North East School Division
Unpacking Outcomes
Unpacking the Outcome
Investigate  resource use
Investigate  waste management
Investigate  methods and technologies
Outcome (circle the verb and underline the qualifiers)
ES20-HP1 – Investigate resource use and waste generation associated with human populations as well as methods and
technologies used for mitigation or management.
KNOW
UNDERSTAND
BE ABLE TO DO
Key vocabulary – global human
population, food security, waste
audit, waste reduction,
mitigation, fertilizer, irrigation,
sustainability, soil salinization,
groundwater, stewardship,
contaminants, waste diversion,
inorganic chemicals,
petrochemicals, natural
resources, aquaculture,
pathogens
The students will understand that:
 Environmental factors and
medical advancements help
support the human population
 Everything is connected in a
system
 Human actions impact overall
sustainability of an
environment (fertilizer, food
production, development of
medicine, irrigation)
 Technologies and processes
have been developed to
support sustainability
 Our human population is
growing at a rate that is at risk
of being unsustainable
 A variety of factors impact
human population
 Population, consumption,
technology and stewardship
have an effect on the
environment
 Our values and needs affect
the decision we make
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Prior knowledge – data
collection and analysis,
sustainability of resources
Concepts/ Skills to be learned
– how to conduct a waste audit,
research skills, waste
technologies, mitigation
technologies, how to construct
an action plan
Models for assessing impact:
I = P x A x T or I = (P x A x T)/S
(I=impact, =population,
A=affluence, T = technology,
S=stewardship)
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Examine current and historical rates of global human population growth.
Describe the impact of food security and access to medicine on human
population growth.
Investigate technologies which support sustainability in industries such as
agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, and mining.
Identify mitigation technologies and processes that have been developed
to minimize the impacts of mining operations on water quality and quantity.
Describe benefits and challenges associated with the use and production
of fertilizer for food crops necessary to sustain a growing human
population
Assess how irrigation projects affect food production, water quality, soil
salinization, and groundwater.
Assess the impacts (e.g., overfishing and declining marine mammal
populations) of resource use and a growing human population on marine
ecosystems.
Design and carry out a waste audit, and propose a plan of action for waste
reduction and/or diversion based on the findings.
Investigate advances in technologies and processes (e.g., sewage
treatment plants, incineration, composting, engineered landfills, and
curbside recycling) used for storing, handling, and disposing of human
and/or livestock waste.
Discuss how population, consumption, technology, and stewardship impact
the environment, with reference to models
Research the sources and effects of contaminants such as pathogens,
organic matter, heavy metals, sediment, heat, and petrochemicals, and
inorganic chemicals such as pesticides in an ecosystem, as well as
contaminant management and mitigation strategies.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
What factors support and harm the human population?
Can Earth sustain our current population growth?
How are things connected in a system? How does changing one thing change everything?
How do humans affect our own populations? How do we impact our environments?
What technologies and processes have been developed to support sustainability?
Why do we make the decisions (sustainable and non-sustainable) we do?