The Solution to Pollution / Lesson 1: Mapping Your Ecological Footprint- Every human activity consumes resources from the planet and produces waste that the planet must then deal with. We can measure our individual impact as well as our collective impact to determine how close we are to a sustainable society. This is where theEcological Footprinthas a major role to play. In fact, we are all bound to our planet's environment and natural resources through our Ecological Footprint. Objectives/ Activities: Students explore the concept of an ecological footprint by taking the ecological footprint quiz online at http://www.myfootprint.org. Students will be able to show how their ecological footprints are measured. Students will be able to explain how the size of their ecological footprint, impacts the environment. Students will be able to develop strategies to reduce one's ecological impact on the environment. Students collect and record the group's data in a chart. Materials Per student: 1 pre-assessment form, 1 blank ecological footprint quiz, 1 clip board, 1 post-assessment form. Materials for Teacher: Poster of healthy and unhealthy ecological environments, 1 computer, 1 data chart, Dry erase board to write down students' ideas.
Procedure: Pre-Assessment – Students answer questions about what they already know about ecological footprint, overshoot, and sustainability (pretest attached at the end of the lesson.) Teacher will engage the students by showing a poster that says "It's our choice." It has different pictures of healthy and unhealthy ecological environments. What do you notice about the poster? The unhealthy ecological environments have been caused by humans, but we have the power to clean and restore our environment. What are some ways you can help save the environment in your own community?
A class discussion is held on what things adversely impact or help the environment. Teacher explains that doing things that hurt the environment makes your ecological footprint bigger and doing things that help the environment makes your ecological footprint smaller. The teacher will discuss ecological footprints, overshoot, sustainability, and different types of energy uses. Have students draw and color big and small footprints. Inside the footprints have them write different examples of practices that could make them that size. For instance, in the small footprint, students could write recycling. Following this, have the students explore the concept further by taking the ecological footprint quiz. An ecological footprint
is the amount of space that is required to support the resource needs and waste of a person. Ecological footprints come in all different sizes. If we have a big ecological footprint this can be called overshoo
t
. Overshoot is when a person takes more than the earth can renew. If you take out and look at the graph titled, Humanity's Ecological Footprint, you can see that we have a big overshoot. If we have a small ecological footprint this can be called sustainability. Sustainability is when a person takes more than the Earth can renew. Our ecological footprints are calculated by finding out how much energy we use. We use energy for food, water, shelter, and mobility
.
There are different ways we use energy in our home. Students complete the ecological footprint quiz at http://www.myfootprint.org. Closure: after students complete the quiz, they discuss and chart their results. The students whose ecological footprint is small give advice on how they help to sustain natural resources to those whose footprints are larger. Students reflect and share on what they learn. The teacher charts the data. Students complete post test (attached at the end of this lesson.)
Pre-test
Name ________________________
Directions:
Please answer the following questions.
1.) What measures the amount of space that is required to support the resource needs and waste of a given population or person?
2.) What is it called when a person takes more than the Earth can renew?
3.) What is it called when a person does
not
take more than the Earth can renew?
4.) List three things that would make your Ecological Footprint bigger.
1.
2.
3.
5.) List three things that would make your Ecological Footprint smaller.
1.
2.
3.
Post-test
Name ________________________
Directions:
Please answer the following questions.
1.) What measures the amount of space that is required to support the resource
needs and waste of a given population or person?
2.) What is it called when a person takes more than the Earth can renew?
3.) What is it called when a person does not take more than the Earth can renew?
4.) List three things that would make your Ecological Footprint bigger.
1.
2.
3.
5.) List three things that would make your Ecological Footprint smaller.
1.
2.
3.
6.) In one or two sentences, explain why you think it is important to make your
ecological footprint smaller? (Creative Change Education Solutions, www.creativechange.net)
Lesson 2: Biomass and Biofuels: Introduction: The United States is faced with energy supply and demand problems. One way in which we can help address these problems is through the proper use of biomass. Students will need to have a grasp on key vocabulary terms and their definitions: biodegradable, biodiesel, biomass, ethanol, methane, particulates, recycle, legislature, natural gas, nuclear energy, geothermal, solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, petroleum, global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain. The students will begin by making a flipbook to organize the students' definitions. The flipbook is created by folding a piece of 8 by 12 construction paper vertically in half. Then take the top sheet of the folded paper ad cut it from the outside to the fold to match the number of vocabulary words that will be defined. On the cover of the flap write the vocabulary word on the inside flap write the definition.
Discussion: The most common methods to obtain energy currently in use involve the combustion of fossil fuels. Not only are the fossil fuels limited and nonrenewable, but their oxidation contributes to environmental pollution, acid rain and global warming. The development of alternative energy sources and alternatively fueled vehicles reduces environmental damages and decreases dependence on nonrenewable resources. Objectives/ Activities: Students will be able to understand biomass concepts and related vocabulary. The students will be able to identify potential raw materials, discuss the necessary processing steps and explore biomass products and impacts. The students will compare the amount of biogas that is produced from different types of biomass.
The students will present their learning in the form of a poster, diorama or research paper.
Materials: Student and teacher student guides of Farmers Fueling the Future (available for free at http://www.soyohio.org/aws/OHSOY/pt/sp/osc_ed_guides), school menus, chart paper, science logs, materials needed in experiment listed below.
Procedure: The teacher will engage students with a read aloud of the guide Farmers Fueling the Future. The students will discuss the beginning and end process for converting soybeans into final biodiesel products. The students will then examine school menus and identify agricultural products that can be used in biomass. The students will keep a log of this as well as potential products from home and school that can also be used in biomass such as food items, cooking oil and plant and animal waste materials to name a few. After a acquiring a grasp on the concept, students will then conduct the experiment, From Trash to Cash. Hook to the experiment: the students will discuss the possibility of a world where you could take the scraps from last night's dinner and toss them into your car's fuel tank and make gas? In this experiment you'll discover that food scraps, dead plants, sawdust, and other decaying organic matter, calledbiomassare a rich source of energy. You can get energy out of biomass by burning it, turning it into a liquid, or by turning it into a gas calledbiogas
.You've probably burned biomass (like dead wood) before if you've ever built a campfire, and you've seen biogas being produced if you've ever watched cows happily munching on green grass. The cows eat a type of biomass (grass or hay) and turn it into the biogas, methane, in their digestive tracts. In this experiment, you'll compare the amounts of biogas produced by different types of biomass. The students will begin with a question: How much biogas will be produced by waste materials like manure and decomposing fruits and vegetables? The students will formulate a hypothesis about which type of biomass will create the greatest amount of biogas. Materials: 5 1 liter bottles, 5 balloons 750 ml of decomposed and blended fruits and vegetables, 600 ml of corn, 750 ml of cow manure, 750 ml of horse manure, 500 ml of soil, 2 sun lamps, disposable gloves, blender and duct tape. Method:
Collect organic cow and horse manure. Collect rotted fruits and vegetables as well as their peelings and keep in the refrigerator in a sealed container until ready for use. Measure 500 ml of blended, decomposing fruits and vegetables and pour into a one liter bottle, then add 250 ml of corn. Measure 500 ml of cow manure and add to a labeled one liter bottle, then add 250 ml of corn. Measure 500 ml of horse manure and add to a labeled a one liter bottle, then add 250 ml of corn. Measure 250 ml of soil and 250 ml of decomposing fruits and vegetables and add to a labeled 1 liter bottle, then add 250 ml of corn. Measure 150 ml each of the decomposing fruits and vegetables, cow manure, horse manure, corn and soil. Then add them to a one liter bottle. Secure a large balloon to the opening of the bottle. Place bottles under the sun lamps. Observe and record data. Graph and analyze results. The students will then discuss the results and measure the amount of methane collected by using a measuring tape to measure the diameter of the balloons. The students will then discuss how the methane can be converted into gas used to heat infrastructures or fuel cars. Closure/ Assessment: The students will research an environmental issue related to biomass utilization and alternative fuel sources or environmental problems as a result of fossil fuel use. The students will present his or her information to the class in the form of a poster, model or diorama. Two class periods are needed for research and one class period for presentation (Science Buddies, Sciencebuddies.org.)
Lesson 3: What is a Community? Students explore the concept of community. The students learn that communities take many forms: communities that form in response to a need or common interest, their school community, family community and the community in which they live. Communities come in different configurations, such as rural, suburban and urban. The students take a field trip to a local community business district/downtown and learn about the four sectors: business, government, nonprofit and family. They pay particular attention to the nonprofit sector. They come to recognize that people in communities help each other in many ways. Objectives: The students will define community and neighborhood, respond to an example of a community in literature, recognize that communities form when people work together for a common purpose, list places that help or give service in the community, state why trust is important in a community, illustrate urban, suburban and rural areas and define each of the sectors: business, government, nonprofit and family. Materials: City Mouse & Country Mouse: A Classic Fairy Taleby Isabelle Chantellard, Chart Paper, markers, crayons
Procedure: Discuss that there are many different types of communities. List the words: urban, suburb and rural on chart paper. Instruct the students that these are the three different types of communities where people live and work. Define and discuss each type. Then initiate a collaborative discussion about different ways in which to describe each area such as through the various types of buildings, businesses, people, animals and landscape. Introduce the book, City Mouse, Country Mouse and tell the students to listen for descriptions of each of the areas. After reading the book, discuss how the mice feel about their communities. Ask the students; Which place is better to live in? Why do the mice disagree? Why do people choose to live in different areas? Lead the students to understand that one type of community isn't better than another, they're just different. People choose where they live based on their interests, abilities, needs and resources.
Next, divide the class into three groups and assign them an area: urban, suburban and rural. Each group needs to work cooperatively to illustrate their assigned area by drawing an outline of the assigned community. Students must include a scale and label each part of the area clearly. The students then must present their community and discuss why their assigned area is rural, urban or suburban. After the presentation, connect the three communities and discuss how the three communities depend on each other and enjoy the resources of the other communities. Closure: Teacher will observe student participation in discussions. The final mural project should reflect understanding of the characteristics of the different areas (Learning to Give, learnngtogive.org.)
Lesson 4: Making a Community Map: Using the learning from lesson three, understanding the different types of communities, students are now going look through a magnifying glass at creating not only an outline of the urban, suburban and rural areas, but more closely at an individual part of the community by creating a map. Objectives: The students will understand the five land use categories. The students will explore sample maps that outline a community, road maps and topographic maps and identify the land use categories. The students will discuss map features and the necessity of a legend. The students will design a community map. The students will create a legend to read the map. Materials: Collection of various maps, Overhead projector or Smart Board, Color coded photographs of the places that make up a community
Procedure/ Activities: The teacher will begin a whole class discussion on what maps are and how to read the legend using sample maps. The teacher will identify the five land use categories and discuss their importance to each community. 1) Residential: Places where people live (i.e., houses, apartments, university residences, townhouses, etc.)
2) Commercial: Places where people buy things (i.e., stores, restaurants, supermarkets,
hotels, malls, movie theatres, gas stations, etc.) 3) Industrial: Places where people work (i.e., factories, warehouses, electrical power plants, offices.) 4) Institutional: where community activities take place or community resources are stored (i.e., schools, libraries, parks, churches, temples, police stations, fire stations, sewage treatment plants, landfills, public works garage, bus stations, airports, etc.) 5) Open/ Public Space: Natural places like forests, trails, parks and recreation centers. The students will categorize, color coded photos of infrastructures involved in a community according to their land use. Discuss what a "community mix" is by comparing community planning with making cookies. Some questions to consider include: Is it better to have many land uses in an area, or just one? What kind of area would your students most like to live in — one with a mix of uses, or one that's less mixed? What are the benefits of community mix? What might be some of the drawbacks? Too much of any one ingredient makes cookies taste bad. Likewise, too much or too little of any one land use category makes a less attractive community mix. Split the class into groups of five or six and have them use the color coded infrastructures to design their community map with a legend. Closure: The students then present their map and discuss their reasons for creating it the way they did. The class then offers constructive comments (A Kids Guide to Building Great Communities, www.cip-icu.ca.)
Lesson 5: Community Clean Up: Based on the learning from lessons 1-4 students will apply what makes a community thrive by refurbishing one whose environmental impact is damaging. Objectives: Students will identify buildings, services and amenities people need and want in their towns and cities. Students will identify and define the five land use categories and the buildings that belong in each category. Students will identify challenges facing modern towns and cities such as pollution, waste disposal, transportation and housing. Students will compare and contrast utility choices and transportation. Students will develop a roughly scaled blue print/overview of zoning/placement of community resource centers/housing/retail. Students will produce a written summary analyzing their choices to clean up the community. Students will need to explain and defend their choices. Materials: Article on Grayville, Worksheet analyzing Grayville, Chart Paper and markers.
Procedure/Activities: Before a community can be designed, an assessment of the communal needs must be taken. Engage students in a discussion that involves the following teaching "Community assessment answers the basic questions: Who is in the community? Where do they live and work? Who will most directly be impacted by the revitalization project? What are the unique attributes of the community? What is the community's vision for revitalization? A community assessment is a study that requires data and can:define the community by gaining useful information on the current economic status, crime and census reports, educational systems, and existing stigmas. Identify stakeholders and local governmental leaders. Identify infrastructure and transportation issues. Identify community needs (e.g., open space, affordable housing, etc.)
Infrastructure Rubric
(Derived to match: http://www.cip-icu.ca/_CMS/Files/kidsguide.pdf)
Divide students into groups of six and distribute the 'Rebuilding Grayville' worksheet and newspaper article. Read the article with the students. Ask the students to highlight what makes living in Grayville difficult. The student's need to examine the challenges and discuss how they can help solve the problems Grayville is experiencing. Gather the students together after having read the article and ask them; What do you think we should do to solve Grayville's problems? What do you think real city planners do when they are trying to figure out the answers to their problems? What information do you think you will need to plan a community? Now that students know about the challenges many communities face, the students work collaboratively to create solutions to the challenges and write an article persuading local government to notice the challenges and accept your solution to the problem as you create a refurbished version of Grayville. Closure: Using the checklist, the Grayville article and the letter to local government, explain what makes the community "green" from a societal and environmental point of view.
Grayville Article: The town of Grayville was forced to use recreational canoes, fishing boats and other flotation devices in order to transport themselves to a safe area, while heavy rainfall continued to flood the nearby river over its banks. Most residents were relocated to a large city, named Grantsville, 50 miles from where most residents work. Long time residents are hopeful that the community can be rebuilt. Originally the community consisted mainly of a fishing community/industry. As years passed, coal burning power plants and other factories were built. A steady growth of strip malls, residential neighborhoods and large commercial centers developed in Grayville. This was less attractive to some, but others were happy that they didn't have to drive their kids to school without sidewalks and public transportation. Life that used to be spread out was now enclosed. Grayville was built in a low lying area, that was flooded in the past, but because of the new commercial developments in the adjacent wetlands, damaging floods were an increased risk. Residents are now faced with the task of rebuilding their beloved home.
Rebuilding Grayville Work Sheet: After reading the article about Grayville, discuss its challenges in the chart below. Challenges may include something that may not work well in Grayville, something that may be missing, or a way that Grayville is not sustainable.
Closure: Gather the students together to discuss the challenges of living in Grayville and the components of the built environment that affect the everyday lives of the residents. Collaboratively decide which possible solutions would have the greatest overall impact (Cruickshank, Marilyn. Green Community. Pgs 44-45.)
