Big Dam Curriculum

The Big Dams Curriculum was developed Big in conjunction with the public conference “Reversing the Flow: Big Dams, Power, and People in Local Context” presented November 6 & 7, 2009 in Vancouver, Washington, and available here.

Using this Big Dam History Detectives Scaffolding Exercise educators can help students of all ages to follow a trail of historical discovery connected to building big dams and their impacts in the Columbia Basin and worldwide.

This curriculum includes Big Dam fact sheets for regional and world dams, primary documents, photographs, and video lectures from the big dams conference. Students can also work with a variety of resources on the CCRH website to explore the history and impacts of big dams, including the CCRH community history sites located on the community history section of the CCRH website.

Each of the eight Web sites features extensive primary sources, including maps, oral history interviews, documents, newspapers, and photographs. Bibliographies contribute additional information about each community, and audio excerpts and curriculum questions enrich the exhibit tour.

Community History sites include:

Camas, Washington

Columbia Basin Native Fishery

Columbia Slough, Oregon

Cottage Grove, Oregon

Moses Lake, Washington

Sandpoint, Idaho

Umatilla, Oregon

World Dam Resources – images, documents, timelines, fact sheets, and talks.

The Narmada River and the Sardar Sarovar Dam, India