The Great Lakes: A Time of Reckoning Booklets – submitted by Laurie Hazzard

photo of algae bloom

New resource for Grade 9 Applied and Academic Science!

In 2020, two members of Blue Bayfield created the booklet The Great Lakes: A Time of Reckoning.

Authors Ray Letheren and Betty Durst explained why they created this booklet:

The sole purpose in publishing this booklet is to encourage the 45 million citizens who depend on the Great Lakes for drinking water, recreation and livelihood to respect and act to protect these waters.

Blue Bayfield is one of many Blue Communities around the world that:

  1. Respect water as a human right
  2. Reject the privatization of water
  3. Reject single-use bottled water

Blue Bayfield was recognized by an international organization as the first community in North America to become plastic free.

During 2019, Blue Bayfield was invited to address communities in Ontario and Western Canada about our experience in becoming plastic free and our efforts to protect our waters.  The onset of COVID-19 ended our presentations but not our enthusiasm.  We decided to put our message in booklet form.

Working closely with Blue Bayfield, local Grade 9 Science teachers started using this booklet in their classrooms and were very enthusiastic because they found it to be an excellent resource that meets many of the expectations in both Grad 9 Applied and Academic Science.  In fact, One Science teacher wrote this to Blue Bayfield:

“This [The Great Lakes: A Time of Reckoning] is, honestly, the best resource for Grade 9 Sustainable Ecosystems unit.  It covers everything we talk about (even eutrophication and bioaccumulation…invasive species) all with local examples.”

With this amazing endorsement, Blue Bayfield was able to secure some funding so we could engage Science teachers and an assessment and literacy specialist to create Teacher Guides for:

  • SNC1P: Science, Grade 9, Applied
  • SNC1D: Science, Grade 9, Academic

These guides provide all of the strategies you will need to effectively use this resource including:

  • Overall and specific expectations covered
  • Learning Goals and Success Criteria
  • Handouts
  • Additional resources
  • Discussion topics
  • A final assessment (including a rubric).

This resource can be used in different learning scenarios:

  • In a blended learning environment where teachers and students are face-to-face but have access to the online module;
  • In a distance learning environment where teachers and students have scheduled synchronous sessions and students have access to the online module through a virtual learning environment;
  • In a distance learning environment where the learning is largely asynchronous and students have access to the online module through a virtual learning environment.

The resource can be uploaded directly to a course shell in D2L through the Import/Export/Copy course components.  The Great Lakes: A Time of Reckoning was created in Modular format, is fully modifiable by your teachers and is AODA compliant.

Every TELT Contact in every Ontario District School Board has been provided with this resource, so you simply need to ask for it to be set up for you and you can begin using it right away with your students.

Laurie Hazzard for Blue Bayfield

Resource: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11xSLEs6lG4IrcjEx0K_bSjeN_llnZ-xw/view?usp=sharing

Thanks for sharing this excellent resource Laurie!

 

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