Environmental Science Name: ______________________________
Air
“I thought I saw a blue jay this morning. But the smog was so bad that it turned out to be a cardinal holding its breath.”
Michael J Cohen
Section Goal : The student will name five primary air pollutants and give sources for each, name the two major sources of air pollution in urban areas.
Vocabulary :
1.
air pollution
2.
primary pollutant
3.
secondary pollutant
Notes: Chapter 6.1: What Causes Air Pollution
•
In ______________________, children rarely use the color ____________ to make paintings of the sky; it is known as one of the most __________________________ cities in the world for children because the air is so polluted (nearly ________ million people live there)
•
Clean air consists mostly of _______________ and __________________________ gases, along with small amounts of CO
2
and water vapor
•
Some areas, like Mexico City, get so polluted they tell kids to stay home from school; people who go
_______________________must wear dust masks
• When unhealthy substances are in the ____________ it is called air pollution; most air pollution is a result of ___________________ activities; however, some air pollution comes from natural sources (ex: volcano will spew clouds of particles and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere); other ________________ pollutants are dust, pollen, spores
The History of Air Pollution

Air pollution is nothing __________; burning fuels put pollutants into the air (ex: Rome, 2000 years ago, philosophers complained of the foul air; England (circa: 1273) banned burning a particular coal)

Air quality is much ___________ today because modern industrial societies burn large quantities of
___________________ fuels (urban areas are from motor vehicles and industry)
Primary and Secondary Pollutants
• Primary pollutant is a pollutant that is put directly into the air by human ____________________ (ex: soot from smoke)
•
Secondary pollutants are formed when a _____________________ pollutant comes into contact with other primary pollutants, or with naturally occurring substances like water vapor and a chemical reaction takes place (ex: ground-level ________________ forms when the emissions from cars, trucks and natural sources react with the ultraviolet rays of the sun and then ___________ with the oxygen in the atmosphere)
Sources of Primary Air Pollutants

Household products, power plants and motor vehicles are sources of ________________________ air pollutants (carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and chemicals called volatile organic compounds (____________).

_______________ of pollutants: ___________________: carbon monoxide (important component of the exhaust), nitrogen oxide and VOCs; ___________-burning power plants: nitrogen oxide; Coal and

Oil burning, power plants, ________________________, metal smelters: sulfur dioxide

________________________ matter also pollutes the air; divided into ______________ particles (enter from fuel burned by vehicles and coal-burning power plants) and ____________________ particles
(cement plants, mining operations, incinerators, wood-burning fireplaces, fields and roads)
Industrial Air Pollution
• Many industries and power plants _____________________ electricity by burning fossil fuels
•
Burning fossil fuels cause large quantities of oxides to be released into the __________; electric power plants produce at least 2/3 of all sulfur dioxide, 1/3 of all nitrogen oxides, and ½ of the particulates
• VOCs (volatile organic compounds) form _______________ fumes; petroleum refineries put VOCs into the air when converting crude oil into refined fuel (ex: gasoline); auto and airplane manufacturing release VOCs which ________________________ (ex: from spray painting parts)
Regulating Air Pollution From Industry
•
Clean Air Act requires ________________________ to use scrubbers or other pollution control devices
•
Scrubbers remove _______________ of the more noxious substances; gases are moved through a spray of water that _______________________ many pollutants
•
Electrostatic precipitators (used in cement factories and coal burning power plants) remove particulates from smokestacks; ____________ million tons of ash are removed every year in the US by these electrostatic precipitators
Lesson Reflection:
Complete the handout labeled, Primary Air Pollutants (pg. 152). List the 5 pollutants, give a description for each, state the primary sources of each and then explain the effects of each pollutant.
Assessment:
1.
Name the two major sources of air pollution in urban areas.
Active Reading: What Causes Air Pollution?
Lesson extension (Technology/Application/Connection to real-world):
Smoking: Are you concerned about the effects of smoking