4. Mathematics
There is a serious threat to the rich resources in the Mekong River – dam building. The International Rivers Network, an anti-dam group, asserts that about 100 large dams hav been proposed. Several dams have been built on the river’s tributaries, particularly in China. Many critics have argued that this will have a detrimental effect on the environment and the livelihood of fishing villages downstream. On the other hand, dams can generate energy through hydroelectric power. Although costly to construct and requiring a consistent flow of water through the turbines, it provides a relatively cheaper supply of power.
Activity
The Mekong is the 10th-largest river by volume, discharging 475 km³ of water annually. Calculate, the amount of energy it can potentially generate in Manwan, China. Find out the vital statistics of the Mekong River and compare that against the major rivers of the world.
Extended Activity
1. Why are dams a controversial topic?
2. Putting aside environmental and ecological challenges, how viable are dams as an energy source?
3. Look at the slide presentation from the Mekong River Commission. How are some of the issues raised linked to the building of dams? Any current examples?
Building Big: All About Dams: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/dam/index.html
Resources
Title: Dams and development : a new framework for decision-making : the report of the World Commission on Dams, November 2000.
Publisher: London : Earthscan Publications, 2000.
Call number: R q627.8 DAM year 2000
Title: Dams, fish and fisheries : opportunities, challenges and conflict resolution
Author: edited by Gerd Marmulla
Publisher: Rome ; [Great Britain] : FAO, 2001.
Call number: R q639.21 DAM
Title: The hydraulics of open channel flow: an introduction ; basic principles, sediment motion, hydraulic modelling, design of hydraulic structures
Author: Hubert Chanson
Publisher: London: Arnold, 1999.
Call number: R 627.042 CHA
Title: Hydropower of the future: new ways of turning water into energy
Author: Allison Stark Draper
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : Rosen Pub. Group, 2003.
Call number: Y 333.914 DRA
5. Language
The story of the film Apocalypse Now is based around a fictional journey up the Mekong River into Cambodia. The film uses the journey up the river as a metaphor for a journey into the darkness of humanity.
Activity
Watch an excerpt from the movie Apocalypse Now
1. Keep a River Journal. You can write in the form of an autobiography or take on assume a persona and write about your experiences as you journey up the river
2. Write a short poem employing a variety of poetry styles to depict your experience/ emotions about the movie.
Further Discovery
The movie, Apocalypse Now, was indirectly inspired by Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of darkness – about a steamer journey up a river into the Congo and African jungle – and into the darkest reaches of the human psyche. Have students swap unfinished work and try to finish each others poetry, following in the poetic style started by original author.
Resources
Title: Heart of darkness: with, The Congo diary ; and, Up-river book
Author: Joseph Conrad ; edited by Zdzisław Najder
Publisher: London : Hesperus, 2002.
Call number: CON
Title: O withered leaf from the River Mekong and other poems
Author: Htilar Sitthu
Publisher: Yangon, Myanmar: Innwa Pub. House, 1998.
Call number: RSEA 828.9959101 HTI or 828.9959101 HTI
Title: Travel writing
Author: Don George with Charlotte Hindle.
Publisher: Melbourne, Vic.; London: Lonely Planet, 2005.
Call number: 808.06691 GEO
Title: Drawing from life: the journal as art
Author: Jennifer New
Publisher: New York: Princeton Architectural, c2005.
Call number: q760 NEW -[ART]
\"Art of Seeking\" 
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