Molly Spangenberg, Jennifer Earlston and Maggie Reilly present
information on common household pollutants.
Goal:
The students will become aware of pollutants that enter the Muddy Run Watershed from households as well as other point and nonpoint sources, thereby enabling students to understand how personal values and attitudes affect not only the degradation of their immediate environment but also other areas as well.
Objectives:
1. The students will list three common pollutants that come from homes.
2. The students will state one to three ways they could change their lifestyle to assist in reducing environmental degradation.
3. The students will recognize what is meant by point sources of pollution from these specific areas:
• Sewage
• Industrial or chemical dumping
• Large construction sites
• Mining
• Power plants.
4. The students will list these nonpoint sources of pollution:
• Agricultural runoff
• Urban runoff
• Small construction
• Forestry
• Acid rain.
5. The students will observe and document common household pollutants while participating in a fieldtrip walk.
6. The students will participate in small groups to write a list of common household pollutants.
Procedures:
Students record and document common household pollutants observed during a fieldtrip. Students do voluntary family lifestyle examinations (see Conservation Projects-LifeStyle Analysis or "De-Tox" Your Home Hazardous Products Survey obtained from Chesapeake Bay Foundation) to ascertain the impact their families have on the local watersheds and the total Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Students work in small groups to discuss and review literature dealing with pollution sources. Then students prepare a group plan for reducing harmful substances that enter the watersheds from individual homes and/or a community.
Assessment:
Teacher-Made Test; Alternative Assessment, i.e., cooperative learning activity to give one alternative product to various household products which are not environmentally unsafe or pollute the environment; Home Lifestyle Analysis survey completed with parents
Resources to Implement:
Teacher handouts:
• Solutions to the Problem Activity
• Pollution Data Sheet (for field study)
• Lifestyle Analysis Survey
• Common Household Product Alternatives (student created)
• Introduction to Environmental Education (adaptations from Aquatic Project Wild)
• "De-Tox" Your Home (Chesapeake Bay Foundation)
• "De-Tox" Your Home Hazardous Products Survey (Chesapeake Bay Foundation)
• "De-Tox" Your Community Hazardous Product Tally Sheet (Chesapeake Bay Foundation)
• Student Activities from the following resources:
1) S.W.I.M.M.: "Think! What's Under the Sink" (pp. 179-199)
2) S.W.I.M.M.: "Driving the Bay to Exhaustion" (pp. 123-138)
Slides:
• Household Pollutants (created by students)
Videos:
• Pointless Pollution (CBF)
• Hey! Hey! It's Happening Today on the Chesapeake Bay (CBF)
• The Ripple Effect (CBF)
• Into the Water, Into the Bay (CBF)
Transparencies:
• Garbage Generated in USA (Water Wise Lessons in Water Resources, 1989) Sources of Pollution
• Sources of Water Pollution (Water Quality and Pollution, Milken Company)
Literature:
• Pointless Nonpoint Pollution (KARE Living in Water, p. 13)
• Average Family Water Use Chart (Water Wise Lessons in Water Resources, p. 6)
• Pollution Information Sheet (Aquatic Project Wild, p.141.)
• Household Hazardous Waste Products Wheel (Anne Arundel Count, MD)
• "De-Tox" Your Home A Guide to Household Hazardous Products and Their Alternatives
(Chesapeake Bay Foundation)
Equipment:
• Slide Projector/Screen
• VCR/TV
• Overhead Projector/Screen
Field Study:
• Home Inventory and Analysis (Optional, student created)
PA Academic Standards for Environment and Ecology:
• 4.2. Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources
Identify products derived from natural resources
Identify by-products and their use of natural resources, e.g., compost, landfills
Know that raw materials come from natural resources
Examine the renewability of the resources
Explain that renewable and nonrenewable resources supply energy and materials
• 4.3. Environmental Health
Identify how human actions affect environmental health, e.g., pollutants
Identify an environmental health issue
Describe how human actions affect the health of the environment, e.g., household products
• 4.5. Integrated Pest Management
Know types of pests
Explain pest control
Explain how pest management affects the environment
Understand society's need for integrated pest management
Explain various integrated pest management practices used in society
• 4.6. Ecosystems and their Interactions
Explain how ecosystems change over time, e.g., human impact
• 4.8. Humans and the Environment
Explain how human activities may change the environment
Explain how human activities may affect local and regional environments
• 4.9. Environmental Laws and Regulations
Know that there are laws and regulations for the environment
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