Clean Up Your Act
This activity simulates a tom meeting held to choose a method for cleaning up the contaminated ground water in the town. Using the posters made in Activity I, and the list of concems generated in Activity III, students will role-play different members of the community at a town meeting and lobby for particular clean up plans as part of a presentation to a student andience. Students in the audience will ask questions of the presenters, analyze what they hear, discuss the matter among themselves, and decide on the best plan to clean up the contaminated ground water in the town.
The various clean-up options can be:
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a) containment
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b) excavation
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c) removal
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d) incineration
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e) shut-down the water source
Members of the panel will assume the different roles:
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1. A concerned parent, New Haven resident.
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2. An engineer from Excavation Specialists, Inc.
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3. Vice President of Mobil Oil Co.
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4. A Community Activist
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5. The City Manager, Regional Water Authority, New Haven.
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6. An Environmentalist
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7. A Pathologist
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8. Mayor of New Haven
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9. An inventor, New Technologies, Inc.
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10. A Gardner
Preparation for the Town Meeting
Students will prepare for their roles as members of the panel by conducting interviews with their role models in the community and do research work on the different clean-up methods.
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- make name plates for each of the student actor
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- prepare an agenda for the actors and the andience.( 3-5mins. to make presentation).
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- index cards may be provided for members of the andience to write questions down. . a microphone ( optional)
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- the city mayor can act as the moderator to welcome the andience and introduce the actors.
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- camcorder
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- select a method with the students to reach a decision e.g. consensus or majority vote.
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- enlarge one of the posters prepared by the students showing the contaminated sites and sources of pollution for the andience to observe.
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- present and discuss the following facts about ground water to the class.
Conclusion
Discuss the outcome and process with the students.
Ask the students what makes a decision a
good
decision.
Was everyone satisfied with the decision? Elaborate on your answer.
Extended Activity
Students may wish to contact the Regional Water Authority, New Haven, to learn more about the drinking water in their community water quality, safety and how the water is transported to consumers.
7. Facts about groundwater
You may wish to share the following in formation with the students.
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1. 50% of the United States population depends at least partially on groundwater for drinking water.
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2. 95% of rural households depend exclusively upon groundwater for their drinking water.
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3. The federal government estimates that 2% of the groundwater is polluted from point sources. This is actually more of a threat than the low figure might indicate, since the pollution tends to be near high population areas and thus affects more people. Also, this figure does not include non-point sources of pollution such as agricultural and urban runoff.
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4. It is not uncommon for water from wells to exceed state maximum recommeded limits for various substances. In 1984-85, for example, one-fifth of all large wells supplying drinking water in the state of Califomia exceeded state pollution standards.
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5. Infections from pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and parasites cause about fifty times as many cases of acute illness as chemical contamination of water.
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6. Apart from microbes, virtually every contaminant causes an acute response only if the substance is present in large amounts. In the quantities in which most contaminants are present, the main risk is of chronic, low-grade illness, which is hard to diagnose.
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7. Public water, even from high-radon aquifers, is typically held in air exposed reservoirs long enough for the gas to dissipate. The chief threat of radon contamination is from private wells.
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8. Metal ions are present in higher concentrations in food, air, and cigarettes than they are in water.
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9. Current evidence suggests that exposure to organic compounds through dietary and smoking habits poses more of a threat than water-borne exposure.
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10. About 3-5% of the rural population uses wells in which the concentration of nitrates, which are implicated in stomach cancer, is greater than the federal standard of 10 ppm. However, vegetables in a typical diet provide nitrate levels in excess of this figure.
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11. Salt (sodium chloride) enters groundwater through de-icing of roads and excessive pumping of water, mising the level above the recommended concentration of 20 ppm.
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12. Water from public utilities must currently meet federal guidelines for 73 substances, with about 25 being added each year. The safe drinking water hotline can answer any general questions: 1-800-426-4791.