YOU BE THE JUDGE
Grades: 4 and up
Group Size: Any
Length: 30 minutes - 1 hour
Location: Inside Classroom
Materials Needed:
- Scripts
- Pictures or slides of water contamination or practices which threaten water quality. Adjust the script as necessary for the slides you have.
- Projector and screen
- Gavel and costumes-optional
Description
This activity is set up as a trial. Choose students to play the roles of the defendants and the rest of the students can be the jury. The teacher or a student can play the role of the judge; a bailiff also should be chosen. The team of two presenters act as the prosecuting and defense attorneys. Give scripts to the players.
SCRIPT
BAILIFF All rise. Water Festival Court is now in session. The Honorable Judge I. R. Fair presiding.
JUDGE Be seated. Bailiff, please call the first case.
BAILIFF People versus the Citizens of Clearwater, Maine. The charge is the pollution of the town's lake, Blue Lake.
JUDGE The prosecution and defense may now select the jury.
(PROSECUTOR AND DEFENSE attorneys now ask questions of the jury to determine if they are fit to hear this trial.)
Questions:
What are the tiny one-cell green plants that live in lake water called?
What element is important to control algae pollution in our lakes?
Name three sources of phosphorus pollution?
Why is oxygen important in our water?
Name three fish that live in Maine lakes? Three coldwater species? Three warmwater species?
Name three uses of our lakes that require good water quality?
Your Honor we find this jury to be knowledgeable about water quality and are therefore fit to try this case.
JUDGE Prosecution may now proceed with the opening statements.
Prosecutor Your Honor, I am Will Convictum, prosecuting attorney for the people of Clearwater, Maine. I would now like to show the court that certain citizens of the Town of Clearwater are polluting the waters of this town. With the help of the town's conservation commission I have assembled some slides that document what is going on in this town.(slides)
Thank you your Honor.
BAILIFF Defendants, please stand and raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
DEFENDANTS I do.
JUDGE Thank you, prosecutor you may call your first witness.
PROSECUTOR I call Mr Herb E. Side, local farmer. Mr. Side, as prosecuting attorney I would like to ask you a few questions about your farm to determine if you are guilty or innocent of polluting the waters of Clearwater, Maine.
Do you allow your animals to walk in and drink from Spring Brook which flows to Blue Lake? (slide) (defendants always answer in the affirmative to each question)
Do you apply quantities of pesticides to your crops, even before a rainstorm? (slide)
Do you spread manure on your fields in the winter when it can runoff into nearby waters? (slide)
I have no further questions of Mr. Side your Honor.
JUDGE Does the defense wish to ask any questions of the defendant.
DEFENSE Mr. Side, I am Gedoff Easy, your defense lawyer, and I would like you to answer a few questions that may show your innocence.
Mr. Side, isn't your farm one of the most prosperous and beautiful in all of Clearwater? (defendant always answers questions in the affirmative)
Mr. Side, don't you let the children in town come and pet your animals because they are so tame and you keep your barnyard so clean?
Mr. Side, don't people from all over town come to your farm to buy your produce because there is never a bug or a worm on your fruit and vegetables?
Thank you, I have no further questions your Honor.
PROSECUTOR For my next witness I call Ms/Mr B.G. Homoner. Ms Homoner, I would like to ask you a few questions about your home on Blue Lake.
Isn't it true, Ms Homoner, that your driveway has an eroding ditch that causes a mud flow to Blue lake every time it rains? (slide)
Doesn't the water from your roof and your parking lot flow directly into Blue Lake carrying with it all the dirt, oil, and litter that has accumulated on these surfaces since the last rain storm? (slide)
Haven't you cut down all the trees along the lake to make a lawn and don't you apply excessive amounts of fertilizer and pesticides to that lawn to keep it green? (slide)
I have no further questions your honor.
JUDGE Does the defense wish to ask any questions of the defendant?
DEFENSE Ms Homoner, allow me to ask a few questions that may prove your innocence.
Don't you have one of the greenest lawns in Clearwater with hardly a blade of crabgrass?
Would you agree that your house is one of the nicest ones on Blue lake and that you pay a lot of taxes to live there?
Don't you enjoy having a nice road and large parking area so you can invite your many friends over to enjoy the lake?
Thank you your Honor.
PROSECUTOR For my last witness, I would like to call Mr/Ms Gotta Bulldoze, local building contractor. I would like to ask you about the kind of construction work that you do around Clearwater, Maine.
Isn't it true that you have a lot of large machinery that can dig up large amounts of earth and even change the flow of small streams? (slide)
Isn't it true that you often cut down large areas of trees, and leave areas of land without vegetation so that it erodes in a heavy downpour? (slide)
And don't you grade the earth so that stormwater runs off quickly to the nearest stream or lake? (slide)
Thank you your honor. The prosecution rests its case.
JUDGE Does the defense wish to ask any questions of the defendant.
DEFENSE Mr/Ms Bulldoze, I think I can clear up any misunderstanding about your work if you will answer a few questions.
Aren't you one of the most successful contractors in the area because you get your work done fast and cheap?
Don't you like to keep large area of earth cleared so you can drive your bulldozer and dump trucks at top speed to get your work done?
Aren't you proud of your ability to drain the land so that your workers and machines never have to get muddy?
Thank you your Honor, the defense rests its case.
JUDGE Members of the jury. How do you find each of the defendants, guilty or not guilty? Read each defendant's name (Herb E. Side; Ms/Mr B.G. Homoner, Ms/Mr Gotta Bulldoze) and have the jury vote on their guilt or innocence.
JUDGE Do any of the defendants wish to make a statement before sentencing?
(Read the defendant's name: Herb E. Side; Ms/Mr B.G. Homoner, Ms/Mr Gotta Bulldoze) I sentence you to:
(pick one of the following)
1. if you live near a lake, plant a buffer to protect water quality (explain what buffers are and why they are important)
2. shut off the water when brushing your teeth
3. inspect your home for leaking fuel tanks, pesticide and paint containers (do this only with the help of parents!)
4. ask your parents to try 1 box of phosphorus free detergent
5. identify eroding areas around your school yard
6. reduce your use of water by 5 gallons per day
7. visit your town's recycling center and recycle something
JUDGE I hope each of the defendants have learned something today. I'd like to thank the jury for your time and help. Court is adjourned. (Bang Gavel)
Discussion follows with all the students
Ask whether these are truly crimes that someone could be brought to trial for (no). All these practices and problems are actually instances where a person has made a poor decision that could result in water pollution. In each instance, there are better alternatives that could be used to achieve the same results without affecting water quality. Discuss what a few of these alternatives might be.
