Webquest : Saving the Golden Toad

1
Webquest Saving the Golden Toad
The appearance thoughout is admirable.
I like this graphic and the golden frog.

• Sustainable Development
• and
• International Biopshere Reserves in Latin America
• (Man and the Biosphere, MAB)
• By Laurie Smith

Question would it be even more enticing
and stimulating to include a few more graphics,
e.g., a cloud forest?
2
Introduction
This is a bit picky, but I wonder if, for
presentational purposes, you might pull up the
bottom hem of the text a little.

• The rare, once thought to be extinct, golden toad
  has been sighted in a cloud forest in Costa Rica
  near the town where you live. Because of its
  great beauty, people from all over the world are
  making plans to visit your community to see it.
  This lovely toad is very vunerable to water
  pollution however and there is great concern
  about how to balance tourism and the need for
  pristine environment. Your job will be to
  protect the golden toad while helping your
  community meet its economic needs

3
Task

• You will work in groups of 4 to design a model
  community that applies for International
  Biosphere Reserve status to develop guidelines
  for sustainable development. Your community
  consists of 5,000 inhabitants with businesses
  that include eco-lodges, a lumber company that
  supplies material for a number of furniture
  factories in the community, a dairy farm that
  supplies milk for a cheese factory and a small
  amusement park with a golf course for tourists.

4
Procedure

• Visit the web site about International Biosphere
  Reserves to discover the mission of the reserves
  and become familiar with the terminology
  sustainable use, natural resources, biodiversity,
  zoning, protected core area, buffer area,
  transition area as applied to Biosphere Reserves.
• Learn about cloud forests and wetlands at
  http//www.sfbotanicalgarden.org/cf/cf/ and
  http//fp.arizona.edu/khirschboeck/nats101gc/cloud
  _forest.htm. Look for features of the cloud
  forest, their importance and some threats to
  their continued survival.
• Learn about the Golden Toad, its needs and
  vulnerability.
• Visit the Environmental Protection Agency site
  to discover what non-point source water pollution
  is and how to prevent or limit it.

Within each group of four, would you envision
roles or duties that might be assigned to or
assumed by each individual?
5
Procedure Continued

• In your group, construct a model of your proposed
  International Biosphere Reserve in the cloud
  forest area of Costa Rica where the golden toad
  has reappeared. You may construct a 3
  dimensional model using modeling clay and other
  materials or a 2 dimensional model on posterboard
  or a virtual model. Illustrate the different
  features of a cloud forest.
• Write a mission statement for your reserve,
  stating why it should be established, how natural
  resources will be used in a sustainable way that
  protects biodiversity.
• Indicate the boundaries of the protected core
  area, the buffer area and the transition area and
  show what activities will be allowed in each.
  Make sure that all segments of your community are
  able to participate in the economic
  opportunities.
• Demonstrate how each business will limit
  non-point source water pollution to best protect
  the golden toad.

If roles or duties are specified, then that would
result in revisions, I suppose, in the Evaluation
or rubric.
6
Evaluation
Of course, this grid differs from the one I am
about to look at that came in Excel.
7
Reflection and Feedback

• I would love to hear your comments about this
  project. What was the most important thing you
  got out of the activity? How will you use what
  you learned? What was your favorite part? What
  could have been done differently to improve the
  project? What would you like to do next as a
  follow-up? Please e-mail your comments to me at
  lsmith_at_todd.k12.ky.us