Environmental
Science Unit
Pflex 2011-2012
Action to Oil
Spills
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Background
• An oil spill is an accidental release of
liquid petroleum hydrocarbons
(usually during transportation of oil)
into the environment. Oil spills usually
refer to the release of oils into water,
but of course an oil spill can take place
on land as well. While spills can take
place quickly, as when a ship sinks, or
a leak occurs in a pipeline, the cleanup
can be a long term project. And, the
longer the oil sits in the water, the
greater the impact on the
environment.
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Guiding Questions
• What are some human-caused
devastation to the environment?
• How are those accidents fixed?
How long do you think the
environment takes to repair?
• How do we make the best
judgment for containing and/ or
cleaning an area that is
contaminated?
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Task
•
Work with your team to design a system to clean-up
after an oil spill!
– develop a two tiered plan: first, to contain the oil
and second, to remove it.
– select any item or combination of items that have
been provided as your tools.
– describe your plan in writing and with an
illustration. You will present your plan to the class.
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After all adjustments have been made, your team
will execute the clean-up system step-by-step as
described in your plan.
Finally, your team will complete an
evaluation/reflection worksheet, and present your
findings to the class.
Disease
Detectives
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Background
Infectious diseases are caused by microbes that
spread. The reason for most sick days for both kids
and teachers is an infectious disease. There are
many, from the common cold, ear infections,
tonsillitis, and the flu (influenza) to pneumonia
and mononucleosis. Infectious diseases are caused
by microbes—organisms too small to be visible to
the naked eye. The most common infectious
disease-causing microbes are bacteria, viruses,
fungi, and protozoa (a type of parasite). The
diseases may be passed from person to person (for
example, if someone coughs or sneezes on another
person). Sometimes, the disease is passed through
another medium, for example, by drinking water
or eating food infected with bacteria.
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Guiding Questions
• What is epidemiology?
• What is your experience with
infectious diseases?
• How are infectious diseases connected
to our environment?
• How do infectious diseases impact
society?
• In what ways can public health
information be important to society?
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Task
• Your task as a disease detective:
– Investigate diseases in your family
– Become familiar with the
Epidemiological Triangle to help you
analyze diseases
– Research an agent, host and
environment
– Present your findings and discuss with
your fellow detectives
Climate Change =
Animal Adaptation
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Background
• Numerous studies on animal
adaptation have been carried out
since before Darwin and the
finches in the Galapagos Islands.
Although Darwin was hoping to
prove his theory of survival of the
fittest, most scientists have
focused on how different species
adapt or mutate based on the
needs of their environment.
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Guiding Questions
• What is adaptation?
• What are some examples of
adapting?
• Does a change in climate result
in adaptations for other forms of
life? How? Why?
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Task
• Why are beaks shaped
differently?
• What is adaptation and how
does it apply to bird beaks?
Then…
• Simulate how different
beaks work and collect data
about their success
• Discuss your beliefs about
Darwin’s theories
Give the
Endangered
Species a Voice
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Background
• The 21st century offers many avenues
to create a “voice” about subjects we
are passionate about. Endangered
species is something that is in a
constant state of emergency and in
need of solutions and support. With
the internet full of information, how
do we create a website that is enticing
to viewers and speaks to our cause?
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Guiding Questions
• What is an endangered specie?
• How does a specie become
endangered? How could the problems
of a specie become part of the
solution?
• What makes you interested in a
particular subject, toy, game, animal,
etc? In what ways can we make an
audience interested in a subject? How
can we utilize that on a webpage?
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Task
• Analyze ThinkQuest’s Mission:
Endangered Species website
– Discuss what you found, what
worked, how the material was
presented
• Choose an endangered species.
• Plan a website to advocate for the
species using a story board.
• If time allows, produce your
website
I Can’t Breathe!
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Background
• Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals,
particulate matter, or biological materials
that cause harm or discomfort to humans or
other living organisms, or cause damage to
the natural environment or built
environment, into the atmosphere. The
atmosphere is a complex dynamic natural
gaseous system that is essential to support life
on planet Earth. Stratospheric ozone
depletion due to air pollution has long been
recognized as a threat to human health as
well as to the Earth's ecosystems. Indoor air
pollution and urban air quality are listed as
two of the world's worst pollution problems.
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Guiding Questions
• What is air pollution?
• How do you feel about it?
• Does air pollution affect your health or
the way you feel?
• Are there diseases that are caused by
air pollution?
• What are some causes or sources of air
pollution?
• What is the AQI and why is it
important?
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Task
• What are some causes or
sources of air pollution?
• What do you think the Air
Quality Index used for?
• Visit Smog City to learn
more about AQI.
• Research AQI in your
area and inform others
using one of the project
choices.
Healthy Soil,
Healthy Land
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Background
Soil contamination is the source of unhealthy environments.
This type of contamination typically arises from the
corrosion of underground storage tanks (including
piping), application of pesticides, percolation of
contaminated surface water to subsurface strata, oil and
fuel dumping, disposal of coal ash, leaking of wastes
from landfills or direct discharge of industrial wastes to
the soil.
The concern over soil contamination stems primarily from
health risks, from direct contact with the contaminated
soil, vapors from the contaminants, and from secondary
contamination of water supplies within and underlying
the soil. Mapping of contaminated soil sites and the
resulting cleanup are time consuming and expensive
tasks, requiring extensive amounts of geology,
hydrology, chemistry, computer modeling skills, and GIS
in Environmental Contamination, as well as an
appreciation of the history of industrial chemistry.
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Guiding Questions
• What is soil contamination?
• In what ways can the soil become
polluted?
• How will the environment react to the
contamination? How can the
contamination be resolved?
• What are some preventative measures
that can be put into place to avoid soil
contamination?
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Task
• Discuss:
– Do you think you have a personal
responsibility to help keep our local
environment healthy? If not, whose
responsibility is it?
– Is our local environment healthy?
• Brainstorm ways that contaminated
land and soil affect plants, animals,
and humans.
• Continue your learning through
staging a debate, creating a
documentary, or building a model.
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References
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www.thinkquest.org
scorecard.goodguide.com/
Earth911.com
www.learningtogive.org
www.used-robots.com/robot-education.php?page=robots+environment
http://www.robotics.org/content-detail.cfm/Industrial-Robotics-FeaturedArticles/Chemical-and-Hazardous-Material-HandlingRobotics/content_id/614
http://www.smogcity2.org/smogcity.cfm?preset=none
www.airnow.gov
http://www.vtaide.com/png/bird-adaptations3.htm
http://www.bam.gov/sub_diseases/index.html
http://www.brainpop.com/health/diseasesinjuriesandconditions/avianflu/
http://www.brainpop.com/health/diseasesinjuriesandconditions/chickenpox
/
http://www.brainpop.com/health/diseasesinjuriesandconditions/viruses/
http://www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/
http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/index.html
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/