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Perfect Pearl, The
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Classroom Activity
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Objective
To consider political, economic, and technological solutions for
challenges faced by pearl farmers.
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copy of "Pearls of Wisdom" student handout (PDF
or
HTML)
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In this program, Japanese and Australian pearl farmers and
scientists describe some of the problems they face, and explain
how they have responded.
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Distribute to students the "Pearls of Wisdom" student handout.
As they watch, have students list the problems they observe and
any solutions that exist. Explain that after viewing, they will
prepare recommendations for solving some of the current problems
faced by the pearl farmers.
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Ask students to describe all the problems that pearl farmers had
or are having. Write the list on the board. Using their "Pearls
of Wisdom" activity sheet, have each student or group of
students consider all the problems and how they were solved or
could be solved. Allow time for students to complete the
activity, then have volunteers present their suggestions to the
class.
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To conclude, have students compare how pearls are extracted with
how some other items are extracted from nature, such as precious
stones, minerals, ivory, and furs. What do all of these have in
common? How are they different? How are they taken from nature?
How is the environment affected? What are some factors that
create a demand for these items?
There are several problems described in the program, including the
following:
very few perfectly round pearls occur naturally -
Australian oysters are less hearty than Japanese oysters,
resulting in a high oyster mortality rate using Japanese farming
methods
natural pollution in bay (red tide) -
overcrowding of oysters in bay that restricts tidal movement,
resulting in earlier harvesting and fewer high-quality pearls
from Japanese farmers
Students will see that some of the problems were solved through
technology: A method to culture pearls solved the problem of having
to harvest so many oysters to find high-quality pearls, and a
variety of techniques developed to farm Australian oysters with less
stress solved the high mortality rates.
Other problems were solved through political or business measures:
When scientists monitoring water quality detect dangerously high
levels of plankton, they notify government authorities who advise
farmers to evacuate their oysters; with fewer good-quality Japanese
pearls, Japanese pearl dealers have moved more into brokering
pearls.
Still other problems remain unsolved: how to cope with overcrowding
in Japan's Ago Bay, how to lower mortality rates for Tahitian-farmed
oysters, and how to artificially breed oysters in hatcheries to
allow small South Pacific island states a chance to enter the
industry.
Student recommendations can vary. Some suggestions might include
designing new methods to limit overcrowding, such as finding a new
waterway that is less crowded or polluted, reducing the number of
oysters each season, or limiting new pearl farms from starting.
Students might also suggest cleaning the bay to reduce pollution or
redesigning oyster nets to allow for greater water circulation. Or,
they may propose genetically engineering a strain of oysters to
resist harsh environments.
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