Caring for the Earth--Teacher Information

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

Tibetan Children's Village
Teacher Information | Student Activities

Conserving and Preserving Thailand
Teacher Information | Student Activities

Website Investigation and Design: Thailand--Caring for the Earth
Teacher Information | Student Activities

TEACHER INFORMATION

Some of the environmental problems and issues facing the Asia region are presented in 'Caring for the Earth' (pp 8-10) in Voices & Values: Citizenship in Asia. Young peoples' concerns and responses to environmental issues are highlighted, with examples from India, Philippines and Thailand. The student activities provided on the three activity sheets on this website build upon and complement the material in the book. The country-specific focus for the activities is on India and Thailand. The student activity sheets are designed to be printed for classroom use.

Learning Outcomes
Students will:

examine, analyse and compare the activities of a group of Tibetan students concerned about the environment in India
analyse the environmental problems of people who live in Thailand's southern coastal regions and the ways they are conserving and preserving their coastal environments
investigate, access and critically evaluate a range of websites about environmental concerns and actions in Thailand
use their research to design and develop the framework for a website entitled 'Thailand: Caring for the Earth'.

Tibetan Children's Village

This student activity sheet complements the stories and ideas of students from Tulsi Vidya Niketa School in Varanasi, India, about what they are doing to address the global water crisis (pp 9-10 of Voices & Values: Citizenship in Asia). This activity sheet focuses on another group--the Environmental Club at the Tibetan Children's Village School in Dharamsala, India.

Conserving and Preserving Thailand

This student activity sheet provides an avenue for further extension work on the 'Preserving and Saving Thailand' section on page 10 in Voices & Values: Citizenship in Asia. The activity sheet highlights some of the environmental actions people in southern Thailand are involved in and The Yad Fon Association, a community-based organisation supporting local people to address their environmental problems. Students visit three websites to find out more about the ways people in Thailand's southern coastal regions are conserving and preserving their coastal environments.

Website Investigation and Design--Thailand: Caring for the Earth

This student activity sheet is a structured web search activity. It is designed to develop students' proficiency in web research and to develop an appreciation of the characteristics of a useful website. The activity builds on initial information presented on page 10 of Voices & Values: Citizenship in Asia.

In the web search activity students investigate the environmental problems in Thailand and some projects for conservation and preservation that exist, and simultaneously evaluate the features of each website they visit.

The student activity sheet culminates in students designing the framework for a website entitled 'Thailand: Caring for the Earth', which uses their research and incorporates the most useful and appropriate website features.

Teacher Support

Suggested Strategies

Brainstorm for possible search words, synonyms and associated paraphrases with the whole class.

As a class, further define the website usefulness rating scale of 1-5.

Divide the class into groups or teams to perform web searches, collect and collate relevant information.

Encourage group discussions and subsequent class discussion about the useful features of websites.

Groups or teams design and develop their website framework and present it to the class, either in print form or as overhead transparencies, for appraisal.

Websites
Information is available on the following websites:

The website of the Amazing Environmental Organisation Web Directory, with a diverse range of environmental search categories.
http://www.webdirectory.com/

The website of the Thailand Environment Institute, non-profit NGO. The 'Programs' section is the most useful.
http://www.tei.or.th/

World Wide Fund For Nature website.
http://www.panda.org/
It contains a great range of descriptions of conservation projects in Thailand.
http://www.google.com/u/WWFint?q=thailand

This website contains an article on the impact of Pak Mun Dam on local communities.
http://www.searin.org/Th/PMD/PMDn/PMDnE107.htm

The website of the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. It contains a good range of databases.
http://www.unep-wcmc.org/
The 'Protected Areas of the World -Thailand' selection will yield good information. (Click on the 'Submit' button.)
http://www.unep-wcmc.org/protected_areas/data/pa_world_text.html

This website contains information on a Thai elephant conservation project.
http://www.thaifocus.com/elephant/

Website Features

Students may propose the following elements as possible important features of a useful website:

accuracy and authority of information presented: sources, dates and names of authors, cross-references

information type: archival as well as contemporary

ease of access: well-defined links within the website, capacity for search within the website through a search tool, list of contents

provision of links to other websites on the internet and descriptions of those websites

email: capacity for feedback or to ask specific questions of the website managers and other visitors to the site

presentation: visually appealing, grahics complement text, clear instructions, attractive and suitable use of colour and icon codes, site maps

time-efficient: downloading time

mediums integrated: sound or music, interviews, photography, film footage.

http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/voices/environ.htm