NO ONE’S A WINNER!
 
Marilyn M. Hagemeister
Horace Mann Foreign Language Magnet Elementary School
Wichita, Kansas
 
 
Overview:
The construction for a dam changes not only the natural structure of a river and its surrounding landscape but the attitudes of the people involved with the land. The public must first be educated as to the future value of a dam before they can be expected to accept its construction in a positive manner.
 
Grade Level: 3-5
 
Time Needed: 2 or 3 45-minute class periods.
 
Geographic Themes:
Place, Location, Environmental Interaction.
 
Kansas Social Studies Standard for Benchmarks, Grade Levels K-8.
The students will observe and speculate about social and economic effects of environmental changes and crises resulting from phenomena such as floods, storms, and drought.
 
National Geography Standards, Grade 3-5.

#13

The geographically informed person knows and understands how the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth’s surface.
 
Outcome:
Students will become aware of the importance of educating the public of a major water project, such as the construction of a dam, before the project is begun.
 
Performance Objectives:
1.
The student will construct a two-dimensional map of the affects of a dam on the landowners above the dam during a flood.
2.
The student will construct a second two-dimensional map of the affects of a dam on the landowners below the dam during a flood after the flood gates are open.

Vocabulary (see Glossary):
dam basin
flood conduit
flood rights landscape
flow tributary
precipitation pressure
flood damage  
 
Materials Needed:
 
Procedures:
Divide the class into working groups of two, three, or four students. Each student will do his own activity but may have assistance from students in his group. Each group will share a Kansas Outline Map in order to locate the Lower Republican River Water Basin.
1.
Each student is to locate a particular dam site on his individual map and label the site.
2.
He is to use colored pencils to shade in the natural reservoir level of water before the flood.
3.
The student then uses a second colored pencil to shade in the area of land that is covered by flood waters up to the point when the dam gates are opened for relief.
4.
A second map is labeled as in steps #1 and #2.
5.
Follow step #3 to illustrate the land covered by flood waters after the dam gates are opened to relieve pressure above the dam.
6.
The individual groups of students will then discuss the view points that might arise by landowners before and after the dam gates are opened.
7.
Students will learn what the advantages and disadvantages are in the decision to open the dam gates at a particular time.
8.
Individual students will be asked to write a one page essay on the information and opinions they have collected from this project.
 
Assessment:
1.
Check students two (2) maps for accuracy.
2.
Check students’ written assignment indicating what each has learned from the study.
 
Extensions:

1.

The students will brainstorm what the results would be if there were no dam in place during a flood season.
2.
Further expectation could be made as to what would happen if the dam gates were opened too soon or too late during a flooding situation.
3.
The teacher could read Minn of the Mississippi, a book describing the experience of a small turtle floating the entire length of the Mississippi River from its tributaries to the Gulf of Mexico.
4.
Invite a survivor of flooding near a dam to speak to the class about his experiences and opinions concerning a dam.
5.
Take a class trip to a local dam and become involved in a lecture with an Army Corps of Engineers Park Ranger about flooding conditions.
 
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FHSU Geoscience | Kansas Geographic Alliance
National Geographic Society | Kansas Water Office
Fort Hays State University | Kansas State University
e-mail: pphillip@fhsu.edu