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Overview
The Pecos River has been threatened by New World Resources, a mining company, and its subsidiary New World Cobalt, as they try to obtain exploratory permits for the Pecos River watershed area. This operation would have grave consequences to the water quality of an important water source in the Pecos community. This lesson helps students to understand the multiple actors involved in this issue, and the ways the Upper Pecos Watershed Association and its coalition of local organizations and communities have been fighting New World Resources.
Grade Level
8th-12th Grades
Essential questions the lesson will address:
● How can you identify and limit your daily use of mineral resources?
● In what ways do laws and legal treaties fulfill or fail to protect the land and water from mining?
● How is mining an essential part of life? In what ways can mining be done safely?
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
● Identify ways they use minerals in their daily lives.
● Articulate the impact the mining threats have had on the Pecos River and the surrounding community.
● Critically analyze diverse media portrayals of mining to formulate their own opinion about the necessity and safety of mining.
Common Core State Standards (9th Grade)
Water Warriors Glossary and Concepts
● Mineral resources: a volume of rock made up of gold, copper, silver, etc., that need to be extracted from the Earth to be used in useful materials, like cellphones, TVs, kitchen alliances, etc.
● Renewable: capable of being replaced by natural ecological cycles or sound management practices
● Non-renewable: not able to be renewed
International Document Reference
● Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): Article 25
● UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP): Article 29, Article 32
Formative Assessment Strategies (What will you be looking for in their work, and how?)
The teacher can make note of:
● Student engagement in the Minerals discussion.
● Whole-class participation and small group discussion about the Mining Threats Timeline.
● Partner collaboration and discussion in the Media Activity.
Materials for Instructor
● Whiteboard, Blackboard, SmartBoard, or Flip Chart
● Water Warriors Glossary Board (Physical or Virtual)
● Projector and screen
● Mining Threats Timeline to project
● YouTube Videos: What is a smartphone made of? and Brophy Toledo - Voices of the Stop Tererro Mine Story Map
Materials for Students
● Water Warriors Journal
LESSON PLAN
I. Minerals Discussion (10 min.)
Tell students that everything that is not made of wood or other plant materials, or is not grown from the land, comes from mineral resources. If it can’t be grown, it has to be mined. Mineral resources are also non-renewable; they cannot be regrown or replaced. For example, your cellphones contain minerals like copper, gold, platinum, silver, and tin. Read the Glossary definition of mineral resources aloud.
Ask students to think about how they use minerals in their daily life. Encourage them to think about their electronics, transportation, household appliances, and other things in their daily life. After a few minutes, have students brainstorm aloud and create a list of all their responses somewhere it will be visible to everyone.
Tell students that the new mining efforts in Pecos will look for copper, gold, and zinc. Review the class list of uses based on these 3 minerals. Mark each of the items shared by the class with a “Z”, “G”, or “C” to correspond with the 3 minerals. Add other uses of the minerals that are not already on the list.
● Copper: CPU heat sinks, wiring cables, cell phones, flat-screen TVs, water purifiers, printed circuit boards, copper pipes for water, copper cookware, and computer chips.
● Gold: Jewelry, decorations (gold leaf), money and coins, printed circuit boards, cell phones, flat-screen TVs, computer chips (CPU), dentistry (gold teeth and fillings).
● Zinc: Printed circuit boards, coins, roof cladding, batteries, sunscreen, other creams (like diaper cream), and galvanized steel (use the zinc to coat steel to prevent it from rusting).
○ Zinc oxide: paints, rubber products, cosmetics, plastics, soap, pharmaceuticals (over-the-counter cold medicine), textiles, ointments, and other electrical products.
○ Zinc sulfide: x-ray and TV screens, paints, fluorescent lights.
● Brass: Copper and zinc combined make brass. Brass is used for doorknobs, bed frames, and other hardware.
It is estimated that every person will use the following in their lifetime:
● 900 pounds of lead
● 700 pounds of zinc
● 1,300 pounds of copper
● 30,000 pounds of ore
II. Mining Threats Throughout History (20 min.)
Step One. Exploration. (10 min.)
Display the interactive Mining Threats Timeline on the projector so all students can see it. Slowly explore the timeline together as a class. Have students take turns reading the different laws, mining threats, and quotes.
Step Two. Pair-Share. (10 min.)
With the timeline still visible for all students to see, begin to ask the following discussion questions one by one. When you ask each question, have the students turn to a partner and discuss for 1-2 minutes. Then ask a few students to share their partner discussions with the whole class.
● What similarities and differences did you notice between the mining threats in the past and present?
● How are the laws mentioned protecting the environment? How are these laws being violated?
● What do you think will happen to the Pecos River and the surrounding environment if the mining begins again?
● If there is time, choose one specific law, mining threat, or quote that stands out to you. What surprised you or moved you? What takeaways do you have from learning about your selected law, mining threat, or quote?
III. Media Activity (20 min.)
Introduce to students that they will be watching 2 short videos altogether and then they will discuss in small groups. First, watch What is a Smartphone Made Of?, then watch Brophy Toledo’s interview for Voices of the Stop Terrero Mine StoryMap.
Display the discussion questions for students to see and have them spend 10 minutes discussing with the person next to them.
● What do you notice in these different videos? What surprised you? How did you feel after watching each video?
● How could media be used to sway the public’s perception or attitude towards mining?
● What are your conclusions about mining? Is it necessary? Is there a safe way to do it?
After 10 minutes, have students return their attention back to the whole class. Go through each question and ask a few students to share their responses from their partner discussion.
IV. Homework
Have students reflect in their Water Journals about how they are part of the cycle of mining. Encourage them to consider the minerals they use in their daily lives that we discussed at the beginning of the lesson. Encourage them to start thinking about possible ways they can help protect the Pecos River and the other water sources from dangerous mining practices.