FOCUS QUESTION:
Should China build the Three Gorges Dam?

Content Objectives

1. Identify specific anticipated effects of the building of the Three Gorges Dam.


2. Develop and present comprehensive arguments for and against the building of the dam.

Skill Objectives

1. Research a topic using written publications as sources.


2. Evaluate a current issue from the position of a specific interest group


3. Write a persuasive, fact based position statement


4. Present a persuasive, fact based oral presentation

Student packet:

"Should China build the Three Gorges Dam?" Christian Science Monitor, 6/ 18/ 91

"Site of the Proposed Three Gorges Dam" (Map and fact sheet)

"Three Gorges Dam Fact Sheet" (Facts from the Chinese government)

"Chinese Dam Threatens Massive Disruption," Christian Science Monitor, 6/2-2/91

"River Ecology to Be Altered by Dam," Christian Science Monitor, 6/23/91

"Cracks Show Early in China's Big Dam Project," The New York Times, 1/15/96

Richard Louis Edmonds, "China's Environment," China Briefing 1994, Westview Press, 1984 pp. 143-150

"Race Against Time" Archaeology, November/ December 1996

"River of Dreams: The Mighty Yangtze Seizes a Major Role in Chinese Economy," The New York Times, 12 / 13 / 95

"China's Fickle Rivers: Dry Farms, Needy Industry Bring a Water Crisis," The New York Times, 5/23/93

Suggested Teacher Enrichment Materials:

"The Three Gorges Dam and the Fate of China's Southern Heritage," Orientations, 7/96

"China's Endless Task to Stem Centuries of Floods," New York Times, 9/15/96

Activities

1. Students are assigned to work in groups to prepare a fact-based position statement, to be presented orally, on the building of the Three Gorges Dam from the point of view of one of the individuals listed below. Each student receives copies of the handouts "Site of the Three Gorges Dam" and 'Three Gorges Dam Fact Sheet". Teachers and students will then research relevant articles for each position paper. Excellent resources are listed in Reader's Guide, various websites, and see your school and local librarians.
   Characters to be represented by students:
   1. President Jiang Renmin
   2. Spokesperson for the International Organization for the Preservation of the Environment
   3. Professor of Archaeology at the University of Wuhan
   4. Wang Yunnan, mandarin orange farmer in Maoping
   5. Beijing clothing merchant
   6. Wang Jiazhu, chief engineer of the dam

2. Following discussion in small groups, a reporter from each group presents their group's position statement.
3. After the oral presentations, elicit specific anticipated benefits and drawbacks of the Three Gorges Dam project. Teacher or student lists responses on either side of the blackboard under the headings of "Benefits" and "Drawbacks"
4. Discussion question: In your own opinion (i.e., not from the point of view of the character whom vou represented) should China build the Three Gorges Dam? Before discussing the question, students should write their response and select one fact which was most important to them in forming their personal opinion.

Possible Homework Assignments

1. Write an editorial letter from the point of the character whom you represented to the Herald Tribune (anonymously, if you wish) in which you present your opinion about whether or not the dam should be built. Include five facts and citations for those facts in your letter.
2. Write a journal entry from the point of view of your character in which you:
   
   1. record your feelings about the debate
   
   
   2. name the other person in the debate with whom you most agreed, or with whom you feel you had the least in common, and state why using specific evidence he or she presented
   
   
   3. name another person in the debate with whom you most disagreed or with whom you feel you had the least in common, and state why using specific evidence he or she presented
   
   
3. Imagine you are the director of the PBS film about the Three Gorges Dam.
   
   1. What title will you give to the film?
   
   
   2. In which order will you present the statements from the individuals you interviewed? Explain your choice.
   
   
   3. What film footage would you present to illustrate each individual's point of view?
   
   
   4. What other information would you like to include in your film? Who else might you interview? For what other questions would you like to find answers, and where would vou look?