The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday November 20, 2002 - A3 Algae problem has scientists scratching their heads for answers (Continued from page 1) regular garbage pickup, said Mark. "It has to go to a government approved composting site," he said. Last summer, the town dumped its smelly algae in an approved composting site in in St. Catharines. Oakville councillors are expected to use comments and suggestions drawn from the forum to decide whether to expand the algae collection program. The forum, hosted by Halton Region and the Town of Oakville, was organized by the Lake Ontario Shoreline Algae Action Committee (LOSAAC) to help generate awareness and input on future action on the issue of nuisance algae. The news from panel members at the forum was not encouraging. A report presented to Town Council in October on last summer's eight-week algae removal pilot project concluded that the attempts at removal were inefficient, costly and ineffective. Even with increased funding - from $111,260 to an estimated $473,160 - the report showed that the removal could only become more efficient, not more effective. Scientists who spoke at the forum weren't able to give clear answers to why the algae is invading Oakville's shoreline and until they figure that out, science won't be able to help solve the problem. "Phosphorus is thought to be the nutri ent most responsible for cladophora growth," said Murray Charlton of the National Water Research Institute at Environment Canada in Burlington. In the 1960s and 1970s algae caused similar problems. Research at that time showed that Lake Ontario was receiving an excess of phosphorus. Measures to reduce phosphorus included changes in detergent formulations and phosphorus removal at wastewater treatment plants. Together these measures brought the excess growth of algae under control in the 1980s. Population growth along the shoreline of Lake Ontario has once again increased nutrient levels in the water through run-off and wastewater treatment. But, even though there is more phosphorus in the water, plants are showing lower concen trations of phosphorus than they have in the past, said Veronique Hiriart-Baer, aquatic ecologist at University of Waterloo. "This is an indicator that something else is contributing to cladophora growth,' she said. "The phosphate levels are the same at other Lake Ontario locations, but it's still the north side of the lake that has the most cladophora growth," she said. "The cladophora issue is important, but it is only one of many Great Lakes issues," said Dr. Harvey Shear, regional science advisor for Environment Canada in Toronto. What many of the lakeside property owners at the forum wanted to know was what the Town was going to do about the problem. Suggestions included gathering the algae and dumping it in the middle of the lake where it would hopefully float off elsewhere and charging fees to waterfront property owners and waterside park users to raise the money it would take to run the removal project more efficiently. Oakville teacher's passion for history earns Governor General's Award for Excellence By Paula Henriques S P E C IA L T O T H E B E A V E R Oakville teacher Nick Brune was named one of Canada's top history teachers Saturday at Ottawa's Rideau Hall. The Iroquois Ridge High School teacher was awarded the 2002 Governor General's Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History. In addition to his gold medal and $2,500, Brune enjoyed an all expenses paid trip for two to the awards ceremony in Ottawa. His school also received $1,000 towards furthering Canadian his tory education. "I'm very humbled and apprecia tive," said Brune, a teacher of 24 years, adding that his passion for history devel oped over time. "History is an avocation, a blueprint, a pursuit. Gradually you see the impor tance and relevance of it. History is intensely personal, and can be very inter esting and engaging. The idea of finding your roots, it's essentially finding out who you are," he said. He's glad his passion has been felt by his students and is appreciative of the students who wrote support letters on his behalf. "The feedback is a reflection of the influence you have as a teacher." He called teachers a "vehicle of Y o u Sgt. Joanne Stoeckl · Special to the Beaver Oakville history teacher Nick Brune holds his Governor General's Award for Excellence instruction" and in order to allow stu dents to feel passionate about a subject, a teacher must be "creative, take risks, and be non-traditional." "At the end of the day, you want the students to learn but also enjoy, have fun, and understand its (history's) impor tance," he said. One of Brune's own creative methods of teaching history is through "Historiography," a series of four units which he developed and implemented that encourages students to critically examine four historical time periods. In sub-units students view videos, conduct research and present their viewpoint on the "truth" and "historical portrayal" of the subject to the class. Following class discussion of the pre sentations, students write two-page posi tion papers on the topics at the end of the lesson. Brune does not limit his activities to classroom instruction. He has co authored two textbooks currently being used in Ontario high schools and is work ing on a third. He was the education writer for the award-winning CBC video series, News in Review, which covered more than two hundred historical stories and was viewed by more than two million Canadian students. Brune has also pub lished more than 50 newspaper articles, written several teaching packages for the Dominion Institute and co-edited Rapport, an Ontario teachers' History and Social Science Journal. The award program, established in 1996 by Canada's National History Society, is designed to recognize and reward the efforts of outstanding Canadian history and social studies teach ers, celebrate Canadian history and pro mote the sharing of great teaching ideas. 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