Hypothetical on three levels of Government involved in Oil Spill Response
(courtesy Parliamentary Education Office)
Objectives:
- To enable students to understand that government action on some issues
may involve all three levels of government - local, state and federal.
- To help students identify different areas of government responsibility.
- To help students realise that without communication and coordination
there may be an overlap and/or duplication of responses from the different
levels of government.
- To encourage community participation in government action where this is appropriate.
Strategy:
- Show the students some stimulus material. Use a segment from Behind the
News, dealing with an oil pollution incident or borrow some material from
AMSA or State Organisations to show damaged wildlife and equipment used in
restricting the spread of an oil slick. Discuss the likelihood of similar
disasters and brainstorm the possible consequences.
- Provide a scenario. Pick an area familar to students. Give details of the
whereabouts of the imaginary spill, its rate, the weather, the wind speed
and direction and information about the speed of the movement of the slick.
- Drawing on previous discussion of the consequences of the oil spill, ask
students to list the different matters needing attention. Some of these may
be: rescuing the crew of the ship; deciding what to do about the ship itself;
finding out how to restrain, divert or disperse the oil; deciding what to
do about affected wildlife; organising assistance from experts and the public;
regulating media activity; coordinating the clean-up; warning other shipping,
especially fishing vessels; protecting the foreshore from the oil etc.
- Now have the students organise the issues into three columns (they may
decide that some issues should go into more than one), according to whether
it is seen to be a local, state or federal responsibility. Note: this can
only be an approximation of the real situation but it is adequate for the
learning program outlined here. For more detail, consult the relevant State
Plan to Combat Pollution of the Sea and material in the Protection of the
Sea resource kit. Local government would be responsible for what happens
on the beaches, shoreline and above, state government for state coastal waters
(the waters between the shore and the three mile limit) and the federal government
for territorial waters and high seas (waters beyond three mile limit).
- Divide the class into groups reflecting the different levels of government
and ask each group to act as a task force to plan how to deal with the issues
on their list. Give each group a large sheet of paper and allow about 10-15
minutes for them to outline their plan in point form. Then ask a spokesperson
from each group to share their ideas with the class.
- Accept and list all ideas at this stage.
These talks will probably reveal an amount of duplication and overlap of tasks. They may also pinpoint omissions or ideas not previously suggested. You may try to arrange for authorities to assist by giving a presentation or commenting on how the national emergency plan would operate in reality, emphasising the need for cooperation, coordination and explaining more clearly the roles of the different stakeholders in the operation.
Students may then want to ask questions.
Wind up the program by summarising what has happened and suggesting that there may be other issues or events which require similar cooperation between different government bodies. Ask the students to comment on the role of the public and suggest ways in which the public could assist or participate in government by being better informed.
Materials
- Stimulus material in the form of pictures, slides or video footage of a)
a setting similar to that used in the scenario; b) an oil disaster at sea.
- Large whiteboard.
- Large sheets of paper and a marker pen for each group.
Level
This program is more suitable for secondary students but upper level primary can also handle it, as the trial proved.
Time required
At least an hour, preferably an hour and a half.