Student Handouts for Oil Sands Sustainability Project

Debate on the Oil Sands

To what extent does the environment and progress clash in terms of the oil sands?

What questions about politics and governmental processes does the question above arise. In this project you will use your knowledge about the oil sands to create a sound argument about whether the economy or the environment is more important when debating about the Alberta oil sands. You will research the oil sands in math, science and through the media. You will use this research to take a position on the issues surrounding the Alberta Oil Sands. You will have to defend you position in a debate.


Students will research the Oil Sands and write a short but comprehensive analysis on the issues surrounding Alberta’s Oil. Students should gather this information using labs done in science, math statistics and web sources or books. Students should look back on the question poised to them at the beginning of the assignment and create a position on the questions. Students will then use their research to back up their position on the issue. This research includes articles collected from the paper as well as political cartoons. Students will create a debate using the information they collected during the research process.

By the end of October you will have researched each side of this issue. You will then choose your position on the issue in order to debate.

The format for the Debate is as follows:

Introduction – Introducing a minimum of 4 arguments for or against Oil Sands manufacturing.

Rebuttal argument # 1 – A counter to the arguments they believe the other side will create.

Rebuttal argument #2 – A counter to the arguments they believe the other side will create.


Closure- Re-state original arguments disprove the other sides point again and close with why yours arguments are more convincing.






Oil Sands Political Cartoon
A political cartoon is a satire of current events in the media. They are used to convey issues in a comedic way. Author can display their opinions and viewpoints through visual representations. In this assignment you will create your own political cartoon.

Students will spend time going through and collecting political cartoons and articles from the paper that relate to the Alberta Oil sands. These articles and cartoons can be used as research for the debate assignment as well.

Every week students will bring these cartoons and articles that relate to the oil sands to share with the class. As we examine the articles students will look at the bias and ethics of the cartoons portrayed in the media.

By the end of October you should have collected a number of political cartoons relating the Oil Sands and will have finished the research for the debate assignment. Now you must chose a position on the issue.

Once students have chosen a position regarding the Oil Sands debate they will create their own political cartoon. Your political cartoon should display your position on the issues using visuals and little words. The message that the cartoon is trying to present should be clear to the reader. You may use symbols and representations to clearly portray your viewpoint. You may use a variety of media to create your cartoon, drawing, collage, computer art, painting, and any other forms that have been approved by the teacher. You will not be graded on your art ability, but your cartoon must be neat and overall display your position on the Alberta Oil Sands issues.




Public Service Announcement

A public service announcement is a message displayed to the public to sway someone’s opinion.


Using your research on the Alberta Oil Sands and your position chosen for your Social Studies debate you will create a public service announcement relating to the Alberta Oil Sands. You may work independently or with a partner.

Your first task is to create a script (dialogue) that will present your ideas and therefore sway the public into thinking about the issue you have brought forward. In this case this is the Alberta Oil Sands. Your script should be 45 -60 seconds long and display all the information in simple terms. You will hand in a rough and good copy of the script to the teacher to grade before moving on to creating your PSA.

The Rough Copy of the PSA is due by ___________ and the Good Copy of the PSA is due by: _____________.

Once the teacher has given back your script you will create , in audio, video, pod casts, technological way of presenting.





Business Letter

Using your research you will write an informative letter to a community leader regarding the Alberta Oil Sands. Your letter will be lobbying the community leader to make changes to Oil sand legislation. You will use your position on the issue to decide to whom you are going to write the letter. You may write it to an environmental group (Green Party) giving them suggestions on how they can do more or to your Member of Parliament persuading them to make changes on legislation regarding tailing ponds. Whomever you choose you should be writing to someone to convince them of your ideas regarding Oil Sands.

You should write the letter using standard business letter format. You must include:

- Who you are (Introduce yourself)
- Who the letter is to and what part they play in the Oil Sands
- Why you are writing to them
- What your position is
- What you ideas for change are
- How you propose they institute your ideas
- Closure

The Format is as follows:

Your Street Address
City, Province, Postal Code

Month, Day, Year

Mr./Mrs./Ms./Dr. Full name of recipient
Tile of recipient, Company Name
Recipient Street Address
City, Province, Postal Code

Dear Ms./Mrs./Mr. Last Name

When using this format, you do not want to indent, margins on all sides should be one-inch. Start the first paragraph by introducing yourself in a friendly way and then state the purpose of your letter. Know your audience because it’s very important that you keep their attention. Remember, you are not writing to yourself, think in term of the recipient and write passionately. Use a couple of sentences to explain the purpose, but save the detail for the body paragraph(s).

Start the body paragraph by justifying the importance of the main point. In the next few paragraphs, continue justification with background information and supporting details. Body paragraphs are where you offer solutions, advice, suggestions, or proposals. Write as many body paragraphs as you want, however, keep it short and straight to the point, you do not want to bore the reader to death or look like you’re writing a school essay.

In the closing paragraph, you should restate the purpose of the letter and, in some cases, request some type of action. Remind the reader where they can contact you and make sure to close the letter in a friendly manner.

Closing (Sincerely,)

Leave 4 spaces and Sign Your Name

Print Your Full Name
Your Title, Company Name



Reference List

Students will reference all books, websites, magazines etc. they have used for the Alberta Oil Sands Sustainability project. Any information the students have collected and not changed into their own words must be cited. They students will create a comprehensive bibliography of all their references. Anything used in Math, Science, Social Studies or Language Arts research must be included. A guide and example of proper MLA reference are on the following page.



Science and Math Performance Task

Go to link below to find both teacher information and all the student handouts for the science and math performance task.

PD Performance Task