Source: UNEP & ESA
Contents:
The Aral Sea is one of the largest ecological catastrophes in the world, caused mainly by the massive water consumption from agriculture in the region (mainly for cotton cultivation). The water withdrawl from the sea and its inflow allows the sea to continue to shrink. Through time, health problems for the population began to appear due to fertilizer and pesticide usage as well as the growing salinisation of the sea. Through this, the fishing in the area also came to a full stop. For the past few years, through a dike, the water-level-guage has risen in the northern sea, from which the drying out of the once larger sea has been accelerated.
Didactic Commentary:
- At the beginning of this worksheet, the images should be discussed together. The students should describe the images and give their first assumptions. As a next step, the newspaper articles should be incorperated in the discussion.
- In the second assignment, the creativity of the students and their subject competency is used. This assignment is suitable for different social forms. Depending on grade level, the appropriate social form can be chosen. In general, the teacher should hold him or herself back and allow the students to discuss among themselves. The students should have the ability to brainstorm. As a next step, method competency is required as the students should be able to choose with which style they wish to write their article (a. technically/specialised or b. for the popular press).
Solutions to the Worksheet 'The Aggradation of the Aral Sea'
1. Take a look at the different satellite images of the Aral Sea from different years and read the the newspaper quotes.
Through the satellite images one can get an impression of the degree to which the Aral Sea has been aggragated. In the past decade, the sea has followed a path from which it will disappear. The newspaper cut-outs and headlines give an impression of the condition of the region, the sea, and the possible consequences. There are, however, contradicting declarations.
2. Write your own article about the aggradation of the sea.
The article can be either very technical, scientific, rational, emotional, or unemotionally written; the article can also be written luridly for the popular press. The students should be creative, research the SEOS websites, and write about a topic, for example, the aggradation, the complete disappearance of the sea, the withdrawl of the northern sea, or ecological consequences. The headlines can be used as a starting point for articles, but one can also write a completely new article, without the guidance of the headlines.
