Student Article: Year 9 Cloud Seeding Debate

Year 9 students Jood, Sheikh and Omar wrote about their experience of the debate:

Chairperson, Jood:
In Social Studies B, we have been learning about water in the UAE. Recently we had a debate on whether cloud seeding is a good idea or not. 

We had two teams engaged in a rational discussion with one team arguing 'for' and the other 'against' cloud seeding, with evidence to support their points. 

Mrs. Dickinson had asked us to apply for the roles of chairperson and team captains. I was selected as chairperson, and my role was to listen carefully to both teams, decide on the order of the discussion points, and most importantly to decide the winner of the debate. This was a hard decision as both teams raised valid points. 

I learned many new things about cloud seeding, such as which countries do it and the reasons behind it. For example, countries could do cloud seeding during droughts and dry seasons or they could use it to take out fires, such as in California. 

The debate was overall a very successful learning experience, and it was different which made it enjoyable.

Jood, Year 9 student

‘Against’ Team Captain, Sheikh:
I, Sheikh, was the Team Captain of the ‘against’ team. I was able to keep everything organised and straightforward, making it easier for our group to show our point of view. It was amazing for our team to win this debate; I feel like we worked very hard for it. 

The debate was a fun activity for us; it allowed us to collaborate face-to-face, in a way we were not able to during virtual learning. For many of us, it was our first debate, including myself, and we had been looking forward to it after doing lots of planning.  

My team achieved the win on the grounds of good teamwork and inquisitive minds. We went into the depths of the Internet finding facts to support our debate. I was excited to work with my fellow teammates.

Everybody was assigned a research point related to cloud-seeding, this was organised according to knowledge and interest areas. Zaidaan, Abdullah and Izzat were assigned to summarise weather and weather patterns in three equal parts. Adam, Youssef and Izzat were assigned to research what harmful chemicals cloud seeding spreads, and how harmful it can be to humans and the environment. Also, Sarah and Georgina worked on how much damage cloud seeding and unpredictable weather can do, and has done. Finally, Zoya and Sumaya were assigned to figure out how much cloud seeding was costing, and if overall it was worth continuing considering the number of times cloud-seeding has failed to produce rain.

Overall, my team were very productive in the amount of time they were given and showed great collaboration skills. This debate was a very good learning experience and a good way to contribute to our BISAD Diplomas. Having this debate was a good way to end this term, the term where we were able to meet our friends again and enjoy being in school after being at home for nearly a year.

Sheikh, Year 9 student

‘For’ Team Captain, Omar:
Overall, I felt our team did really well even though we lost, we made fair arguments and counter attacks to the points made by the against team; we could have improved by gathering a little bit more information because we were not able to challenge all points raised by the opposing team, but this was due to them being unrelated to ours. In addition to this, it was a good opportunity for some students to learn to overcome shyness and speak confidently when presenting their point.

The debate really helped me with my learning because I was able to learn new facts about why cloud seeding is not always good and how in some cases, it is bad; the debate also gave me leadership experience which I can add to my BISAD Diploma. In the end, it was a great experience and a fun, collaborative way to end the term! 

Omar, Year 9 student