The River Educator’s Toolkit: List of Resources

Three Gorges Dam: World's Largest Dam

Three Gorges Dam
Three Gorges Dam
Weimin Liu
The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest hydropower project and most notorious dam. It sets records for size of project and the number of people displaced, and it is currently host to a number of environmental and health problems. A lesson on the Three Gorges Dam provides valuable insight for students into the costs of large dam projects, including issues of health, cultural loss, and endangered species.

Background

Overview of the Issues

Multimedia

Current Events

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Lesson Plans

The Belo Monte Dam: Striking at the Heart of the Amazon

Carbon-eating machine: The Amazon River meets the sea.
Carbon-eating machine: The Amazon River meets the sea.
Norman Kuring/NASA
The Amazon Basin, home to 60% of the planet's remaining tropical rainforests, is an immense region nearly the size of the continental United States. The Amazon´s incredible biodiversity is well known, and new research confirms the critical role it plays in regulating the global climate. The Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River, a major tributary of the Amazon River, would divert the flow of the river and devastate an extensive area of the rainforest, displacing thousands of indigenous peoples. A lesson on the Belo Monte Dam would facilitate discussions on the interaction between rainforests and rivers, and the role of healthy rivers and forests and resilient communities in light of climate change impacts.

Background

Overview of Issues

Multimedia

Current Events

Go in Depth

Lesson Plans

The Mekong River: Lifeline of Southeast Asia

Children at Play
Children at Play
Hoāi Thanh
As it passes through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, the Mekong River bursts with color and life. Sixty million people live in the lower Mekong Basin and their livelihoods and cultures are intimately connected with the river's natural cycles. Boasting one of the world's most diverse and productive inland fisheries, the Mekong supplies local people with about 80% of their protein needs. However, since the 1960s, several mega-schemes to dam the Mekong River to generate electricity have been proposed, threatening downstream fisheries and livelihoods. A lesson on the Mekong River and its dams explores the complex and intimate relationship among cultures, peoples, and the role that their natural environment plays in food security.

Introduction

Overview of Issues

Multimedia

Current Events

Go in Depth

Lesson Plans

The Gibe 3 Dam: A People Divided

Turkana woman carrying reeds from the lake for fodder.
Turkana woman carrying reeds from the lake for fodder.
© Alison M. Jones for www.nowater-nolife.org
Ethiopia is a land of hydrological contrasts. Its uneven, often unpredictable distribution of water greatly impacts its efforts to address poverty. Dam development in Ethiopia is highly controversial and there is virtually no space for civil society to criticize the government's dam plans, such as the enormous Gibe 3 Dam on the Omo River. Ethiopia's plans to build Gibe 3 could threaten the food security and local economies that support more than half a million people in southwest Ethiopia and along the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya. A lesson on Gibe 3 allows advanced students to have a lively debate regarding competing needs, poverty and access to energy, and the perspective of diverse stakeholders. It can also be a lesson in how dams impact downstream areas for hundreds of miles, and can change ecosystems quite far from the actual dam.

Introduction

Overview of Issues

Multimedia

Current Events

Go in Depth

Lesson Plans