unfiltered
showers? Could they rely on the water at work and at restaurants? And why
had it taken so long for leaders to figure out that there was a problem?

I dont think people know whats going on at all, said Chris Thornton, 49,
who described the first blast of water from his faucets some days as looking
like urine, smelling like bleach and tasting of metal. After his wife, Ronda, 50,
felt sick to her stomach for months, the Thorntons began buying jugs of
bottled water, though the price on top of an already steep water bill has
been overwhelming.

As far as my family, Ronda Thornton said, weve just given up on the citys
water.

Flints water problems are tied inextricably to its fiscal woes. In 1960, nearly
200,000 people lived here. But auto plants closed, and the population has
dropped by half. By 2011, Flints shrunken tax base and seemingly intractable
budget problems prompted Mr. Snyder to appoint an emergency manager for
the city. Over the next four years, the city had four managers overseeing
operations. Along the way, the city switched its water supply.

For decades, the city bought water from Detroit, which treated water from
Lake Huron, then piped it here, 70 miles to the northwest. But with the costs
mounting, Flints leaders decided they could save millions by joining a new
regional authority that would draw and treat its own water from Lake Huron.

There was one complication: Flint needed an alternative water supply from
April 2014 until the new regional system is ready, probably next year. In the
interim, Flint switched to using water from the Flint River, which state
officials say had been a backup source in the past.

Ask residents about the Flint River, and many of them roll their eyes. They
say it was once as a dumping ground for car parts, grocery carts and
refrigerators. There have been significant improvements and intensive
restoration campaigns in recent years, though a Flint River Fest set for Friday
has been postponed, organizers said, given the current drinking water
crisis.

Even now, state officials say that treated Flint River water is safe and capable
of meeting state and federal standards. Officials say the problem may be that
some of the aging pipes and service lines that carry water into Flints homes
and businesses contain lead and are being corroded by water. The water Flint
used to receive from Detroit was treated with chemicals intended to prevent
such corrosion.

For months, questions about lead and other risks multiplied. Everyone kept
saying: Its safe! Its safe! Its safe! recalled Melissa Mays, a Flint resident
who says she was sickened by the water and has helped organize residents
over the issue.

Then in September, a researcher from Virginia Tech released findings from

the water in hundreds of Flint homes showing elevated lead levels. Blood
tests released by a local pediatrician and corroborated last week by state
officials analyzing their own testing showed an increase in lead levels in
children in some neighborhoods since 2014, when the city began drawing
water from the river.

We all have a concern about Flints drinking water in terms of what were
seeing in terms of lead, Mr. Snyder said last week.

Mr. Walling said that the move to river water occurred when an emergency
manager controlled the city, though the City Council did vote for the citys
plans for a new, regional water system. He acknowledged supporting the
move in a state of the city address, but said that he had not been given
sufficient information about the safety risks.

I had to work with what I knew at the time, Mr. Walling, who is up for
election next month, said in an interview.

But for many residents, the authorities failed the city by taking so long to
react. Anytime you have to weigh money against the health and welfare of
people, it always has to be the health and welfare you go with, said the Rev.
Alfred Harris, a local pastor who has stopped conducting baptisms at his
church because of concerns about the water. Weve been talking about this
for the last 14 months, and they did not give a sincere ear to any of us. Shame
on you!

LeeAnne Walters said her son, Gavin, 4, who has immune system issues, had
suffered direct consequences. After the switch to river water, which
sometimes looked brown in their house, Gavin dropped to 27 pounds, far
below the weight of his twin brother, she said. He sometimes seemed unable
to pronounce words he knew, she said, and then test results showed an
elevated lead level in his blood.

He is going to deal with the side effects of this for the rest of his life, Ms.
Walters said. I dont think theres a word angry enough to describe my anger.
I trusted the city, and I helped the city poison my kid. Who thought this could
happen in the United States?
ARTICLE 4:

Flint water still has problems, but

Michael Moore minimizes progress
made

After Michigan turned away from Barack Obama in 2012 and toward Donald
Trump in 2016, Michael Moore, the liberal filmmaker and activist, said he understood
voters frustrations.

This could be seen, he said, even in Genesee County, which includes Moores hometown
of Flint, where residents have been grappling with major water-contamination concerns.
In Genesee County, Obama in 2012 won by a 62 percent-37 percent margin, yet in
2016, Hillary Clinton won by a significantly narrower 52 percent-43 percent margin.

"Barack Obama, who I loved, and voted for twice, and I will miss dearly -- he showed up
in Flint five months ago and he drank the water, when it was still not fixed," Moore
said on MSNBCs Morning Joe. "The pipes were still not replaced. He drank the water
to say, It's all okay, everyone. And it was like a knife in the heart of the people of Flint, a
black city, to see the president do this. I saw everybody just deflate. The pipes still
haven't been replaced. The water is still poisoned. How many shows on Flint since he
drank the water?"

Is Moore correct that in Flint, "the pipes still haven't been replaced. The water is still
poisoned"? The frustration hes channeling is understandable. But he glosses over the
progress that has been made in ameliorating this long-lasting problem. (Moore did not
respond to our inquiries.)
Origins of the problem

In Flint -- a low-income and majority African-American city beset by a decline in the

manufacturing industry -- the lead poisoning was precipitated by Republican Gov.
Rick Snyder. Snyder had campaigned on his managerial experience and had promised
to bring outside experts to transform financially languishing municipalities.

Under emergency management, the city ended its agreement to obtain water from the
Detroit Water and Sewerage Department and instead joined a new pipeline project, the
Karegnondi Water Authority, that would draw water from Lake Huron. The move, made
officially in April 2013, was done in large part to save the city millions of dollars.

The day after the switch was announced, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department
said it would cut off service in April 2014. Since the pipeline wouldnt be ready by then,
the city prepared to switch its water supply to the Flint River. However, the river water
contained salts that would corrode pipes, and the right mix of corrosion inhibitors was
never used. Not only did residents complain that their new water was foul, but it
eventually became clear that lead was leaching into the water supply from the citys old
pipes. Lead is a highly toxic metal, especially for children whose bodies are still
developing.

After a litany of missed opportunities, the situation became a focus of the national
media in the second half of 2015, prompting both emergency water distribution and a
search for a longer-term solution.

Water quality

Since the problems emerged and remedial actions were taken, the Environmental
Protection Agency has conducted several rounds of testing, most recently in July. These
samplings have shown improvements in lead levels, as long as residents use filters that
are being provided free of charge.

In June, officials decided that levels were safe enough to lift restrictions on
pregnant women and small children from drinking the tap water, as long as it was
filtered.

The main challenge is that "filter installation, operation and replacement are sometimes
challenging, said Peggy Kahn, a University of Michigan-Flint political scientist who has
closely tracked the issue.
"While lead levels have fallen according to sampling tests, there is concern that there is
still lead in the system, and it is unclear whether every residence has safe water," Kahn
said.

In September 2016, Mark Durno, deputy chief of the EPA's emergency response
branch, told the Detroit Free Press that lifting the filter requirement before the end
of the year is not likely, barring a dramatic drop in lead levels.

Marc Edwards -- a Virginia Tech environmental and water resources engineer who leads
the Flint Water Study team, which helped identify the problem in the first place -- told
PolitiFact that the improvements are real even though filters are still needed.

"Our recent data is indicating that the drinking water in Flint in terms of lead and other
contaminants after the unprecedented intervention is now in the range of other cities
with old pipes," Edwards said. "Obviously, that is nothing to brag about, and the state
and federal government are erring on the side of caution, including not giving an all
clear until there is a reasonable margin of safety. But it is incorrect to say that Flint
water is worse than that of other cities, at present, and given that residents are being
provided protection, I think Flint residents are actually better off than residents in many
other cities."

Water delivery infrastructure

Progress on replacing pipes has taken longer, due in part to Congress inability to
come to an agreement on funding.

Flint has begun to rip out and replace some of the hazardous pipes under a "FAST Start
program" that uses $27 million in funds appropriated by the state. Through mid
November, pipes at 346 homes have been replaced. The city plans to replace pipes in a
total of 788 homes this fall.

The problem is that this is a small fraction of all pipes that will eventually need
replacing. Bridge magazine, a Michigan publication that has been tracking the situation
in Flint, has estimated that more than 17,000 homes may still need to be addressed,
including homes with lead pipes and galvanized steel pipes, which entail similar
hazards. A spokeswoman for the city of Flint, Kristin Moore, offered a similar number.

"While continuing to provide residents with free bottled water and filters is a needed
and important step, the mayor stresses that we know it is only a temporary fix," Kristin
Moore said. "Therefore, doing what is necessary to eliminate the ongoing effects of the
water crisis, including replacing all the lead-tainted pipes in the city of Flint, remains a
top priority."

Edwards of Virginia Tech acknowledged the long road ahead, emphasizing that speeding
up the process -- and potentially cutting corners -- could lead to more problems.

"While I know that lead pipe replacement sounds easy to a layperson, it is actually a very
difficult and expensive process, and if done incorrectly can actually leave the problem
worse than without pipe replacement," he said. "Realize that you are disturbing a very
hazardous material that is dispensing water intended for human consumption. Even a
very ambitious lead pipe replacement project would take five to seven years to
complete."

Edwards mentioned a "pipe replacement disaster" in Washington, D.C., as a precedent

to avoid. The project involved 12,000 pipe replacements at a cost of more than $100
million over seven years "and in the process they actually increased the incidence of
childhood lead poisoning due to falsified science and government agency misconduct,"
he said.

Edwards understands this will sound like cold comfort for residents of Flint.

"Many Flint residents, with good reason, will never trust the safety of their potable water
again, or the word of any government agency," he said. "A few of them will not even
trust me (or my colleagues) even after we exposed the problem. We cannot and do not
blame them for that, given their journey. But the facts do not support statements that
say Flint water is any more poisonous than other cities, especially considering the
provision of the free filters and bottled water that protect consumers from any lead
problems that remain."

Our ruling

Moore said that in Flint, "the pipes still haven't been replaced. The water is still
poisoned."

It will take years to complete the replacement of Flints pipes. Officials have replaced a
few hundred pipes, with thousands more to go.

The tap water is still not safe to drink on its own. However, experts said the city has
made progress here, and the water is considered safe when filtered, putting it on par
with other cities with older infrastructure.
While considerable hurdles remain, Moore has glossed over progress that has been
made. We rate his statement Half True.