UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA (UNISA)
College of Education and College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences
⋄
PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
Assessment 04 | Semester 2 | 2026
⋄
Module Code: EED2601
Module Name: Environmental Education
Assessment No.: Assessment 04 (Portfolio)
Due Date: 19 October 2026
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Environmental Education (EED2601)
at the University of South Africa.
,UNISA | EED2601 Environmental Education Portfolio
Learning Unit 1: Key Ideas and Debates on Environmental Education
The local case I use is the Vaal River system in Gauteng. The Vaal Dam, completed in 1938,
and the river below it supply water to most of Gauteng, to Eskom power stations and Sasol
plants, to mines in the North West, Free State and Northern Cape, and to towns as far away
as Kimberley (SAHO, n.d.a). The system serves about 19 million people (Sowetan, 2021). It is
also a clear Anthropocene case, the Anthropocene being the proposal that human activity has
become a geological force shaping the Earth system (Crutzen and Stoermer, 2000). The river
has been dammed, topped up with water piped in from the Thukela and Usutu catchments and
from the Lesotho Highlands (SAHO, n.d.a), burdened by more than a century of gold mining,
and loaded with the sewage of a growing urban region. Steffen et al. (2015) date the steep rise
in human pressure to the Great Acceleration after 1950, and the Vaal Dam itself was raised in
the early 1950s (SAICE Geotechnical Division, 2024).
1.1 Teaching the holistic environment and the Anthropocene (BEd)
Understanding the concepts
The holistic environment treats the biophysical, social, economic and political dimensions as
one connected system, so a river polluted by sewage is never only a science problem. This fol-
lows the Tbilisi Declaration, which asked environmental education to present the environment
in its totality (UNESCO-UNEP, 1978). For learners, the Anthropocene is best introduced as a
change in what humans do to the planet, and the Vaal gives them evidence close to home, be-
cause much of Gauteng’s tap water, including the water in a school tap, comes from the Vaal
system (SAHO, n.d.a).
The local issue as the teaching anchor
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) published the final report of its Vaal
inquiry in February 2021. It found the river polluted beyond acceptable standards, named un-
treated sewage from dilapidated and inoperative wastewater treatment plants as the cause,
and recorded that the yellowfish population is under threat of extinction (SAHRC, 2021; Mail
& Guardian, 2021). The community organisation Save the Vaal Environment estimates that
140 to 200 million litres of raw sewage reach the river each day (SAHRC, n.d.). A second pres-
sure is the legacy of gold mining. About 69 million litres of acid mine drainage a day from the
Page 1 of 24
, UNISA | EED2601 Environmental Education Portfolio
Central Basin of the Witwatersrand are pumped, neutralised and discharged into the Vaal sys-
tem, and the discharge still carries about 1 122 mg/l of sulphate (Mail & Guardian, 2025). Every
one of these pressures is human, and each touches a different part of the holistic environment:
the sewage touches dignity and health, the loss of river tourism touches the local economy,
the failure of oversight touches politics, and the yellowfish and the river chemistry touch the
biophysical system. That spread makes the Vaal a good teaching anchor.
Lesson sequence for Grade 8 (Social Sciences: Geography, linked to Natural Sciences)
The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) builds human rights, environmental
justice and social justice into the curriculum (DBE, 2011a), and the Senior Phase content on
natural resources, water and ecosystems gives environmental education a place in timetabled
subjects (DBE, 2011a; DBE, 2011b). Rand Water’s Water Wise team also publishes CAPS-
aligned water activities for each grade (Rand Water, n.d.), so the lesson is built around inquiry
and uses resources that schools can obtain.
1. Hook (10 minutes). Learners compare two photographs, one of the Vaal Dam or a clean
stretch of the river and one from a news report on sewage in the Vaal. They write one
question each on a sticky note.
2. Mapping the system (20 minutes). In groups, learners build a concept web on manila pa-
per that places the Vaal in the centre and links it to the Vaal Dam, Rand Water and their
own tap, the Witwatersrand mines, township and suburb drains, wastewater works, yel-
lowfish, anglers and river businesses, and the water piped in from Lesotho and the Thukela.
The web makes the idea of a holistic environment visible, because no strand can be re-
moved without moving the others.
3. Naming the Anthropocene (15 minutes). The teacher introduces the term and learners
sort their sticky notes into natural causes and human causes. Most notes end up in the
second pile, which opens the discussion on humans as a force acting on the Earth.
4. SDG action task (30 minutes). Each group adopts one Sustainable Development Goal and
designs a school or home action: SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) by mapping school
drains, clearing litter and reporting a blocked drain or sewage spill to the municipality, SDG
13 (climate action) by keeping a weather diary and planting indigenous trees in the school
grounds, SDG 15 (life on land) by making a poster on yellowfish and river life, and SDG
12 (responsible consumption) by setting up a waste sorting corner (United Nations, 2015;
UNESCO, 2017).
Page 2 of 24
College of Education and College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences
⋄
PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
Assessment 04 | Semester 2 | 2026
⋄
Module Code: EED2601
Module Name: Environmental Education
Assessment No.: Assessment 04 (Portfolio)
Due Date: 19 October 2026
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Environmental Education (EED2601)
at the University of South Africa.
,UNISA | EED2601 Environmental Education Portfolio
Learning Unit 1: Key Ideas and Debates on Environmental Education
The local case I use is the Vaal River system in Gauteng. The Vaal Dam, completed in 1938,
and the river below it supply water to most of Gauteng, to Eskom power stations and Sasol
plants, to mines in the North West, Free State and Northern Cape, and to towns as far away
as Kimberley (SAHO, n.d.a). The system serves about 19 million people (Sowetan, 2021). It is
also a clear Anthropocene case, the Anthropocene being the proposal that human activity has
become a geological force shaping the Earth system (Crutzen and Stoermer, 2000). The river
has been dammed, topped up with water piped in from the Thukela and Usutu catchments and
from the Lesotho Highlands (SAHO, n.d.a), burdened by more than a century of gold mining,
and loaded with the sewage of a growing urban region. Steffen et al. (2015) date the steep rise
in human pressure to the Great Acceleration after 1950, and the Vaal Dam itself was raised in
the early 1950s (SAICE Geotechnical Division, 2024).
1.1 Teaching the holistic environment and the Anthropocene (BEd)
Understanding the concepts
The holistic environment treats the biophysical, social, economic and political dimensions as
one connected system, so a river polluted by sewage is never only a science problem. This fol-
lows the Tbilisi Declaration, which asked environmental education to present the environment
in its totality (UNESCO-UNEP, 1978). For learners, the Anthropocene is best introduced as a
change in what humans do to the planet, and the Vaal gives them evidence close to home, be-
cause much of Gauteng’s tap water, including the water in a school tap, comes from the Vaal
system (SAHO, n.d.a).
The local issue as the teaching anchor
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) published the final report of its Vaal
inquiry in February 2021. It found the river polluted beyond acceptable standards, named un-
treated sewage from dilapidated and inoperative wastewater treatment plants as the cause,
and recorded that the yellowfish population is under threat of extinction (SAHRC, 2021; Mail
& Guardian, 2021). The community organisation Save the Vaal Environment estimates that
140 to 200 million litres of raw sewage reach the river each day (SAHRC, n.d.). A second pres-
sure is the legacy of gold mining. About 69 million litres of acid mine drainage a day from the
Page 1 of 24
, UNISA | EED2601 Environmental Education Portfolio
Central Basin of the Witwatersrand are pumped, neutralised and discharged into the Vaal sys-
tem, and the discharge still carries about 1 122 mg/l of sulphate (Mail & Guardian, 2025). Every
one of these pressures is human, and each touches a different part of the holistic environment:
the sewage touches dignity and health, the loss of river tourism touches the local economy,
the failure of oversight touches politics, and the yellowfish and the river chemistry touch the
biophysical system. That spread makes the Vaal a good teaching anchor.
Lesson sequence for Grade 8 (Social Sciences: Geography, linked to Natural Sciences)
The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) builds human rights, environmental
justice and social justice into the curriculum (DBE, 2011a), and the Senior Phase content on
natural resources, water and ecosystems gives environmental education a place in timetabled
subjects (DBE, 2011a; DBE, 2011b). Rand Water’s Water Wise team also publishes CAPS-
aligned water activities for each grade (Rand Water, n.d.), so the lesson is built around inquiry
and uses resources that schools can obtain.
1. Hook (10 minutes). Learners compare two photographs, one of the Vaal Dam or a clean
stretch of the river and one from a news report on sewage in the Vaal. They write one
question each on a sticky note.
2. Mapping the system (20 minutes). In groups, learners build a concept web on manila pa-
per that places the Vaal in the centre and links it to the Vaal Dam, Rand Water and their
own tap, the Witwatersrand mines, township and suburb drains, wastewater works, yel-
lowfish, anglers and river businesses, and the water piped in from Lesotho and the Thukela.
The web makes the idea of a holistic environment visible, because no strand can be re-
moved without moving the others.
3. Naming the Anthropocene (15 minutes). The teacher introduces the term and learners
sort their sticky notes into natural causes and human causes. Most notes end up in the
second pile, which opens the discussion on humans as a force acting on the Earth.
4. SDG action task (30 minutes). Each group adopts one Sustainable Development Goal and
designs a school or home action: SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) by mapping school
drains, clearing litter and reporting a blocked drain or sewage spill to the municipality, SDG
13 (climate action) by keeping a weather diary and planting indigenous trees in the school
grounds, SDG 15 (life on land) by making a poster on yellowfish and river life, and SDG
12 (responsible consumption) by setting up a waste sorting corner (United Nations, 2015;
UNESCO, 2017).
Page 2 of 24
