Tricky decisions in 2099 Tricky Decisions in 2099

Tricky decisions in 2099

Tricky Decisions in 2099 READ BY THE TEACHER It is 2099 and it has been raining for nearly 2 years. Water levels in Scotland are dangerously high. Many towns have disappeared as rivers burst their banks and the sea keeps on rising. In one weeks time our school will close and we will get onto ships to try to find dry land. We don’t know where we are going and we don’t know if we are ever coming back. Like many schools we have been asked to take some living creatures with us along with the people. But we cannot take everything and so we have to choose. This class has the hard job of choosing from a group of 5 animals and plants. Form a group of about 4 or 5 pupils and you will be given your task – when you make a choice you have to justify what you do so think carefully and remember everyone’s opinion counts.

The Task: Once in groups the pupils are given the 5 picture cards (numbered 1) as shown above then there are several ways in which you can give the pupils the task: 1. You could tell the pupils that they have to take only 4 animals and plants so they have to decide which one to leave behind 2. You could tell the pupils that they can only take one animal and one plant 3. You could ask them to rank the animals and plants 1 -5 and then look at the whole class results to decide on which ones to take. Once the group has made their choice you then give them the next set of cards (numbered 2) and ask them to make the decision again. This is repeated with the cards 3 and 4 as appropriate to your particular class or group within a class.

Good links If you wish to expand this activity and get the pupils to do a bit of research then the following links will help: 1. Rabbits http: //www. bbc. co. uk/nature/animals/pets/rabbits. shtml 2. Herring -http: //www. ypte. org. uk/environmental/overfishing/29 3. Bees - http: //www. britishbee. org. uk/bees 4 kids/index. php 4. Potatoes - http: //www. britishpotatoes. co. uk/kids/ 5. Foxglove - http: //www. arkive. org/foxglove/digitalispurpurea/threats-and-conservation. html