A Closer Look At Pollution  

OBJECTIVES 

• The student understands that human activity affects the environment. 

• The student knows that people use scientific processes including hypothesis, making inferences, and recording and communicating data when exploring the natural world. 

• The student uses the scientific processes and habits of mind to solve problems.

• The student recognizes how the communities have changed over time.

• The student displays information by generating, collecting, organizing, and analyzing data using simple graphs and charts.

DURATION  

 Two one- hour periods 

MATERIALS FOR Activity #3 (scroll down page)
a glass, tap water, red or blue food coloring, a knife (get your parents or teacher to help you use the knife), a stick of fresh celery with the leaves still on it                                                

Book:  Berenstein Bears Don't Pollute Anymore  by Stan & Jan Berenstein.

VOCABULARY  

acid rain,  emissions, fumes, landfill, oil spill, oxygen, pesticides, pollutant,  smog,  toxic waste,  EPA Glossary  from A-Z about the environment.  It can be used for all lessons.

 PROCEDURE

1.  Discuss what all living things need to function properly in an ecosystem: air, food, shelter.  Ask the question "What happens when these things are damaged or there is none available?"

2.  Read the story The Berenstein Bears Don't Pollute (Anymore) by Stan & Jan Berenstein

3.  Discuss the problem in Bear Country.  

PROBLEM: There was too much pollution in Bear Country. 

4.  Discuss the causes and effects of pollution in Bear Country.

Chemicals from companies caused the air to be dirty.  Papa Bear and the Wood bears Plant were cutting trees  and squirrels had no nuts to eat.  The land and streams were full of trash hurting the animals. A garage was dumping oil into the streams killing the fish.

5.  Discuss that the same factors affecting Bear Country are affecting our Earth's ecosystems.

6.  The student will visit the following websites and other resources to collect information on Air Pollution, Land Pollution and Water Pollution: It's causes and effects.

a. American Lung Association  Talk about pollution  

b. The Kids Ecology Corps  air pollution, water pollution, waste

c.  FactMonster  click on science, then environment, then MajorAir Pollutants

7.  The student will write a two column note to explain the causes and effects of all types of pollution.  Then the student will create a table that explains and illustrates the causes and effects of  air, land, and water pollution.  

8.  Activity #3 Experiment on water pollution.

EXTENSIONS

1. Students will search this site everyday for one week.  They will record the AQI daily for their city.   At the end of the week, they will gather their data and do a line graph to show the results   This is a good site for asthmatics or people with allergies.

AIRNOW  click with your mouse on Where I Live. Look at the chart with a list of cities.  Look for the AQI for your city and you will see if the air in your city today is clean or not. If your city is not on the list you may do any city in your state. 

2.  Visit EPA Superfund Kids and read the story of When Greenville Turned Brown and how EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) helped to make it green again.  The student will then compare and contrast Greenville with Bear Country.

HOME LEARNING

Go on a pollution walk around your community with your parents.  Write down your observations on air pollution, land pollution and water pollution.  Write a paragraph to tell what kind of pollution you found in your neighborhood and what you can do to help. 

ASSESSMENT

1. The student will create a table reflecting the causes and effects of different types of pollution.

2. The student will use the scientific method to experiment with water pollution and write each step.  

3. The student will write to explain a comparison between Bear Country and Greenville.