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Explain to students that they are going to complete in-depth research in order to assess whether a future ice storm would have the same human and physical impacts as the storm of 1998. This activity is most suited to senior students.

Have students focus on Clip 9, including “Did You Know?” Students should read the commissioner’s report and make notes about its information and recommendations. Students should examine the rest of the topic for more information. If they wish, students can also visit the Web sites of Hydro Quebec and the governments of Montreal and Quebec.

From their research, students should outline what they expect the provincial government to do to ensure that a disaster of this type does not re-occur. Students should then use their outline to write a letter from a citizen of Quebec to the premier or to the editor of a local paper. They should be sure to focus on the findings of the commission, and deal with specific steps they would like the government to take.

Ask the students to get into groups of three and four and have them read their letters to each other. They should track the similarities and the differences in the letters. Each group should document the top five changes that they would like to see the provincial government make in order to decrease the impact of the next ice storm.