Students will apply their Vital Signs observations to a policy debate about an invented development proposal. They will learn about "shoreland" land use and will better understand the many points of view surrounding a land use decision. They will become more aware of connections between science and policy.

• 5-8:
  2. Analyze how the finite resources in an ecosystem limit the types and populations of organisms within it.
• 9-12:
  4. Analyze the impact of human and other activities on the type and pace of change in ecosystems.

• 5-8:
  3. Verify and evaluate scientific investigations and use the results in a purposeful way.
  5. Explain how personal bias can affect observations.
• 9-12:
  2. Verify, evaluate, and use results in a purposeful way.

[This activity is rich with just about all higher order skills here, as it requires real analysis, synthesis, and evaluation skills! So, this list is really just partial.]

• Analyzing
• Applying
• Presenting
• Associating
• Concluding
• Inferring
• Assessing
• Criticizing
• Comparing
• Judging
• Weighing

• Linguistic/Verbal
• Naturalistic
• Interpersonal

• Vital Signs website (w/ data and observations from school's location)
• Maps of Vital Signs site:
  • Road/Topographic Maps (Delorme Gazetteer for Maine or USGS)
  • Land Use Maps: Maine and Maine region
• Internet access for students (or color printer for teacher)
• Podium and gavel (optional)
• Student worksheet w/ architectural drawings of "proposed site" [PDF]
• Maine's Mandatory Shoreland Zoning Act [PDF]

From local development decisions to global climate change summits, the intersections of policy and science often appear in the headlines. Decisions about how to use land affect the local environment and community in many ways. As a result, people have many points of view on land-use issues. The use of land can have a large impact on water ecosystems and water quality. Lawmakers in Maine decided long ago that Maine's water environments (sea, lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands) deserved special attention in land-use planning. In 1971, the Maine Legislature created the Mandatory Shoreland Zoning Act. Today, the law requires towns to regulate the use of land in shoreland areas: shoreland areas are defined as land within 250 ft. of ponds and wetlands 10 acres or larger, rivers with watersheds (water drainage area) of at least 25 square miles in size, coastal wetlands and tidal rivers, and within 75 feet of the high-water line of a stream. (1 square mile equals 640 acres.) By controlling ("zoning") land uses and regulating placement of buildings within shoreland areas, the law aims to protect health and water quality, wildlife habitat, historical and archeological sites, and fishering industries, and to conserve shore cover, public access, natural beauty, and open space. In this activity, students will prepare for and role-play a town meeting to discuss a proposed fictional development near their Vital Signs site, applying their own Vital Signs data and observations in the process.

Teacher Preparation

1. Decide on role-play scenario's proposed development location, within the legal definition of "shoreland area" (75 feet from a stream, or 250 feet from a large pond, wetland, or river (see background). (If possible, note the GPS location of the site.)
2. Print student worksheets (1 per student) and copy/print map of the site (1 per group) with the marked location of the proposed development. (The site map could be detailed USGS maps, or general maps such as those copied out of Delorme Gazetteer for Maine.)

Class I

1. Briefly introduce this class with a discussion of land use. After giving an example, ask students to brainstorm the different uses of / types of land (e.g., urban, industrial, suburban, rural/farmland, forested, etc.)
2. Explain that there are many different opinions about the use of land. Since 1971, Maine lawmakers decided to pay special attention to the use of land near water. Have a student volunteer read the Shoreland Zoning law (in its entirety or the summary from lesson plan background, depending on grade level.)
3. Introduce the "development" that has been proposed near your class Vital Signs location and explain that your class will assemble arguments and have a town meeting debate to determine whether to accept, reject, or change this proposal. Show the students the architectural drawing and location of the proposed development. Students will use what they have learned in Vital Signs to help support their arguments.
4. Distribute student worksheets (1 per student).
5. Alone or in small groups, have students fill out Part I of their worksheets using maps, the Vital Signs website, and/or land use maps/websites. (Note: students can digitally measure distances on the Vital Signs website's map of Maine, and can call up their own photos of the site.)
6. (At this point, you might ask the class to discuss whether they believe that the current proposal for a development near the Vital Signs site falls within the shoreland zoning law; alternatively, you could choose to discuss this after the debate.)
7. Assign each of the small student groups with a role for the debate (business person, environmentalist, member of the local historical society, recreational fisherman, politician, scientist, job-seeking citizen, etc.).
8. For the remainder of class, have students break into their assigned groups to define each person's character and discuss a strategy for the upcoming city council meeting. Instruct them to incorporate observations and data from their Vital Signs work whenever possible. They should make their arguments from the point of view of their character, taking notes in Part II of their worksheet. (Collect and save worksheets at the end of class.)

Optional homework: Real World Case Study

Have students read and fill out the questions about the case study of the proposed Wal-Mart expansion near a wetland in Bangor, Maine: Bangor Wal-Mart Expansion Case Study [PDF]

Class II - Town Meeting Role-Play

From the start, treat this class as a formal town meeting or city council meeting as much as possible. Use podium and gavel if available.

1. Taking the role of either the head council member or the person proposing the new development, call the meeting to order. Read the formal proposal for the development, recap the Shoreland Zoning law or have a student read the law out loud, point out a displayed map of the site and architectural drawing, and re-distribute completed student worksheets.
2. Explain that during the meeting speakers in the audience must raise their hands to speak. When called upon, they should introduce themselves and where they live, and describe where they are employed. After identifying themselves, they can state their argument, ask your character questions, and point to relevant maps, etc., when necessary. Indicate that the meeting is being broadcast live on public and cable television so they should speak clearly at all times.
3. Open the meeting up for discussion. Students should have notes from the previous class to help them remember their ideas. If necessary, remind students to argue from their assigned role's point of view rather than their personal point of view. Guide the students to occasionally tie in actual Vital Signs data and observations. You might open the discussion up at the end for alternate proposals or suggestions about how to mitigate any negative impacts of possible development.

Class III - Discussion/Big Picture

1. Discuss the town meeting in general. Did students' own opinions change, or differ from the one they argued in their role? How so?
2. Ask the students whether the proposal and Vital Signs site they study qualifies for protection/regulation under the Shoreland Zoning law. (Is the site a protected area and is the proposed development close enough to be regulated under the law?)
3. What if the proposed site was located 300 feet (rather than 250) from the pond/river or 100 feet (rather than 75) from a stream's edge? Would this change their argument/point of view?
4. Why are there special laws in Maine to regulate/protect water environments? (Consider having students brainstorm their own ideas and then refer to the actual language of the Shoreland Zoning law for clues.)
5. Have the class think of examples from the news of science and policy/law mixing. (E.g., fisheries policy in Maine/Northeast, Atlantic Salmon aquaculture and the Endangered Species Act, Dam Removal projects, etcŠ) Even if the science doesn't change, the issues can be very controversial and people can have very different points of view. Why?
6. If there is time, consider including an extension activity on exploring, comparing, and discussing land use maps.

1. Land Use Comparisons: (This could be used as an introductory or concluding activity.) Have students explore and compare land-use maps of their community and Vital Signs site to those of other regions. (For younger students, consider showing printouts of a simple map of Maine versus Massachussets, such as at the website. For older grades, have students explore and compare the Maine land-use maps on the Internet. If you are from Portland, for example, contrast your community and Vital Signs region with a more rural region of Maine. (Note: at this website, call up your region by clicking on region name or click directly on map of Maine. You can slide the map from side to side with the cursor and zoom in for greater detail.)
2. Land Use in your Local Community: Research and/or take a field trip about a locally important case water quality/shoreline land use case study. Visit or watch a live broadcast of town council meeting addressing a land use/ water quality issue.
3. The Big Picture: Why are there special rules on land use near water - streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and coastlines? Why are water environments worth protecting and in need of protecting? Discuss this in general, and in context of historical, regional and global perspective of land use near water. Compare Maine land use to that of Northeast and the world. Rivers, lakes, and wetlands occupy 0.08% of Earth's surface and make up only 0.01% of Earth's freshwater; more than 90% is polar ice.

Interesting resources:
• Land Use maps for the Northeast U.S.
• Expansion of Development - Print Maps by Region (Maine State Planning Office)
• Earth at Night
• The world population and water:

  Table 1. Distribution of world population as a function of the distance from the nearest coastline
  Distance from the coast (km)	Population (million)	Accumulated population (million)	Accumulated percentage	Approximate density (people km-2)
  up to 30	1147	1147	20.6	382
  >30 to 60	480	1627	29.2	160
  >60 to 90	327	1954	35.0
  >90 to 120	251	2205	39.5
  beyond 120	3362	5567	100
  Based on the digital vector map by Tobler et al. (1995 and 1997), roughly 1:5 M scale, population standardized to 1994. (Source:http://www.fao.org/sd/EIdirect/EIre0046.htm)b

4. With the leaf pack experiment: If your students have completed the Leafy Living evergreen vs. deciduous activity, this activity can be modified as a follow-up for data analysis and discussion. After having the students assemble (or alternatively, you assemble) graphs of the invertebrate data for evergreens and deciduous, have a simulated town meeting about a proposal to do stream habitat restoration. Present a proposal to plant evergreen trees/shrubs along the stream's side in order to increase aquatic insect biodiversity. Have the students debate the issue as described above, if necessary eventually guiding the students to discuss the bearing of their experimental data on whether this is a good proposal. If not, what would be a better plan for increasing insect abundance and biodiversity?
5. For lower grade levels: Simply propose a development near the Vital Signs site (forgoing detailed discussion of land-use, zoning laws, distance from water's edge, etc.) Also, consider structuring the activity as a press conference rather than a debate. Ask a volunteer parent or teacher to present one point of view (e.g., local naturalist and fly-fisherman) while you present another point of view (e.g., business person proposing to build the store) and have students pose questions, first introducing themselves and stating their newspaper/station.
6. For higher grade levels / advanced students: For older students, obtain a copy of your local town/city shoreland zoning controls (contact library/town hall). Debate the topic in terms of both the overall state law and any specific local regulations on shoreland development/land-use.
7. Two Locations: Debate land use proposal for two different Vital Signs sites - either 2 that you have collected data for, or your site and another school's site from the Vital Signs website database. Repeat as in main activity, but modify to have the debate topic be which location the proposed development should be located near.
8. Advanced/AP students: Environmental Impact Statement (ESI): have student groups write (and present) environmental impact statements based on the proposed development scenario to take place near their Vital Signs site. This should be a document including an introduction, description of existing conditions at the site (incorporating Vital Signs data, maps, photographs, and observations), (a possible literature review), methods used to collect the data, projected impacts (e.g., changes in water temperature, pH, sedimentation, invertebrates, etc.), possible mitigation measures, and a glossary/references. Most likely, this would be done based on a proposed imaginary development. (Alternatively, if there is a proposed development in your watershed the students could collect data, assemble an EIS, and then re-collect data after the development occurs.) Have the students discuss the importance of "baseline data" (a record of environmental data that can serve as a standard for later comparison to assess changes/impacts in the event of natural disturbances or development.