Pollution WebQuest
Introduction:
Pollution may be defined as the introduction of impurities into an ecosystem that cause
undesirable changes. Do you produce pollution? Does pollution produced by others affect your
daily life? Does pollution cost you any money?
One of the "laws" of ecology says that "everything must go somewhere". No technology exists
that causes trash to disappear when we flush it or throw it away. It may be out of sight, but it
went "somewhere".
The major sources of environmental impurities are domestic, agricultural, and industrial. Each
of these produces a variety of different pollutants. Some pollutants are biodegradable, subject to
decay by microorganisms. These pollutants are usually considered a "short-term" problem
because they are eventually "recycled" by nature. Other pollutants are non-biodegradable,
cannot be decomposed by microorganisms. These pollutants are a "long-term" problem,
remaining in the environment essentially forever.
Links to websites that will help to find the required information can be found at:
http://crescentok.com/staff/jaskew/isr/webquest/questpollute.htm
Directions:
Each person in your group will choose a topic and complete the questions for that topic. Once
you have completed your topic you must write a paragraph or more summarizing the information
you found and giving suggestions on how to solve the problems presented.
As a group, once all of the members have completed their individual parts you must compile
everything into a complete and cohesive presentation before turning it in.
Task 1: Air Pollution
The atmosphere is a complex, dynamic and fragile system. Concern is growing about the effects
of air pollutant emissions in a global context, and the inter-linkage of these emissions with global
warming, climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion.
1. Define Air pollution.
2. Define a Primary Air Pollutant.
3. Define a Secondary Air Pollutant.
4. Worldwide, how many people are estimated to die each year due to air pollution?
5. How many casualties occurred in the worst single incident of air pollution to occur in the
U.S.?
6. What name is used to indicate all sources of pollution caused by "human activity"?
7. All contaminants of the air can be divided into two groups. What are they?
8. What do the letters TSP stand for?
9. Both the PM10 and PM2.5 units refer to what characteristic of atmospheric particles?
10. What group of air pollutant gases destroys the stratospheric ozone layer?
11. What group of air pollutant gases causes acid rain?
12. Two pollutants sometimes found in shower water mist are damaging to inhale. What are
they?
13. How many lung cancer deaths are estimated annually in the U.S. by second-hand tobacco
smoke?
Task 2: Water Pollution
Water pollution has many sources and characteristics. Humans and other organisms produce
bodily wastes which enter surface waters like rivers, lakes, and oceans. Industries discharge a
variety of compounds such as heavy metals, and wastewater. Silt-bearing runoff from
construction sites and farms can inhibit the penetration of sunlight through the water, hampering
photosynthesis.
Groundwater pollution is much more difficult to clean up than surface pollution because
groundwater can move hundreds of miles through unseen aquifers. Porous, fine-grained layers
such as sands and sandstones naturally purify water by simple filtration. Groundwater that moves
through cracks and caverns is not filtered and can be polluted just as easily as surface water.
Part A:
1. What are the two products of sewage treatment?
2. What is removed during "primary" wastewater treatment? What is removed during
"secondary" wastewater treatment? What is the purpose of "tertiary" wastewater
treatment?
3. What machine is used for primary sewage treatment?
4. Secondary treatment in most municipal sewage plants involves an aerobic process. What
two things does the biota require?
5. Several processes can be used for tertiary treatment. When does disinfection occur?
Part B:
1. What two contaminants are usually found in the water used to cool blast furnaces?
2. What two acids are commonly used in the iron and steel industry?
3. What are the principal waste-waters associated with mines and quarries?
4. What is required for the processing of food from raw materials?
5. Toxic metals can often be precipitated out of waste water by changing what?
Part C:
1. Where is a common place where the agricultural waste is in the form of a liquid slurry?
2. Why does disposal of wastewater containing animal waste upstream of a drinking water
intake possibly pose serious health problems?
3. What is "silage" made up of? What is "silage" made from?
4. Why does animal "dipping" cause a major pesticide runoff problem?
5. What pollutants are found in milking parlour wash-down water?
Task 3: Radioactive Contamination
Radioactive contamination is the uncontrolled distribution of radioactive material in a given
environment. Radioactivity is produced by "high energy" particles and waves. These high
energy substances can harm tissue and are dangerous to all living things. Even exposure to low
levels of radiation is harmful over a period of time. Disposal of radioactive waste products poses
a major environmental problem because they remain radioactive for a very long period of time.
1. How does radioactive contamination typically occur?
2. What is nuclear fallout?
3. What are the SI units for surface radioactivity?
4. All living things on earth contain significant quantities of what two radioactive isotopes?
5. What body organ is most likely harmed by exposure to radioactive iodine?
6. What are the four ways radioactive contamination can enter the body?
7. Given alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and epsilon radiation - which of these is NOT composed
of some type of particle?
8. What causes gravitational radiation?
9. What country had the world's first nuclear power plant that generated electricity for
commercial use?
10. Fission reactors generate heat by nuclear fission of isotopes of what two elements?
11. Two types of light water thermal reactors are BWR and PWR. What do these letters stand
for?
Task 4: Noise Pollution
Noise pollution is unwanted man-made sound that penetrates the environment. Noise pollution
can be caused by many sources including highways, vehicles, police cars, ambulances, factories,
concerts, music, air-conditioners, engines, machine, aircraft, helicopters, alarms, public address
systems, industrial development and construction work. In general, noise pollution refers to any
noise irritating to one's ear which comes from an external source. The word "noise" comes the
Latin word "nausea" meaning seasickness.
1. How does military SONAR kill marine mammals?
2. What is infrasonic sound?
3. What type of noise pollution escalated rapidly in the late 1990s?
4. What authorities are usually responsible for protecting against noise?
5. What percentage of people bothered by noise will file an official complaint?
Task 5: Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an agency of the United States federal
government charged with protecting human health and with safeguarding the natural
environment: air, water, and land. The EPA began operation on December 2, 1970. It is led by its
Administrator, who is appointed by the President of the United States. The EPA is not a Cabinet
agency, but the Administrator is normally given cabinet rank.
1. What do the letters FIFRA stand for?
2. EPA tests for automobile fuel economy do not measure actual fuel consumption. What do
they measure?
3. What type of vehicles has the most significant differences between the EPA mileage
rating and actual mileage?
4. In what year was the "Scenic Rivers Preservation Act" passed?
5. Which EPA region includes Oklahoma?
Task 6: Global Warming
Global warming describes an increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere
and oceans. The term is also used to describe the theory that increasing temperatures are the
result of a strengthening greenhouse effect caused primarily by man-made increases in carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
1. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), most of the
warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to what?
2. Over the past century, global (land and sea) temperature has increased by how much?
3. How long has it taken for atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide to increase by 31%?
4. Some think that even if levels of greenhouse gases were to remain constant, the global
climate will warm by 0.5 oC to 1.0 oC. What would cause this?
5. There is a natural greenhouse effect without which the Earth would be uninhabitable.
How much lower would Earth's temperature be with this natural effect?
6. How many billions of tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are added to the
Earth's atmosphere each year by burning fossil fuels?
7. How many millions of tons of methane are added to the Earth's atmosphere by human
sources?
8. Some researchers have proposed that changes in the Sun, along with feedbacks from
clouds and other processes, contribute to global warming. What is the name of this
theory?
9. What must a computer climate model do before it is accepted by the scientific community
as being valid?
10. The amount of predicted global warming varies from one computer climate model to
another. What probably causes this?
11. Most computer climate models are limited by available computational power. Why is so
much computing power needed?
12. What potent greenhouse gas is trapped in large quantities in the permafrost of the tundra?
13. Global warming from CO2 radiative forcing is expected to cool the stratosphere. What
effect will this have on ozone depletion?
14. Some scientists seem to have observed a reduction in the amount of sunlight reaching the
surface of the planet, possibly due to aerosols. What is this phenomenon called?
15. The primary effect of global warming is increasing carbon dioxide and increasing global
average temperature. List four secondary effects of global warming.
16. What eight countries would be most affected by sea level rise from global warming?
Task 7: Greenpeace International
Greenpeace is an international environmental organization based in Amsterdam, with national
and regional offices in 41 countries. The global organization receives its income through the
individual contributions of an estimated 2.8 million financial supporters, as well as from grants
from charitable foundations.
Greenpeace's official mission statement describes the organization and its aims as follows:
Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organization which uses non-violent, creative
confrontation to expose global environmental problems, and to force solutions for a green and
peaceful future. Greenpeace's goal is to ensure the ability of the earth to nurture life in all its
diversity.
1. What is the name of the "Committee" from which Greenpeace was formed?
2. Greenpeace International was formed on what date?
3. To ensure its independence and impartiality, Greenpeace does not accept money from
what two sources?
4. What is the Rainbow Warrior?
5. What are the two main environmental issues Greenpeace focuses on today?
6. Who was killed when the French government used frogmen to attach two bombs to the
Rainbow Warrior and sink her?
7. What brand product of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation does Greenpeace charge is
leading to the destruction of ancient boreal forests in Canada?
8. Because of their door-to-door fund-raising, Paul Watson, a vocal critic, once called
Greenpeace what?
9. Greenpeace activists were arrested and charged with "sailormongering" while protesting
U.S. importation of Brazilian mahogany. What is "sailormongering"?