1. Have students brainstorm about the conservation issues facing their immediate society. Have them think about recent news stories related to water, power, agriculture and forestry. Write their ideas on a board.

2. Divide the class into small groups and assign each group a specific conservancy issue. Use the following categories:

• Group One: Electricity
  
  
• Group Two: Water
  
  
• Group Three: Oil (petroleum)
  
  
• Group Four: Forests
Have students consider the following questions in their groups:

What are the individual, social, and environmental factors surrounding the conservation of these resources?
What are the short-term and long-term consequences to non-conservancy of these resources?

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1. Divide the class into pairs. Have each group conduct an Internet search on "desertification." Each group should collect at least five important facts about this process. They may use the sites below as a start:

Introduction to Geography
http://www.geog. ouc.bc.ca /conted/ onlinecourses/ geog_210/ contents/210~6~6~6.html
Contains a concise introduction to the term desertification

Eden Foundation
http://www. eden-foundation. org/ project/ desertif.html

Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary
http://www.cru. uea.ac.uk/cru /tiempo/ issue08/ desert.htm
both discuss the desertification as it relates specifically to Africa.

2. After the students have collected facts as a class create an inclusive and detailed definition of the term "desertification."



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