Example: Farmers must clear the land they intend to use to plant their crops.
This lesson provides you with a case study of a major human modification to the environment, the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China. Many of the important issues facing modern society are the consequences – whether intended or unintended – of human modifications to the physical environment. Environmental modifications have economic, cultural, and political implications for most of the world's people, and therefore, it is important for you to understand the reasons for and the consequences of human modifications to the environment. The goal of this lesson is to analyze the costs, benefits, and impacts of the Three Gorges Dam.
Before you begin your case study on the Three Gorges Dam, let's examine another example of human modification to the environment, The Panama Canal, opened in 1914, is a manmade passageway that connected two major waterways and transformed worldwide travel. View the presentation below to see how the human modification of the environment continues to impact the Panama Canal:
Panoramas: Expanding the Shortcut Between the Seas
Read the information below and use the information to help you with the activities that follow.
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE THREE GORGES DAM
(Ways that The Three Gorges Dam changes the economy and economic decisions) Increase in GDP:
POWER GENERATION:
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT LEADING TO ECONOMIC GROWTH:
NAVIGATION:
GLOBALIZATION OF DAM INDUSTRIES:
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Activity: Based on the information above, do you believe that the Three Gorges Dam will have a positive or negative impact on the people of China?
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THE THREE GORGES DAM
(Ways that the areas surrounding the Three Gorges Dam has been changed) FLOOD CONTROL:
REDUCTION OF GREEN HOUSE GAS EMISSION:
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Activity:
Imagine that you are a guest engineer working on the Three Gorges Dam against the building of the dam because they feel that it will destroy the environment. You have been selected by your boss to address the protesters in a speech that will convince them that that the Three Gorges Dam has a positive impact on the environment. Your boss wants you to stress three main points: flood control, farmland, and pollution.
Examine the following terms/statements and determine if it is a positive or negative impact of the Three Gorges Dam and drag the term under the correct column.
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Read the following definitions and examples of Social and Political Impact of the Three Gorges Dam. On a separate sheet of paper, brainstorm examples of Social, Cultural, and Political impact on your own.
- Social/ Cultural Impact of the Three Gorges Dam- these are ways that the people and their culture change as a result of the Three Gorges Dam. Examples include: migration of people from one area to another. As a result of the building of the dam, this could also mean the loss of cities where people leave behind artifacts and change their way of life.
- Political Impact of the Three Gorges Dam- these are changes or actions that the government takes in response to the building of the dam. Examples include: Government compensation for displaced families; laws governing relocation of families; and government involvement and reaction to the building of the dam.
Watch the following video, "Living with the Three Gorges Dam". Use the information in the video and the information you have learned so far in this lesson, to fill out the chart that follows on the next page.
The Three Gorges Dam Impact Chart
Read the phrases below. Determine which type of impact is being described and drag the phrase into the corresponding column.
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