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Teacher's Guide
Episode 7: "FUTURE CONDITIONAL"
Overview
“Future Conditional” explores how toxic pollutants
affect environmental and human health. Viewers discover
that pollutants travel great distances, affecting human and
natural communities hundreds and even thousands of miles away. Case
studies illustrate how Arctic food chains and the Inuit people
are being poisoned by toxins being created in North and Central
America, Europe and Asia; how poor factory workers in Mexico
are being exposed to dangerous pollutants brought about by
the new global economy, and why once-thriving fishing villages
around the Aral Sea are now ghost towns, a situation that is
a powerful wake-up call about the future of California’s
Salton Sea.
The program also introduces a Barrio neighborhood in San Diego
that, by successfully confronting political and business interests
polluting their neighborhood, demonstrates the power that ordinary
citizens have to bring about positive change in their communities.
Pre-Viewing Activities
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Introduce the following key terms to students:
- Inuit – A people who live in the Arctic
from northeastern Russia across Alaska and Canada to
Greenland. Formerly referred to as Eskimos.
- The grasshopper effect – A description
of how air-borne toxins can infect localities distant
from their sources of origin. Toxins can evaporate,
travel by wind for hundreds and even thousands of miles,
and then return to earth in rain and snow.
- Plankton – Organisms that float in fresh
and salt water. The term includes animals as large
as jellyfish, but usually refers to microscopic creatures. Phytoplankton
refers to photosynthetic organisms, such as floating
algae; zooplankton refers to animals and other creatures
that eat other organisms for sustenance.
- North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA – A
treaty passed in the United States in 1993 that promotes
free trade between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
- Barrio – A Spanish term meaning neighborhood.
- Asthma – A condition characterized by
difficulty in breathing that often includes wheezing,
gasping, and coughing. Causes include allergies
and air pollution.
- Marco Polo (1254-1324 A.D.) – A Venetian
merchant who traveled to China and spent 17 years with
the emperor, Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan
(see below). His written account of his travels
and time in the Chinese court achieved widespread readership
in Europe.
- Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) – King
of Macedonia when he was 18, Alexander the Great embarked
on a campaign of conquest that, at its completion, extended
through the Middle East to Central Asia and India and
south to Egypt. He died when he was 32 years old.
- Genghis Khan (Died 1227 A.D.) – Leader
of the Mongols, a nomadic people from present day Mongolia. Genghis
Khan, through armed conquest, formed the largest contiguous
empire the world has ever known, stretching from China
through Central Asia to Eastern Europe. His armies
were known for their ruthlessness and cruelty as well
as their effectiveness.
- Karakalpak People – A Turkic people living
near the Aral Sea.
- Silk Road – An ancient trade route that
caravans would travel transporting goods from China to
Europe.
Post-Viewing Discussion
The topics in these activities could be covered in one lesson
or extended into several lessons. The following viewing
activities offer opportunities for student discussion of how
their lives are inescapably tied to the environment.
Toxic Pollution in the Arctic (Canada):
- In what ways is hunting important to the Inuit? (Answer:
Over 65% of their protein comes from wild animals. In
addition, it is essential to preserving cultural identity
and to developing the character of Inuit young people.)
- What might happen to the Inuit if hunting were to disappear,
either because the animals have disappeared or because they
are so laden with toxins that they cannot be eaten? (Possible
answers: Inuit would have to depend upon different store-purchased
food. Such a shift in diet often leads to health problems,
such as diabetes and heart problems, in people who are not
accustomed to the new foods. Their cultural identity
might weaken, and, since age-old traditions of raising children
might be threatened, social problems might afflict Inuit
young people.)
- The skills and knowledge Inuit possess to thrive in their
difficult environment and to successfully hunt the animals
found there have been passed down generation by generation
for millennia. If Inuit were to lose this knowledge,
would this be important to those of us who are not Inuit? How
important do you think it is to preserve such age-old skills
and knowledge in the modern world?
- The program states that “The discovery of toxic pollutants
in the food supply has put 155,000 Inuit on the brink of
a public health disaster.” To avoid being poisoned,
they must either change their dietary customs, or the United
States and other countries must spend huge amounts of money
cleaning up the pollution they are creating. What do
you think should be done? What do you think will be
done?
- If toxins are showing up in the bodies of people living
in the Arctic, do you think they are showing up in yours? (Answer:
What is happening in the Arctic may not be happening in your
neighborhood, even though it is probably closer to pollution
sites than the Arctic is. First, the climate and weather
patterns seem to concentrate toxins in the Arctic environment. Secondly,
Inuit eat seals that are farther along the food chain than
plant-eating animals like cattle and chickens. The
farther you move along the food chain, the more concentrated
toxins become. Nonetheless, there is no reason to suppose
that we are not taking in and accumulating toxins in our
air, water, and food.)
Toxic Pollution in Tijuana (Mexico):
- What is the trade-off that Mexico made regarding jobs and
environment (Answer: Mexico encouraged U.S. factories to
settle in Mexico because they provide employment for Mexicans. The
factories, however, increase toxic pollution.) Looking
at this situation, do you think the trade-off was worth it?
- What is the United States’ responsibility in this
situation? Should the U.S. help clean up this site,
treat people who are sick because of it, and even compensate
families financially for the suffering they have undergone? Or,
is this the Mexican government’s problem?
- As a follow-up to Question #2, if a United States company
establishes a factory in a developing country, is it responsible
for pollution problems it creates even if the developing
country’s environmental regulations are so weak or
poorly enforced that the pollution is allowed to continue?
Citizen Action In Barrio Logan (San Diego):
- Barrio Logan is in a congested, polluted part of San Diego. Why
do you think residents fight so hard to stay in the neighborhood
and preserve it?
- Do you know of any instances where people have tried to
unite to achieve a common cause in your neighborhood? If
so, what happened?
- What did the people try to do, what strategies did they
use, and how much success did they enjoy?
The Plight of the Salton Sea (California):
- Why might Palm Springs appear to be an unlikely place for
public health problems brought about by environmental pollution? (Answer:
It is an affluent community, whose residents can afford to
live away from areas with polluting industries.)
- What are two ways in which the lake is being threatened? (Answer:
Agricultural runoff carries huge amounts of chemicals into
the lake that are killing fish, birds, and other life. Secondly,
water is being diverted from agriculture to San Diego and
other Southern California municipalities, thus reducing the
flow of water into the lake and causing it to shrink. This
scenario is similar to what has happened to the Aral Sea.)
- Considering the Aral Sea predicament, what should people
do about the Salton Sea? Should agricultural pollution
be reduced? Should water be taken away from cities
and returned to the farmers? What might be the consequences
if nothing is done?
The Collapse of the Aral Sea (Uzbekistan):
- What is the connection between wind-borne toxins and the
drying up of the Aral Sea? (Answer: The toxins entered
the sea from agricultural runoff. When the sea evaporates,
it leaves the toxins behind. The wind blows the new-dry
land, now containing the toxins, throughout the area.)
- How has the drying up of the sea increased poverty? (Answer:
The sea used to support a vibrant fishing industry, which
is now deteriorating along with the environment that supported
it. It’s hard to fish when you live 90 miles
from the water!)
- What is threatening cotton farming in the region? (Answer:
The quality of the river water being used for irrigation
is itself deteriorating, due to increasing concentrations
of salt and agricultural chemicals. In addition, salt
left behind by the evaporating sea is blowing through the
fields, greatly increasing their salinity. Crop yields
are decreasing significantly as a result. In addition,
because of wind-borne toxins, the farmers and their families
are less healthy than before.)
- Do you think we can use the Aral Sea as a realistic example
of what could happen with the Salton Sea and Southern California,
or do you think that is too far-fetched? Why or why
not?
Viewers Guide written by Margaret Pennock and David S. Wood,
M.S., B.S.
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