CBC Archives

Explain to students that you want them to gather information about asbestos, its uses, and the problems it creates.

Ask them to devise an organization tool on which they can record their information, or work together to create something.

Direct students to the topic Asbestos: Magic Mineral or Deadly Dust? on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site. Have them view the clips and use the information to complete their charts.

Have students work in pairs to share the information on their charts. Using the information they have gathered, students will write an opinion paper to answer the question: Is asbestos so dangerous that it warrants closing whole towns?

Students can share their papers, then discuss as a class the merits and hazards of asbestos. Based on all of the information and the discussion, have students reach a consensus about whether they think asbestos should be banned completely.

Some countries still use asbestos today. The actions of those countries can indicate several things: that they have learned from Canada’s crisis and found new ways to deal with asbestos; that economic pressures have prevailed over health concerns; that the asbestos industry has been able to share information in a positive way; and so on. Have students visit the Web site and use other resources to identify these countries and to determine why they think those countries still use the material.