Goals:
1. Students will develop a better background of the different types of pollution.
2. Students will graph various types of pollution which represent a simulated environment.
3. Students will write an analysis of the different types of pollution found in their simulated environment.
Resources:
1. Materials
a. Paper punch
b. Construction paper (6 different colors)
c. Graph paper
d. Markers
e. A jar or bowl
f. Glue
g. Ruled paper
Time:
Lesson will take approximately 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Allow approximately 30 to 40 minutes for teams to find information and share their findings. The rest of the allotted time can be used to explain the activity, graph, and write the analyses.
Procedure:
Background Information-
Spilled Oil
When the Exxon Valdez ran aground it spilled 42 million liters of oil. The Southam News Agency Environment Project states that every year in Canada alone, 300 million liters of motor oil "vanishes" into the environment. That is equivalent to 7 1/2 Exxon Valdez disasters each year. Engine leakage onto roads and driveways, and spilled automobile and boat fuel must go somewhere are also accountable for oil pollution in our environment. Where do they go? These petroleum products are frequently washed down storm drains, ultimately flowing into the ocean.
Industrial Pollution
Humans are encroaching on the marine environment at an alarming rate. Estuaries and wetlands are rapidly being lost to housing and industrial developments. Facts indicate that half of the world's human population lives less than 6 kilometers from the sea, damaging coastal habitats. For instance, in the past 100 years alone, 96% of the brackish marsh habitat along the north arm of the Fraser River, near Vancouver, has been lost.
Bacterial/Solid Waste
Human sewage can contain intestinal bacteria, disease producing organisms, viruses, and eggs of intestinal parasites. About half of the dry weight of human solid waste is bacteria. One bacteria present in the feces of humans and other animals is the coliform bacteria. Beaches are often closed and shellfish harvesting is prohibited due to high coliform counts. Along with other detrimental bacterias, when coliform is not properly disposed of, it ends up on the shores of our lakes, streams, rivers, and oceans.
Litter
In British Columbia, about 97% of marine litter comes from people who unthinkingly or intentionally throw garbage onto the beaches or into the water. The other3% is lost fishing gear. Pollution is not only an eyesore, it can injure or even kill marine wildlife. Animals have often become entangled in ropes, 6-pack beverage holder rings, nets, and other refuse. Animals often mistake these items for food, unintentionally harming themselves. In one study which sampled 58 coastal seabirds, 75% of these birds have plastics in their stomachs.
Air Pollution
Air pollution is not just a problem for the air, but it is a problem for the ocean as well. Car exhaust, industrial emissions, sprayed herbicides, pesticides, and wood burning all add contaminants to the air, which fall back to earth when it rains. These polluting particles often fall directly into the ocean, since the majority of human population lives near the coast. Once air-borne pollutants enter the ocean, they can be absorbed by plants and animals in the plankton and enter the food chains.
Chemical Pollution
As much as 25% of all toxic waste originates in the home. Anything we put down the sink or toilet will eventually make its way to the ocean. Toxic chemicals are present in many cleaners, paints, anti-freezes, solvents, and prescription drugs.
Step 1- Divide students into six teams. Each team is assigned a type of pollution (litter, air pollution, bacterial/solid waste, spilled oil, industrial, or chemical pollution) to research its effects on water/oceans. Encourage students to use newspaper articles and recent magazines in their research.
Step 2- Teams will present findings to the class. Answer any questions students have about pollution and pose questions about their findings.
Step 3- Each type of pollution will be represented by a different color construction paper. For example, litter=brown; chemical pollution=green; bacterial/solid waste=yellow; air pollution=blue; spilled oil=black; and industrial pollution=purple. Punch 150 holes in each color with a paper punch. 150 holes per color x 6 different colors = 900 holes. Do this prior to activity.
Step 4- Place the 900 holes in a bowl or a jar and mix them together.
Step 5- Distribute a handful of holes to each student. Students should each receive roughly 35-40 holes.
Step 6- Students will design a bar graph on graphing paper. The x-axis should be labeled "Types of Pollution" and the y-axis labeled "Pollution Measured in Tons". The students should make a key for the graph indicating that one hole = one ton of pollution. Horizontally, along the x-axis "Types of Pollution", students should label litter, air pollution, bacterial/solid waste, spilled oil, industrial pollution, and chemical pollution. Vertically, along the y-axis "Pollution Measured in Tons", students should label the points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.
Step 7- Students should separate their colored, punched holes.
Step 8- Students will create bars by pasting the uniformed, colored holes one hole per graphic square working upwards from the x-axis.
Step 9- Students should compare the bars and form a hypothesis about what type of environment their graph best represents. Is it a coastal area because there are oil spills, or is it a rural area because there is a low amount of air pollution?
Step 10- Students should analyze their graphs and represent their hypotheses by writing a short analysis comparing the various types of pollution found in their simulated environments.
Assessment:
1. Students will complete a bar graph, which will be evaluated in accordance with "Graphing Rubric".
2. Students will write an analysis/hypothesis based on their graph, which will be evaluated in accordance with "Writing Rubric".
Curricular Strands and Major Concepts:
1. Language Arts- critical thinking, reading, and writing.
2. Mathematics- graphing, measurement, connections, computation.
3. Social studies- society, global connections, science, and change.
4. Science- measuring, communicating, identifying variables, constructing a graph, constructing a hypothesis, defining variables operationally, and describing relationships between variables.
Possible Extensions:
1. Complete the same graphing activity, but assign a town/city to students. Students are responsible for finding out how much of each type of pollution exists in their town/city. The students will graph these findings, and create a scale which accurately reflects their research.
Bibliography:
http://web.idirect.com/%7Evirgin/clean.html
http://www.lib.noaa.gov/docs/windandsea.html
http://www.demon.co.uk/solbaran/articles/sclrsp.html
http://www.pwc.bc.doe.ca/ep/programs/eppy/ods/facts/p2.html