Running head: CASE STUDY FOR PESTICIDES
Case Study for Pesticides
Elizabeth Lee
Middle Georgia State College
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Running head: CASE STUDY FOR PESTICIDES
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As we live our daily lives we don’t realize how much contact we have with what
is known as pesticides. A pesticide is defined by Miller (2005) as being, “any substance
or mixture of substance intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any
pests” (p. 64). I have based my case study on the article Pesticides, people, and the
environment: a complex relationship because I was interested in learning more about
pesticides after Sarah’s presentation. This article discusses more about household
pesticides, why we use these pesticides in our daily lives, how these pesticides work, and
gives insight on how children may be exposed to pesticides more than adults.
After Miller defined what a pesticide is it made me realize that a pesticide isn’t
just DDT or any other substance sprayed on a farm. It actually includes many of our
household products that we use every day from bleaching clothes to spraying insects in
our own back yard. This enlightened me to explore our cabinets and I counted over
twenty-five pesticides in our house not even including what is in the garage.
So, why do we use these pesticides in our daily lives? It is simple we use them to
protect ourselves from getting bit by an ant or mosquito or any other pest that we believe
will harm us. Individuals may also use pesticides to control nuisances such as nonbiting
insects in their home, or for cosmetic reasons, to control weeds or other unwanted pests
in their lawns and gardens (Miller, 2005, p. 64). Whatever the reasons are for using
pesticides in our daily lives we as a society need to understand how these pesticides
work. It is important to understand how they work so that we also see the problems they
can pose for the environment and humans.
Pesticides essentially interfere with pest organisms’ metabolism or normal
behavior. It is important to note that some pesticides are not lethal to the target pest but
Running head: CASE STUDY FOR PESTICIDES
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yet can have significant effects on non-target organisms. This basically means that a
pesticide may help a tree or crops grow even if it was sprayed directly on it, but can harm
us as humans if it enters our body through lungs, digestive system, or skin. Another
important thing about pesticides is that health effects aren’t always immediate but can
come several months even years later. As Sarah talked about in her presentation the
movement of pesticides can be described through bioaccumulation, bioconcentration, and
biomagnifications. These concepts help understand how a pesticide can spread and how
they work within an organism.
Understanding how they work gives us insight on how children may be exposed
to it more than us as adults. Miller states (2005), “children’s typical diets include a
disproportionate amount of single foods, if a child is ingesting a food that has pesticide
residue, he or she may be consuming a much higher percentage of pesticide residue than
an adult with a more varied diet” (p.66). Not only may they consume more pesticides
than us as adults due to our diets but they are also more likely to play in grass or fields
that may have pesticides on them. It is not always important to just look outside the home
but remember all those pesticides in the home as well. It is advised that parents should
keep those pesticides out of reach of children inside the home.
This material can help enhance the science behind what pesticides are, how they
are helpful, how they are harmful, and how they work. This topic will encourage students
to think before they act with pesticides because they will better understand how they
work. Exploring pesticides with middle grades students will encourage them to be
thoughtful and mindful of what they do. I also believe it will give them insight on how it
effects more than just what its main purpose was.
Running head: CASE STUDY FOR PESTICIDES
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In order to enhance engagement within my classroom I would have two activities
set up after reading this article and discussing it with the students. My first activity would
be to have my students go home and write down all the pesticides that they can find in
their house so that we can come back the next day and see what all common pesticides
most people have in their home. I would have them write down the benefits of those
pesticides and then the cons on the pesticides if an animal or child got a hold of them.
After this activity was completed we would take it from an application level on Bloom’s
Taxonomy to an evaluation level. I would do this by probing the class with an
interdisciplinary project between science and social studies. I would give them a major
disease in a different country and they would have to research and come up with how
they can stop it from spreading with prevent chemical agents.
Running head: CASE STUDY FOR PESTICIDES
Resources
Miller, R. (2005, October 1). Pesticides, people, and the environment: A complex
relationship. Science Scope, 64-68.
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