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Overview
"On the Brink" explores the connections between environmental
pressures and political and social instability. Environmental degradation
and poverty are often linked: poverty can lead to damaging environmental
practices, especially in over-populated areas, and a damaged environment
can compound poverty. The conditions of poverty (over-crowding, hunger,
disease, lack of food and clean water) result in desperation, which can,
in turn, lead to political instability, violence, corruption and terrorism. Video
segments explore these connections by focusing on case studies in Bangladesh,
South Africa, Peru, and Haiti. Finally, the issues are brought closer
to home through the last segment, which focuses on poverty and the movement
of migrants from Mexico and Central America across the border of the United
States. Thus, students will consider the potential effects of instability
in developing countries with stability in the United States.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Explain how environmental degradation can lead to poverty, disease,
and hunger.
- Identify the connection between human population growth and degradation
of the environment.
- Describe how instability in foreign countries can affect stability in
the United States.
Pre-Viewing Activities
- Introduce the following key terms to the students:
monsoon — season of wind and heavy
rain in India and adjacent countries
arid — land that is excessively
dry; too dry to support agriculture
deforestation — the clearing of
trees from a forest
soil erosion — when soil is washed
away by running water, wind, or ice
land reforms — measures designed
to establish a more equitable distribution of land, especially
for agricultural purposes
impoverishment — a condition of
being weak, poor and depleted of nutrients; can refer to people
and/or to the environment
guerrilla warfare — fighting by
an irregular, usually indigenous military or paramilitary unit
operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass and undermine
the enemy
counter-insurgency effort — military
activities designed to thwart insurgencies such as a guerilla warfare
coup — a sudden overthrow of a
government or leader by a small group of people already having
some military or political authority
conquistador — any of the Spanish
conquerors of Peru, Mexico and other parts of America in the 1500s
smuggling — to illegally and secretly
bring items or people into or out of a country
Coyotes — smugglers of illegal aliens from Mexico to
the United States © 2003 Screenscope, Inc. Page 2 of 2 On the
Brink: Study Guide
deport — to force someone to leave
a country by official order
environmental refugees — people
who flee their home or country to seek refuge elsewhere due to
extreme environmental conditions such as erosion of good soil for
crops, lack of drinking water or severe pollution
- To familiarize students with the areas in the program segments,
use a wall map, desk map or an atlas and have students locate
- India
- Bangladesh
- Bay of Bengal
- South Africa
- Peru
- Haiti
- Mexico and U.S. border
After the students have found each
of these locations, begin a discussion to discover what they already
know about these regions. Have
the discussion center on environmental problems that they are familiar
to the students.
Post-Viewing Discussion
Bangladesh
- As you watched the first scene, what general observations
did you make about the city: its conditions, what people were doing,
and how they were doing those things. (You may want to revisit that segment with your
students.) How are the conditions different from what you experience? (Answers:
Students may notice many people use bicycles for transportation; buses
are very old; people are cooking and bathing on the street; water is
obtained at a central water pump, not from running water in homes; conditions
are very crowded; people sit on the street while selling goods.)
- What is the average income in Bangladesh? (Answer: $225/year.) Why
did people from Bangladesh move to Calcutta, India? (Answer: They
were trying to escape the conditions of extreme poverty in Bangladesh,
and were trying to find a better way of life. However, in many
respects, Calcutta had similar conditions.)
- How are the people of Bangladesh plowing and harvesting? How does
this compare to methods you have seen or learned about in the United States? (Answer:
People were using hand tools or tools pulled by oxen rather than tractors
and other mechanized equipment.)
South Africa
- Where do most people live when they arrive in urban
areas? (Answer:
They often live in illegal shanties or squatter settlements that are set
up on the edge of town. The conditions are very tough: no electricity,
running water, hospitals, and sanitation systems.)
- What is the city of Alexandra trying to do to help
migrants? (Answer:
An $80 million government initiative provides money for homes, schools,
and health facilities.)
Peru
- Why are the peasants in the high Andes so poor? (Answer: The terrain
is very dry, so cultivation of crops is difficult. Farmers generally
produce just enough food to live for a year. In years of drought,
there is hunger.)
- Why are millions of peasants moving to Lima, Peru? (Answer:
They are leaving their subsistence way of life in hopes of economic
opportunity.)
- What two circumstances led to the rise
of the Shining Path? (Answer:
Land scarcity and impoverishment.)
Haiti
- What are the two most significant environmental
pressures facing Haiti? (Answer:
Loss of forests because wood is used as charcoal for cooking; severe
soil erosion due to deforestation, so fertility of soil for crops is
poor.)
- Why has so much of the forest been cut down? (Answer: Wood is used
as charcoal for cooking; Haitians don't have access to gas or electric
stoves as we do. Trees are also cut down for farmland.)
Illegal Immigrants along the Mexico-United States Border
- Why is so much debris found in such an isolated
desert? (Answer:
Thousands of migrants try to enter the United States on foot each day. They
must carry food and water with them.)
- Who is being recognized in the street ceremony in
Douglas, Arizona? (Answer:
The hundreds of migrants who perish each year from heat and dehydration
while trying to enter the United States.)
- Why are so many people trying to leave Mexico, Central,
and South America? (Answer:
Acute poverty and environmental degradation, which make their lives more
difficult.)
- What happens to people who get caught while crossing
the border? (Answer:
They are put in detention centers where they are asked questions and held
until they are returned to Mexico. Most of them will attempt to cross
the border again. On any given day, an average of 20,000 people
are held in detention centers.)
Special Projects
- Compare the number of people per square mile
in your town, city, or state to the number of people per square
mile in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Have your students work in small groups
to discuss how life would be different in your hometown if it were
as densely populated. What services would need to be provided
to accommodate the higher number of people? In what ways would
the quality of life improve or suffer? How might a higher population
affect the local environment?
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Research the projected population for your area
in 10-20 years. Compare
that to the projected population in the developing countries highlighted
in this film. Make graphs showing the projected growth rates
for both areas. Which graph shows a higher rate of growth? Ask
the students to consider various explanations for the results and present
them to the class. Discuss the repercussions of these trends
socially, environmentally, and politically.
-
Conduct research to compare trends in developing
countries compared to developed countries. Visit the World Resources Institute's
web site for data (www.wri.org/). Go to the Earth Trends section
on Population, Health and Human Well-being. You can obtain data
tables or compare statistics from selected countries. Consider
the following:
- After comparing the data for various countries, consider the political,
social, and environmental repercussions of these trends.
- Take part in a global role-playing simulation on
a large world map. The
World Game Institute offers school programs for entire schools as well
as kits that schools can use www.worldgame.org. The
Middle School World Game Workshop simulation is an experiential learning
opportunity on world and environmental issues, designed for middle school
students. It takes place on a 26' X 12' world map, and invites students
to develop solutions to global problems. Population, income, nutrition,
and education are some of the many factors that students compare.
- The saga of immigration is a quintessential American
experience. Ask
your students to interview members of their households to learn about the
immigration experiences in their own families. Who immigrated here,
when, from where, what did they have to overcome, and what happened after
they arrived? Ask the students to share their family histories
on posters or oral reports.
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