Unit E Section 4 Introduction

Section 4: Humans must carefully monitor and manage their use of water.

Key Ideas     Unit Checklist

  Unit E: Section 4 – Introduction

Canada’s Aboriginal Water Crisis

Many Aboriginal communities in Canada do not have access to clean drinking water. This is particularly a problem in isolated rural First Nations communities. Some communities have been under water advisories for 20 years. Boiling the water does not always remove contaminants, which means people have to buy and transport bottled water. Several First Nations have encountered severe health problems from consuming and bathing in contaminated water.

The Aboriginal water crisis is a complex problem. It does not have a single solution that will fix it for all communities. For example, sometimes nearby industries contaminate water. A pulp-and-paper mill in Northern Ontario released mercury into a river. People in the nearby First Nations community of Grassy Narrows developed symptoms of mercury poisoning after eating fish and drinking water from the river. Sometimes the government built water treatment plants in Aboriginal communities, but no residents were taught how to run them effectively. Sometimes Aboriginal communities did not maintain water treatment systems properly.

The way forward to solving this water crisis involves bringing Aboriginal communities, scientists, and governments together to develop practical and effective solutions. Some solutions could involve developing new types of water treatment technology, and educating people on how to monitor and maintain water treatment systems.

  Words to Think About:

Check out the word cloud below. It pictures the important words that you are going to learn in this section. Watch for these words, and combinations of these words, as you read. When you see them highlighted, you can click on them to learn more about what the word means. You can also visit the course glossary and read definitions for all of these words.

 

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Lessons in This Section

Lesson E12: How Humans Use Water

Lesson E13: Monitoring and Solving Water Problems

Reading and Materials for This Section

Science in Action 8
Materials Lists for Unit:

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 Watch More

A Serious Water Crisis

Watch these videos to learn more about the clean water crisis in Canadian Aboriginal communities.

 

 

 

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