Download pdf - Agricultural Pollution in Lake Winnipeg: Problems and ... · The teacher will provide the handout, “Agricultural Pollution in Lake Winnipeg”. When students have completed the

1 Minnesota Alliance for Geographic Education - Swanson

AgriculturalPollutioninLakeWinnipeg:ProblemsandPotential?

OVERVIEW&OBJECTIVES GRADES

StudentswillinvestigatetheextentofagriculturalpollutioninLakeWinnipegbyexaminingmapsanddata.Studentswillthendiscusstheeffectsofagriculturalpollutionandpossiblesolutionstodetermineiffarmersaregoodstewardsoftheland.Studentswillbeableto...• Identifywaterflowpatterns• DeterminepollutionsourcesintoLakeWinnipeg• Analyzeandexplaintheextentofagricultural

pollutionintoLakeWinnipeg• Describepossiblesolutionstodetermineif

farmersaregoodstewardsoftheland

9th

TIME

1class

REQUIREDMATERIALS

ü LakeWinnipegWatershedMaps–1perstudentorprojectmapforclass

ü Handouts:“AgriculturalPollutioninLakeWinnipeg“;“AgriculturalPollutioninLakeWinnipeg(ANSWERS)”;ResourceMaps&Data(10included)

MINNESOTASOCIALSTUDIESSTANDARDS&BENCHMARKS

Standard1.Peopleusegeographicrepresentationsandgeospatialtechnologiestoacquire,processandreportinformationwithinaspatialcontext.9.3.1.1.2Applygeographicinformationfromavarietyofprintandelectronicsourcestointerpretthepastandpresentandplanforthefuture;providerationaleforusingspecifictechnologiesforeachapplication.Standard3.Placeshavephysicalcharacteristics(suchasclimate,topographyandvegetation)andhumancharacteristics(suchasculture,population,politicalandeconomicsystems).9.3.2.3.1Makeinferencesanddrawconclusionsaboutthephysicalandhumancharacteristicsofplacesbasedonacomparisonofmapsandothergeographicrepresentationsandgeospatialtechnologies.Standard9.Theenvironmentinfluenceshumanactions;andhumansbothadapttoandchange,theenvironment.9.3.4.9.1Analyzetheinterconnectednessoftheenvironmentandhumanactivities(includingtheuseoftechnology),andtheimpactofoneupontheother.

SUGGESTEDPROCEDURETheteacherwillhandoutaLakeWinnipegWatershedmaptoeachstudentorallowallstudentsaccesstoinformationonthemap.StudentswillbegettinginformationfromavarietyofresourcessuchasmapsandgraphsaswellaschartsexplainingthepollutionsourcesintoLakeWinnipeg.The10resourcehandoutswillalsobeprovided,eitherprintedorshownonthescreeninfrontoftheroom.Discusswhatisoccurringineachoftheresources.Theteacherwillprovidethehandout,“AgriculturalPollutioninLakeWinnipeg”.Whenstudentshavecompletedthehandout,“AgriculturalPollutioninLakeWinnipeg”,splittheclassintoeitherFarmersorEnvironmentalists.Havestudentscomeupwithreasonswhyandhowtosolvetheproblemofagriculturalpollutionusingtheirindividualviewpointsofeitherafarmeroranenvironmentalist.Basicargumentsforeachinclude:Farmers:

• Increasedfertilizersmeansincreasedyield,whichmeansmoremoney.


• Decreasedfertilizerusemeanseconomicstrainforcesfarmerstolosemoney.Environmentalists:

• IncreasedfertilizersmeanmorepollutionforLakeWinnipegandlesswateruseforrecreation.• DecreasedfertilizerusagemeansahealthierecosystemaroundandinLakeWinnipeg.

Discussifthisneedstobeadichotomyorwhetherornotfarmerscanandaregoodstewardsoftheland.Assessment§ “AgriculturalPollutioninLakeWinnipeg”handout§ ClassdiscussionWebsiteResources“Crops”atTheCanadianEncyclopediahttp://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/crops/“StateofLakeWinnipeg:1999to2007”atGovernmentofManitobahttps://www.gov.mb.ca/waterstewardship/water_quality/state_lk_winnipeg_report/pdf/state_of_lake_winnipeg_rpt_technical_low_resolution.pdf

• Resource#2:Manure• Resource#3:NumberofCattle• Resource#4:AgriculturalLand• Resource#5:FertilizedArea• Resource#6:LandCoverandPercentofCoverage• Resource#7:EcologicalRegions• Resource#8:MeanMonthlyDischargeintoLakeWinnipeg• Resource#9:TotalPhosphorusConcentrations• Resource#10:TotalNitrogenConcentrations


AgriculturalPollutioninLakeWinnipeg

1. Findthefollowingrivers:Identifywhichdirectioneachriverflows.Howcanyoutellwhichwaytheriverflows?

A. RedRiverB. WinnipegRiverC. SaskatchewanRiverD. DauphinRiver

- WheredoesLakeWinnipegdrain?

2. Whatlanguagesareprintedonthemap?Whyisthisthecase?

3. ExplainwhytheWinnipegRiverdepositsthemostamountofwaterintoLakeWinnipegeventhoughitisoneoftheshortestriversemptyingintothelake.

4. Usingtheresourcesinthisactivity.WhatisthedominanttypeofagricultureusedwithintheLakeWinnipegwatershed?

5. ExplainthephysicallandscapedifferencesbetweenlandeastofLakeWinnipegandlandtothewestofLakeWinnipeg.

6. LakeWinnipeghasbeendesignatedasoneofthemostpollutedlakesintheworld.Whatfactorsarecausingthisdesignation?

7. Whydofarmersusephosphorusandnitrogenfortheircrops?HowdoesthisaffecttheareasofLakeWinnipeg?

8. Whichareaofthemapisbringinginthemostphosphorusandnitrogenintothelake?Whyisthisthecase?Whichresourcewasnecessarytofindthisinformation?

9. TheLakeWinnipegwatershedisdividedbetweentwodifferentcountries.Howdoesthiscomplicatetheproblemofcleaningupthewatershedarea?

10. Howcantheriversbecleanedupyetnotharmagriculturalinterestsintheareadependentuponthefertilizersandcattlefortheirlivelihoods?


AgriculturalPollutioninLakeWinnipeg(ANSWERS)

1. Findthefollowingrivers:Identifywhichdirectioneachriverflows.Howcanyoutellwhichwaytheriverflows?

E. RedRiver–FlowsnorthF. WinnipegRiver–FlowswestG. SaskatchewanRiver–FlowseastH. DauphinRiver–Flowseast

- WheredoesLakeWinnipegdrain?TothenorthintoHudsonBay

2. Whatlanguagesareprintedonthemap?Whyisthisthecase?FrenchandEnglish.Canadahastwoofficiallanguagesandallgovernmentdocumentsareprintedinbothlanguages.

3. ExplainwhytheWinnipegRiverdepositsthemostamountofwaterintoLakeWinnipegeven

thoughitisoneoftheshortestriversemptyingintothelake.MorewaterflowsfromtheWinnipegRiverbecausethelakesandprecipitationisgreatertotheeastofthelakethanitistothewestofthelake.

4. Usingtheresourcesinthisactivity.WhatisthedominanttypeofagricultureusedwithintheLake

Winnipegwatershed?Cattleranchingandwheatfarming

5. ExplainthephysicallandscapedifferencesbetweenlandeastofLakeWinnipegandlandtothewest

ofLakeWinnipeg.ThelandscapetotheeastofthelakeisdottedwithlakesandswampsandforestedareaswhereastheareatothewestofLakeWinnipegisprimarilyprairiewithloweramountsofprecipitation.

6. LakeWinnipeghasbeendesignatedasoneofthemostpollutedlakesintheworld.Whatfactorsarecausingthisdesignation?Theagriculturalrunofffromfertilizerusedtogrowwheatandthemanureandwasterunofffromcattlegoesintotherivers,whichisaffectingLakeWinnipegdownstreambecausetheriversemptyintothelake.

7. Whydofarmersusephosphorusandnitrogenfortheircrops?HowdoesthisaffecttheareasofLakeWinnipeg?Farmersusephosphorusandnitrogentoaidplantgrowthforcrops.Theuseoftheseproductsinfertilizermeansagreatercropyieldandmoremoneyforthefarmer.Theagriculturalrunofffromusingtheseproductsmeansapollutedlake.Increasednitrogenlevelsinthelakemeanmoreplantgrowth,especiallyalgae,limitingtheoxygenlevelsinthelake.

8. Whichareaofthemapisbringinginthemostphosphorusandnitrogenintothelake?Whyisthisthecase?Whichresourcewasnecessarytofindthisinformation?TheRedRiver,comparedtotheotherrivers,isbringinginthemostamountsofphosphorusandnitrogenintoLakeWinnipeg.Resources#9and#10showtheRedRiverbringinginlargeamountsofeachproductintothelake.

9. TheLakeWinnipegwatershedisdividedbetweentwodifferentcountries.Howdoesthis

complicatetheproblemofcleaningupthewatershedarea?


Twoseparategovernments(CanadaandtheUnitedStates)mustagreeonaplan.Thisisinadditiontothelocalandregionalgovernmentsoftheareas(i.e.Manitoba,NorthDakota,etc.)

10. Howcantheriversbecleanedupyetnotharmagriculturalinterestsintheareadependentuponthecropsandcattlefortheirlivelihoods?Answerswillvarydependinguponviewpoints.


Resource#1:Crops

Source:TheCanadianEncyclopedia:http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/crops/


Resource#2:Manure

Source:StateofLakeWinnipegReport.ProvinceofManitoba.https://www.gov.mb.ca/waterstewardship/water_quality/state_lk_winnipeg_report/pdf/state_of_lake_winnipeg_rpt_technical_high_resolution.pdf


Resource#3:NumberofCattle



Resource#4:AgriculturalLand



Resource#5:FertilizedArea



Resource#6:LandCoverandPercentofCoverage



Resource#7:EcologicalRegions



Resource#8:MeanMonthlyDischargeintoLakeWinnipeg



Resource#9:TotalPhosphorusConcentrations



Resource#10:TotalNitrogenConcentrations
