NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS CURRICULUM SUPPORT
Managing Environmental
Resources
Unit 1: Environmental issues
Support sheets
[INTERMEDIATE 1]
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Acknowledgement
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© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
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UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
Contents
Student support sheet 1: Features of the environment
Teacher support sheet 1: Features of the environment
4
5
Student support sheet 2A: Types of environment
Student support sheet 2B: Types of environment – diagrams
Teacher support sheet 2A: Types of environment
6
7
8
Student support sheet 3A: Critical-thinking exercise
Student support sheet 3B: Critical-thinking exercise
Student support sheet 3C: Critical-thinking exercise
11
13
15
Student support sheet 4: Pollution information sheet
17
Student support sheet 5: Pollution – problems and solutions
18
Student support sheet 6: The big issues cards
20
Student support sheet 7: Problems for the future
23
Student support sheet 8A: Assessment exercise
Student support sheet 8B: Summary table for students
Student support sheet 8C: Summary table for teachers
24
25
26
Support sheets on greenhouse gases/greenhouse effect
27
See also
Photo-shots on types of environment
Energy photo-shots
Mini PowerPoint support on greenhouse gases
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
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SUPPORT SHEETS
Support sheets
Student support sheet 1: Features of the environment
Landscapes
Habitats
Examples:
Examples:
1. ___________________________
1. ___________________________
2. ___________________________
2. ___________________________
Plants
Animals
Examples:
Examples:
The environment
1. ________________
1. ________________
Examples:
2. ________________
2. ________________
1. ____________________
3. ________________
3. ________________
2. ____________________
4. ________________
4. ________________
5. ________________
5. ________________
People
1. _______________________
2. ___________________________
3. _______________________
4. ___________________________
Non-living parts of the environment
1. ___________________
2. ___________________
3. ___________________
Note: Within the environment, all parts interact – living with non-living.
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UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SUPPORT SHEETS
Teacher support sheet 1: Features of the environment
Landscapes
Habitats
Examples:
Examples:
Rural and urban.
Woodland, hedgerow, stream, pond, tree,
soil, garden wall, rock pool.
Animals
Plants
Examples:
Examples:
The environment
Grass, trees/named
tree/ferns, moss
algae/seaweed,
dandelion, daisy,
buttercup, clover,
self-heal, docken,
heather, thistle, nettle,
plantain, bluebell, etc.
Examples:
The school grounds at …
Cairngorm National Park
Mammals, birds,
reptiles, amphibians
and fish or named
examples and
including
domesticated animals.
Invertebrate groups –
snails, earthworms,
sea anemones or
named examples.
People
Farmer, factory worker, sales person, park ranger, taxi driver, teacher, office
worker, traffic warden, etc.
Non-living parts of the environment
Water, air, land, buildings, climate.
Note: Within the environment, all parts interact – living with non-living.
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
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SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 2A: Types of environment
Information
Three types of environment exist in Scotland today. They are:
natural environments, eg the sea, the seashore, estuaries, rivers, lochs
semi-natural environments, eg parks, woodland, man-made lochs or
ponds
built environments, eg town, city, road or motorway, railway, play
area, car park.
Which type of environment?
What to do:
1.
Work as a pair/group/class.
2.
Look at each diagram in turn.
3.
From each diagram name one/two examples of each type of
environment.
The three types of environment are: natural, semi-natural and
built.
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UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 2B: Types of environment –
diagrams
Diagram source: SQA Past Papers MER Intermediate 1 – Specimen
Paper, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008.
Estuary
Key
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
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SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 2B: Types of environment –
diagrams (cont.)
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UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 2B: Types of environment –
diagrams (cont.)
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
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SUPPORT SHEETS
Teacher support sheet 2A: Types of environment
Natural
environment
River
Estuary
Semi-natural
environment
Moorland
Fish farm
B
Stream
Farmland
Plantation
SSSI
C
River
Sea Loch
Fish farm
D
Loch
Woodland
E
Loch
River
Sea
Sea shore
Cliffs
F
Stream
Woodland
Coniferous
plantation
Fish farm
Moor
Farmland
Native
woodland
garden
Diagram
A
Built
environment
Town
Chemical
factory
Sewage works
Car park
Road
Rifle range
Café
Information
centre
Village
Fish processing
plant
Roads
pier
Visitors centre
Watersport
centre
Car park
Road
Caravan park
Farm
Golf course
Greenhouses
Visitors centre
Footpath
Bridge
Any garden
Car park
Please note that there may be justification for alternative categories, for
example, for the fish farm or SSSI.
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UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 3A: Critical-thinking exercise
Investigation report 1
Introduction
We decided to carry out an investigation into the traffic on the road
next to our school. Traffic produces a lot of pollution, especially from
the exhausts. Pollution from exhausts can cause damage to roadside
plants and stop them from carrying out photosynthesis so that they die.
Pollution from exhausts can also get into your lungs and give you
asthma. Exhaust fumes can make acid rain when they dissolve in water
and this damages trees and wildlife. The more traffic the more fumes so
we decided to survey the traffic.
Aim
We set out to do a traffic survey on the road outside the school so that
we could get some idea of how much pollution we would be getting
from the exhausts.
Equipment
A clipboard and pencil.
A survey sheet.
Method
We worked together as a group. There were four of us and two of the
group designed a survey sheet. We went out onto the road with a
clipboard, pencil and survey sheet.
One pair did the traffic on one side of the road, the other pair did the
opposite side.
We surveyed the traffic for 30 minutes on either side of the road. We
repeated this survey for the same amount of time each time we came to
class during one week. This way we could get an average.
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
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SUPPORT SHEETS
Results
Number of vehicles
Type of
traffic
1st survey
2nd survey
3rd survey
Average
Lorry
3
9
9
7
Car
66
74
73
71
Van
14
16
18
16
Motorbike
1
1
1
1
Bus
3
5
4
4
Other, eg
cycle
1
1
1
1
We put our results on the survey sheet and then drew a bar chart using
the percentage results.
Conclusion
Our results showed that there was a lot of traffic on the road outside our
school. Over 70% of it was cars but there were 16% vans and 7%
lorries. The lorries gave off the most fumes from their exhausts,
especially at the roundabout. We concluded that there must be a lot of
pollution produced on the road outside of our school each day and this
must be causing damage to the environment.
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UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 3B: Critical-thinking exercise
Investigation report 2
Introduction
We wanted to do an investigation on traffic outside our school. Traffic
produces pollution, which makes the air smelly and poisons things,
especially plants and stops them photosynthesising and they die. Some
people get asthma from exhaust fumes. Another problem is acid rain.
Lots of traffic means more fumes so we decided to do a survey.
Aim
We set out to do a survey on the road outside the school so that we
could measure the pollution from the exhausts.
Equipment
Clipboard, pencil, survey sheet.
Method
I worked with James and everyone had a partner. We did the opposite
side of the road to Kate and Caroline. The teacher gave us a survey
sheet that had been made up to fill in. We did the survey of traffic for
30 minutes and put the answers as a tally on the sheet. We did it again
to repeat it next lesson, and again on Friday. The class all put in their
results and we got an average. There was a lot of traffic outside our
school.
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
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SUPPORT SHEETS
Results
Number of vehicles
Type of
traffic
1st survey
2nd survey
3rd survey
Average
Lorry
3
9
9
7
Car
66
74
73
71
Van
14
16
18
16
Motorbike
1
1
1
1
Bus
3
5
4
4
Other, eg
cycle
1
1
1
1
We drew a bar graph of our results.
Conclusion
I knew there was a lot of pollution because our results showed that
there was a lot of traffic on the road outside our school. There were
70% cars, 16% vans and 7% lorries. I think lorries caused most
pollution because they are so big. If I was making things better for the
environment I would stop lorries going by our school, otherwise we
might all get asthma.
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UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 3C: Critical-thinking exercise
Questions for the discussion
What makes a good practical investigation?
You will need a chairperson to guide you through this exercise and a
reporter to takes notes of the opinions reached by your group.
Each person in the group must give an opinion. A consensus should be
reached and noted by the reporter.
Each group will feedback their responses to the class.
Use the questions below to guide your discussion on the report
provided.
1.
Has the report got a suitable title?
2.
Is the aim of the investigation expressed clearly so that the reader
knows what is being investigated?
3.
Is a full list of equipment given or have items been missed?
4.
Does the method give a step by step account of how the
investigators proceeded?
5.
Does it make a difference if the words he/she/I/we/the group are
used?
6.
Are the variables in the investigation identified in the method?
7.
Are there clear indications that all of the variables that could be
controlled were controlled?
8.
Is there an indication that the investigation was repeated, that
results were shared and averages calculated?
9.
Is there a table showing all of the results?
10.
Have the results been used to produce a line graph/bar chart/pie
chart?
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
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SUPPORT SHEETS
11.
Is the conclusion based on the information gained from the
results?
12.
Does the conclusion relate directly to the aim of the investigation?
Suggest three pieces of advice that you would give to each student to
improve their report.
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UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 4: Pollution information
Pollution affects many parts of our environment – the air, water, land
and landscapes, animals and plants as well as humans.
There are four main sources of pollution. These are:




transport
industry
agriculture
the home/domestic waste.
There are many different examples of pollutants. These include:
 fumes/gases/emissions such as methane, carbon dioxide and sulphur
dioxide
 chemicals such as mercury, chlorofluorocarbons
 radioactive waste
 fertilisers and pesticides
 organic waste such as raw sewage
 litter
 oil
 heavy metals such as lead
 noise
 scenic/visual pollution.
Humans are responsible for dealing with pollution problems. There are
many different solutions. Here are some important examples:





have catalytic converters on cars
reduce car use and use public transport
use legislation to control pollution levels
home composting of organic waste;.
reduce, re-use, recycle.
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
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SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 5: Pollution – problems and
solutions
The following could be used as a mix-and-match card game or be
incorporated into a PowerPoint with visual examples.
Pollution
problem
Transport:
exhaust fumes,
aircraft engines
Industry:
emissions and
waste from
chemical
industries,
oil/gas power
stations, paper
mills, factories
Nuclear power
stations
18
Part of the
environment
affected
Air
Plants
Humans
Water
Air
Water
Land
Water
Air
Land
Examples of
pollutants
 Sulphur dioxide
 Carbon
monoxide
 Lead
 Exhaust
particles
 Noise
 Poisonous
fumes
 Carbon
monoxide
 Sulphur dioxide
 Chemical
waste, eg
mercury
 Organic waste,
eg paper fibres
 Radioactive
waste
 Heat
 Radioactive
waste
 Radioactive
dust particles
 Hot water
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
Pollution solutions
 Fitting catalytic
converters
 Use low
sulphur/unleaded
petrol
 More efficient car
engines
 Reduce car use
 Use public transport
more
 Use scrubbers to
clean up fumes
 Filter chemical waste
 Safe storage for
radioactive waste
 Cool water before
disposal
 Seal in lead
containers
 Specially protected
dumping sites
 Use alternative
resources
SUPPORT SHEETS
Homes:
Water
Land
domestic waste
Agriculture:
Water
Land
chemicals and
waste
Shipping
Oil tankers
Tourist
boats/ferries
Sea water
Seashore
Estuaries
 Raw sewage
 Litter
 Bottles and
cans
 Organic waste,
eg waste food
 Old cars,
mobiles,
computers
 Excess
fertilisers
 Pesticides
 Organic waste,
eg slurry,
manure
 Methane from
cattle
 Plastic from
polytunnels
 Oil
 Litter






Treat sewage
Recycle litter
Use bottle banks
Recycle cans
Compost waste food
Adapt and re-use
 Reduce use of
fertilisers to the
minimum
 Use natural predators
to control pests
 Use genetically
modified crops with
disease resistance
 Put manure/slurry
below ground
 Treatment for oil
spills
 Sinking and burning
 Safer ships
 Laws
Look at pictures/slides showing examples of pollution problems , eg
sourced from the internet or textbooks such as Standard Grade Biology,
James Torrance (Hodder & Stoughton IBSN 0-340-78957-3).
Describe the pollution problems shown and suggest what can be done
about them.
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
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SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 6: The big issues cards
CARD 1
CARD 2
ACID RAIN
PARTS OF THE UK
RESPONSIBLE FOR
WILL BE SUBMERGED
DESTROYING
PERMANENTLY BY
LARGE AREAS OF
RISING SEA LEVELS
FOREST
BY 2050
CARD 3
POLAR BEARS
FACE EXTINCTION
AS ARCTIC ICE
MELTS
CARD 4
BIODIVESITY IN THE
NORTH SEA
CHANGES AS SEA
TEMPERATURES
RISE
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UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 6: The big issues cards (cont.)
CARD 5
CARD 6
ACIDITY OF
OZONE DEPLETION
SCOTTISH LOCHS
BLAMED FOR
INCREASES DUE TO
INCREASE IN SKIN
ACID RAIN
CANCER
CARD 8
CARD 7
WIND FARMS FOR
SCOTLAND’S
BEACHES STILL NOT
SCOTLAND.
CLEAN ENOUGH TO
SAY ‘NO’
TO NUCLEAR POWER
MEET EUROPEAN
STANDARDS
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
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SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 6: The big issues cards (cont)
CARD 9
SCOTS MUST
INCREASE
THEIR EFFORTS TO
MEET RECYCLING
CARD 10
REGULATION BY
SEPA RESULTS IN
FEWER POLLUTION
INCIDENTS
TARGETS
For your own use
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UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
For your own use
SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 7: Problems for the future
The diagram below summarises the problems for future generations.
Each problem may have devastating consequences for the future.
PROBLEM 1
PROBLEM 2
ACID RAIN
GLOBAL WARMING
PLANET
EARTH
PROBLEM 3
OZONE
DEPLETION
PROBLEM 4
PROBLEM 5
USING UP THE
EARTH’S
RESOURCES
POLLUTION
Match up each problem with the possible consequences.
Acid rain
affects all our environments, causes all the
problems above.
Global warming
leaves nothing for future generations, may
cause many problems for the future.
Ozone depletion
destroys habitats, causes death of wildlife.
Pollution
changes the climate, results in rising sea
levels.
Using the earth’s
resources
increases levels of UV radiation reaching
Earth, increase in skin cancer cases as a
result.
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
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SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 8A: Assessment exercise
Assessment exercise on initiatives, organisations and legislatio n
Complete the summary table using the list below.
List of initiatives, organisations and legislation
Fishing Quota
TPO
Countryside rangers
Local Agenda 21
WWF
Litter byelaw
Millennium Forest for Scotland
RSPB
Earth Summit (Rio, 1992)
Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981)
Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP)
Agenda 21
Community Woodland Trust
Bottle bank
Can bank
Composting scheme
National Biodiversity Action plan (BAP)
Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA)
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UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SEPA
SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 8B: Summary table for students
International
National
Local
Organisation
Legislation
Initiative
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
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SUPPORT SHEETS
Student support sheet 8C: Summary table for teachers
International
Organisation WWF
National
Local
RSPB
Countryside
rangers
SEPA
Community
Woodland Trust
Legislation
Fishing quotas
Wildlife and
Countryside Act
(1981)
TPO
Litter byelaw
Conservation
(Scotland) Act,
2004
Initiative
Earth Summit
(Rio, 1992)
Agenda 21
26
Millennium Forest Local Agenda
for Scotland
21 – bottle bank
can bank
Environmentally
composting
sensitive area
scheme
(ESA)
Local
National
biodiversity
biodiversity
action plan
action plan (BAP) (LBAP)
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SUPPORT SHEETS
Support sheets on greenhouse gases/greenhouse effect
Can be presented as a PowerPoint presentation and/or photocopied for students to create poster and/or used as a
formative assessment tool.
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
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SUPPORT SHEETS
Greenhouse gases and global warming
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UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SUPPORT SHEETS
Greenhouse gases include:
carbon dioxide
sulphur dioxide
nitrogen oxide
methane
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
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SUPPORT SHEETS
Power stations produce
greenhouse gases
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UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SUPPORT SHEETS
Greenhouse gases
help to trap
heat in the
Earth’s atmosphere
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
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SUPPORT SHEETS
As more heat is trapped the
Earth gets warmer
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UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SUPPORT SHEETS
This is
called
global
warming
UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (INT 1, MER)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
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