Lesson five: What are the some of the challenges facing Hong Kong?

What challenges are facing Hong Kong? You will: see a set of photographs that illustrate the challenges that face Hong Kong notice that some challenges are natural and some man-made think solutions to address them This will help you to learn: about the challenges that decision makers face related to a big city and port on a small island key geographical vocabulary like air and water pollution, waste and landfill and sustainability.

Types of challenges Natural or human challenges to see what the children know already from their own experience and watching the news.

Natural or man-made challenges? What is the challenge shown here? Hong Kong is very hot from June to September. Temperatures are nearly always above 30 Celsius in the day time. Sometimes rain storms are welcomed as they provide relief from the high temperatures. How can people protect themselves from such high temperatures and strong sunlight? Ross Burrough © How can you protect yourself from the sun and the heat?

How do the these help protect places and people from heavy rain? How do the things pictured help protect slopes from heavy rain? Natural and man-made features of the environment can protect places and people from heavy rain. Trees help protect slopes – a natural way. Deep drains also allow the water to wash away quickly.

What are the natural and human challenges that face Hong Kong? Which is a natural challenge? Which is human or man-made challenge? In each quadrant, is it the black or white words which are natural or human? The human challenges in Hong Kong are illustrated in this presentation – we suggest group research on the natural challenges as guided enquiry. The natural challenges: Typhoons Heavy rain and flash floods Landslides Insects and snakes in Hong Kong Heat and humidity The basic enquiry method is as follows: What is your natural challenge? When and where does it happen in Hong Kong? What is done to protect people? And possibly why does it happen?

Why is there so much rubbish on this beach? Where has it come from? What can you see in the rubbish on this beach? Where might the rubbish have come from? 75 million people live in the Pearl River Delta of which Hong Kong has nearly 8 million people. The potential for waste being washed or thrown into the sea is enormous. If every person throws one plastic bottle into the sea then imagine 75 million bottles floating on the sea. Some plastic is biodegradable, some is not. Plastic is made to be strong and durable and it stays in the sea for a long time as result. ©plasticfreeseas, Flickr

Pollution and waste Imagine 10 bags of rubbish are thrown into the sea. What will happen to the food waste? What will happen to wood? What will happen to metal? What would happen to plastic? Why do you think some captains and ship owners are irresponsible? Some waste does not matter as it is ‘biodegradable’ or doesn’t damage the environment. Plastic is made to be long lasting and to degrade very slowly. The sea washes much of the floating rubbish onto the beaches.

What could be done about waste in the oceans and seas What could be done about waste in the oceans and seas? What do you think this is? Key questions: This is a piece of art, made with washed up waste from the beaches of Hong Kong? What other art ideas might there be to raise awareness of this problem? Is this a good solution?

This old lady collects, sorts and reuses and recycles waste. Is this a good solution? This lady makes out a living from collecting recyclable materials on the beach near her home. She cares about this beach and looks after it. She sorts the rubbish. She sorts the wood and uses it for fuel in the winter and for cooking. She recycles some metal and plastic and throws away other things when the local council collect the rubbish. Ross Burrough ©

How could we help keep beaches clean like this one? Why do we want clean beaches like this one? How do we make sure they are clean? Design a 5 point plan for clean beaches in Hong Kong or in your own country. Ross Burrough ©

Waste pollution and animals Beaches are not the only place we wish to be cleaner. Hong Kong has mudflats that are home to hundreds of birds like this egret. If this mud is full of waste from human activity, what might happen to birds like these as they feed? Explain to pupils that waste such as plastic and pollutants are harmful to both humans and animals. Ross Burrough ©

Many Hong Kong people enjoy eating seafood and fish. Is this a problem? Why are these fish in these tanks? Where have they come from? What is the sea creature on the right? [Follow-up] Have you ever eaten octopus? Fish and other sea creatures are a very important part of the diet of people in Hong Kong. It is healthy to eat fish. But if too many people wish to eat wild fish, then fish numbers are reduced. These fish used to be plentiful in the South China Sea around Hong Kong but now are not. Many now come to Hong Kong on ships from Malaysia and Indonesia. Ross Burrough ©

Fish and seafood are eaten fresh, eaten dried and eaten in dried fish paste What do you notice about these bowls on the left? What is the man selling? People in Hong Kong dry fish to preserve it. Why is there purple paste in the baskets? They are added to rice dishes and also soups . The purple-coloured paste is ground up shrimps which are mixed with salt and then fermented in barrels. This shrimp paste is used in soups and vegetable and noodle dishes like this one. Ross Burrough ©

At times of the year the air is very polluted in Hong Kong Key questions: What do you notice about the air in the pictures? What is the view like? What could be making the view difficult? Hong Kong not always polluted, it depends which way the wind is blowing. From the south, it comes across the sea and therefore it doesn’t have many pollutants in the air. From the north, it blows over land and picks up dust and factory pollutants. The Pearl River Delta has 75 million people many who work in the thousands of factories. Many make toys, bags, clothes and trainers. These need energy from electricity made from coal fired power stations and plastics and textiles made from chemicals factories. You may have something made in China that contributes to the air pollution in Hong Kong. Ross Burrough ©

What makes the air polluted? What are the sources of pollution in Hong Kong? What other sources of pollution are not shown in the picture? Ross Burrough ©

What is being done to protect people from air pollution? What does the picture on the right show? On polluted days like the one on the left, people get warnings of when the air is bad. Elderly people and those with breathing problems are advised to stay inside and people are advised against strenuous physical activity. Ross Burrough ©

What is being done about pollution in Hong Kong? What else could be done? What is this building doing to help? Green walls in cities lower air pollution levels by lowering extreme summer temperatures through photosynthesis, trapping particulate matter, and capturing gases. Green walls also provide thermal insulation for buildings, which means there is less demand on power, and as a result fewer polluting waste products are released into the air. Ross Burrough ©

Hong Kong: nearly 8 million people living in nearly 3 million homes all producing waste Hong Kong has nearly 8 million people in a small land area. If one household/office produces 10kg per week of waste, that is 30 million kg per week. What could you do with it all? Bury it – we call this landfill Burn it – we call this incineration Reuse it Recycle it Ross Burrough ©

Hong Kong does not have much space for waste. What is the blue mountain? Hong Kong is only a small area of land. It is running out of space for waste if it is put in landfill sites. There are a few landfill sites that are growing too high and they can smell. In Hong Kong, they cover them up with blue plastic to stop wind blowing things across the land and into the sea, the plastic cover also reduces the bad smell – hence ‘the Blue Mountain’ Ross Burrough ©

Reduce, re-use, recycle What is being recycled? What do you notice about these bins? Recycling stations are becoming more common in Hong Kong to deal with the challenge of waste. Plastic, metal and paper can be taken to China to factories that process them and reuse them. Paper recycling is more common than other forms of recycling. Offices create lots of waste paper, this is sent to paper factories in China. Ross Burrough © Ross Burrough ©

This is an incinerator to burn waste. What problems might it cause? This is a planned incinerator to solve the waste mountain. It is located on a small rocky island with no people living on it. You can see it will be built in the sea. But, this is an island which environmentalists would like to preserve – the waters are an important fish spawning ground. What other problems might you be worried about? What would you do to solve the problem? Ross Burrough ©

Main activity You have learned about the man-made challenges facing Hong Kong. Now carry out online research with a partner to discover more about the challenges facing Hong Kong that have natural causes. Choose one natural challenge facing Hong Kong and follow the enquiry method to create an information poster.   Natural challenge Enquiry method Typhoons Heavy rain and flash floods Landslides Insects and snakes Heat and humidity What is your natural challenge? When and where does it happen in Hong Kong? What is done to protect people? Why does it happen?

Information poster – What to include? Does your information poster raise awareness of the challenge and explain how people can protect themselves? Success criteria: Have you included information or which places that are most at risk? Have you included information on how people they protect themselves?

Extension: An environmental manifesto for Hong Kong? What are your top 5 tips for a better environment in Hong Kong? What would make: better air to breathe? better water quality to swim in? better coastlines for people and wildlife? better bio-diversity? a better quality environment for people?

Plenary Which three challenges would you prioritise as the Hong Kong government and key decision makers in the city? Why do you feel these are the most important?