Saturday, March 21, 2020

Threats to water availability in Canada

Threats to water availability in Canada Access to safe water for a healthy life is a major requirement for people in the world today. Although Canada is seen as a country with abundance of water resources, its population is the highest water consumer in the world causing a threat to its freshwater (Environment Canada 1).Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Threats to water availability in Canada specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More A larger portion of the Canadian population is concentrated in urban areas but many freshwater rivers flow towards the northern side, which is the opposite direction from the populated regions. In Canada, water is valuable and it contributes an income of around $7.5 to $23 billion every year (Environment Canada 3). Currently, most water sources are under pressure due to growing domestic demand of freshwater in Canada. This paper outlines the crisis of freshwater supply faced by Canada. Agriculture is the highest water consumer and it is estimated that out of the total water consumption in Canada, 70 percent is used for Agriculture (Environment Canada 37). In addition to this, urbanization is another major reason why freshwater supply is reducing rapidly. At present, there is a lot of construction work going on in Canada and as a result, urban and residential are consuming a lot of water causing increase in water demand. The more worrying news is that changing climatic trends may cause more pressure on the water resources and worsen the situation. In fact, scientists have estimated that droughts may increase in the future threatening fresh water sources (Stanford 15). Due to increasing threat to the Canadian water resources, much attention has been drawn to different sectors in order to find a long-term solution to the current water crisis. Indeed, there is an urgent need to address the current crisis to ensure that Canada has access to fresh water in the future. To solve the problem, a number of recommendations have been put forward. Foremost, â€Å"to know what to do, you must first know what is happening† (Environment Canada 97). Thus, a plan to acquire observational and accurate data regarding water has been proposed. By acquiring such data, experts will be aware of the water usage patterns, Canadian fresh water sources, and water-related infrastructure (Stanford 67). Knowledge of this basic information will help the government to have an organized freshwater monitoring program and develop appropriate action plan. Secondly, it is important to develop research priorities. Developing a research plan will clarify causes of droughts hence improving the climatic conditions (Environment Canada 16). Moreover, research will also help maintain Canada’s climate modeling capabilities. With extensive research, the impact of climate change on forests, wetlands, and glacier (freshwater ecosystems) will be clarified too. Eventually, this will help in improving water quality by reducing c hemical drainage into water sources among other wastes.Advertising Looking for article on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Thirdly, there is need to have informed policies and effective management plans (Stanford 121). In addition, there is need to develop policies regarding water usage (water rights) in order to minimize conflicts. More research into this topic will provide a good foundation for developing better and informed policies. As such, the Canadian government should adopt science based management practices to help in decision-making (Stanford 121). Lastly, there is need to have effective leadership and teamwork in order to address Canada’s freshwater crisis. Quality scientific leadership will play vital role in developing better assessment programs. In the government level, there is need to have committed leadership and teamwork to develop better policies that will not frustrate efforts to revive Canada’s fresh water supply (Environment Canada 94). In summary, in order to ensure that Canada has constant supply of freshwater in the future, there is need to develop sustainable action plan. Because of current pressure on Canada’s freshwater sources, there is need to do more research, implement appropriate policies, and have committed leadership so that the nation can continue having social and economical benefits acquired from use of freshwater. Environment Canada. Threats to Sources of Drinking Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Health in Canada. National Water Resource Institute, Burlington, Ontoaria. NWRI Scientific assessment, 1.1 (2001): 72. Print. Environment Canada. Threats to Water Availability in Canada. National Water Resource Institute, Burlington, Ontoaria. NWRI Scientific assessment, 3.1 (2004): 1-150. Print. Stanford, Williams. Water, Weather and the Mountain West. Ottawa: Rock mountain Books, 2007. Print.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Beginning Level Curriculum for ESL Classes

Beginning Level Curriculum for ESL Classes This curriculum summary is designed for false beginners. False beginners are typically learners who have had a few years training at some point in time and are now returning to start learning English again for a variety of reasons, such as for work, travel, or as a hobby. Most of these learners are familiar with English and can move pretty quickly to more advanced language learning concepts. This curriculum summary is written for a course of approximately 60 hours of instruction and takes students from the verb To be through present, past, and future forms, as well as other basic structures such as the comparative and superlative forms, the use of some and any, have got, etc. This course is geared towards adult learners who need English for work and, as such, concentrates on vocabulary and forms that are useful for the working world. Each group of eight lessons is followed by a planned review lesson which allows students a chance to review what they have learned. This syllabus can be adapted to fit students needs and is presented as a basis on which to build an elementary level ESL EFL English course. Listening Skills Beginning English learners often find listening skills the most challenging. Its a good idea to follow some of these tips when working on listening skills: To begin with, try to use only one voice for listening comprehension activities. A variety of accents can be added later.Exercises should begin with short form understanding such as spelling, numbers, understanding word form differences, etc.  Gap fill exercises work well for the next step in listening comprehension. Begin with sentence level understanding and move on to paragraph length listening selections.  Once students understand the basics, begin work on understanding gist by providing longer conversations with a focus on understanding the main idea. Teaching Grammar Teaching grammar is a big part of effectively teaching beginners. While full immersion is ideal, the reality is that students expect to learn grammar. Rote grammar learning is very effective in this environment.   At this level, rote activities can help learners understand intuitively. Dont worry too much about grammar explanations.  To help focus on sound rather than rules, repetitive activities can help establish a strong base.Take it in small bites. Pare things down to their essentials once you begin to teach. For example, if you were introducing the present simple dont begin with an example that includes an adverb of frequency such as He usually has lunch at work.  For tenses, stress the importance of time expressions tied to tense. Continually ask students to first identify the time expression or context before making a decision on tense usage.  Correct only those mistakes made in a current objective. In other words, if a student misuses in rather than at but the focus is on the past simple, dont make a point of correcting the mistake in preposition use. Speaking Skills Encourage students to make mistakes, many, many mistakes. Adult learners are often concerned about making too many mistakes and can be hesitant. Do your best to relieve them of this fear!Focus on function for beginning level activities. Set a goal such as ordering food in a restaurant. Help students learn how to functionally succeed in each situation.Switch groups up often. Some students tend to dominate conversations. Nip this in the bud, and change group composition up early and often.   Writing Skills Follow the language: begin with letters, create words, build words into sentences and let those sentences blossom into paragraphs.  Prohibit certain words when writing! Unfortunately, students often fall into the bad habit of using the same words over and over (go, drive, eat, work, come to school, etc.) Brainstorm word lists together as a class and then challenge students to only use certain words or phrases  in their writing.Use symbols to correct. Get students used to the idea that youll use symbols to help them edit their writing. The onus is on the students to correct their own writing.