2006 Manual w-Updates.xp - epa.state.il.us

Environmental Pathways—Youth Investigating

Pollution Issues In Illinois

A Fifth/Sixth Grade Guide To the Environment

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency1021 North Grand Avenue East

P.O. Box 19276Springfield, Illinois 62794-9276

November 2009

/Development Team

Coordinator: • Janet Hawes-Davis, IEPA Environmental Education Coordinator

Agency Staff: • Kathleen Davis, Project Manager, Bureau of Land• Barb Lieberoff, Nonpoint Source Education Coordinator, Bureau of Water• Annette McCarthy, Outreach Coordinator, Office of Pollution Prevention• Elizabeth Tracy, Manager, Division of Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance, Bureau of Air

Contributors: • Darwin Burkhart, Manager, Mobile Source Emissions Unit, Bureau of Air• Alexander J. Casella, Ph.D., Professor of Physics & Environmental Studies and Director of Energy Studies, University of Illinois at Springfield

• Terri Holland, Lakes Unit, Bureau of Water• Tom Huber, Reference Librarian, State of Illinois Library• Sam Long, Air Quality Planning, Bureau of Air• Terry Sweitzer, Manager, Air Monitoring Section, Bureau of Air

Material Development: • Mary Vymetal-Taylor, Environmental Education Specialist

Editor: • Joan Muraro, Public Information Officer

Design: • Gloria Ferguson / Rusty I. Downs, Graphic Designers

Jan AschimTeacherRockford Environmental Science Academy

Michelle CoviDirectorEcology Action Center

Nancy KerrTeacherEgyptian Community Unit 5

Christy GansonTeacherDunlop Elementary School

Bill HammelCommunity Relations CoordinatorIEPA

Karen HoffmanTraining CoordinatorIEPA

Dennis McMurrayManager of Public InformationIEPA

Suzanne SaricEnvironmental Education Program ManagerU.S. EPA Region 5

Material Reviewers

Environmental Pathways 9 INTRODUCTION

graphics can be found in the page footer.

The symbol for Section 1 is a question mark (for inquiring and increasing awareness);

the symbol for Section 2 is a globe (for effects of pollution on systems);

the symbol for Section 3 is a magni-fying glass (for looking locally);

and the symbol for Section 4 is a map of Illinois (for acting locally).

The appendices include resource materialsthat teachers may find beneficial. The con-tents include:• a glossary of all bolded vocabulary

words• the full conceptual framework for the

collection

• charts which cross-reference the activities by subject, skill and objective

• correlations with the Illinois State Learning Standards and the North American Association for Environmental Education’s Guidelines for Learning

• a full bibliography• an order form for all IEPA documents

mentioned in this document• a feedback form to be used in the

development of future editions.

SupportThe IEPA hopes you have great success inusing Environmental Pathways— Youth Investigating Pollution Issues in Illinois. If youhave questions regarding this packet or aboutthe IEPA education program contact: KristiMorris-Richards, Education and OutreachCoordinator, at 217-558-7198 or e-mail her [email protected].

?

Sample Page

“Drawing Out” Pollution

Subject: ArtScience

Skills: • Observing• Comparing/Contrasting

• Organizing• Researching

Concepts: 1. A-E

Objectives: Students will:1) identify forms of pollutionand describe the effects thatvarious pollutants can have on people, wildlife and plants.

2) describe relationshipsbetween various forms of pollution and human actions.

State Standards:Science: 11.A.2 b, c, d, eSocial Science: 17.C.2 cPhysical Dev. & Health: 22.C.3 a

Vocabulary:• pollutant• pollution

Setting: Indoor and Outdoor

Materials: • blackboard and chalk• clipboards• poster board or butcher paper

• crayons, markers, pencils

• tape

Time: one or two class periods

1—What is Pollution? 10 Environmental Pathways?

Activity OverviewIn this activity students share what they know about pollu-tion, identify pollution in their community and expand their understanding of different types of pollution.

BackgroundAlthough not all pollution is visible, most of us are not far from an example of a possible pollutant or the effects of pollution. It can be as obvious as a billowing smokestack, or as subtle as a plot of ground where no plants have grown for along time.

Below are some ideas of what you might have students look forif they were searching for sources of pollutants:

• Evidence of fossil fuels being burned (smoke from vehicle exhaust or smokestacks)

• Solid waste that is not properly disposed of (litter, oil, tires, appliances)

• Signs that toxins or dangerous chemicals are being used (treated lawn signs, crop dusters)

• Discharge through pipes in watersheds intostreams, lakes, ponds, rivers

If actual sources of pollution are difficult to identify, considerhaving students look for animals or things that may have beenaffected by pollution and work backward to determine thecause, such as:

• Unusual number of dead plants or animals• Statues or buildings that appear excessively dirty

or corroded• Signs that toxins or chemicals have been released

in the area (odd smells)• Oil slicks on the surface of a body of water

Preparation1. Review vocabulary and background information on “What is Pollution,” pages 5-8.

2. Scout the proposed path for the student walk either onschool grounds or within the community. Try to plan a routethat will allow students to find examples of pollution. It might behelpful to arrange for the assistance of other adults who areaware of objectives of this activity.

Subject - Listed are the core subjectareas that relate to this activity.

Skills a student will use or develop in this activity.

Identifies concepts as they relateto the conceptual framework beginning on page 124.

Objectives - Identifies what the students will learn whenthey complete this activity.

State Standards - Identifies theIllinois Learning Standards thatare addressed by this activity, not necessarily the extensions.

Vocabulary - Lists wordsthat may be unfamiliar tothe student or teacher.

Setting - Where theactivity takes place.

Materials - Lists anyspecial materials theactivity may require.

Time - Indicates classtime students need tocomplete the activity.

BACKGROUND 10 Environmental Pathways

What is Environmental Education?Environmental education is a process thataims to develop an environmentally literatecitizenry that can compete in our global econ-omy, that has the skills, knowledge and incli-nations to make well informed choices con-cerning the environment, and that exercisesthe rights and responsibilities of members of acommunity. Additionally, environmental educa-tion contributes to an understanding andappreciation of society, technology and pro-ductivity and the conservation of Illinois’ natu-ral and cultural resources.

Why Teach EnvironmentalEducation?Environmental education has the ability tosuccessfully address many societal needs.Cries can be heard from corporate leaderssaying we need a workforce of problemsolvers, critical thinkers and cooperative work-ers. Pleas of parents and community leaderscan be heard saying we need quality educa-tion that will help students cope with the chal-lenges of today and prepare them for thefuture. Contamination and loss of naturalresources can be seen and the need forfuture generations to appreciate, understandand solve environmental problems is appar-ent. The public’s concern can clearly be seenin the National Environmental Education &Training Foundation’s 1997 National ReportCard: Environmental Knowledge, Attitudesand Behaviors. This survey found that fully 95percent of adult Americans and 96 percent ofAmerican parents support the teaching ofenvironmental education in schools.

Environmental education is interdisciplinary innature. It does not solely adhere to the tenetsof science teaching. Students can learn aboutthe natural and built environment through proj-

ects that cross disciplines, as well as theboundaries of the school building and schoolyard. This approach to teaching may seemoverwhelming at first, but it brings on meaningwhen partnerships are developed betweenschools, non-formal education institutions(nature centers, museums, zoos, historicalsocieties, etc.) and other public and privateentities.

Standards and EnvironmentalEducationMore and more, teachers are being asked todemonstrate their ability to achieve the educa-tional outcomes identified in state and nation-

Goals and Objectives of Environmental Education as established by the Belgrade Charter and the TbilisiDeclaration (1970).

Goals of Environmental Education• To foster clear awareness of and concern about economic,social, political, and ecological interdependence in urban andrural areas.

• To provide every person with opportunities to acquire the knowledge, values, attitudes, commitment and skills needed toprotect and improve the environment.

• To create new patterns of behavior by individuals, groups, andsociety as a whole towards the environment.

Objectives of Environmental EducationAwareness - To help social groups and individuals acquire anawareness of and sensitivity to the total environment and its alliedproblems.

Knowledge - To help social groups and individuals gain a varietyof experiences in, and a basic understanding of, the environmentand its associated problems.

Attitudes - To help social groups and individuals acquire a set ofvalues and feelings of concern for the environment, and the motivation to actively participate in environmental improvementand protection.

Skills - To help social groups and individuals acquire the skills toidentify and solve environmental problems.

Participation - To provide social groups and individuals an opportunity to be actively involved at all levels in working towardresolution of environmental problems.

BACKGROUND

Environmental Pathways 17 1—What is Pollution? ?

Here are just a few examples of water pollution:

• Oil or fertilizer runoff from streets or fields• Laboratory chemicals dumped down

drains • Soil runoff into rivers, lakes and streams• Release of heated water into waterways• Raw sewage or animal waste entering

waterways during floods or heavy rains

CONCLUSIONThese three types of pollution may seem tobe separate, but in reality they are not. Air,land and water constantly come into contactwith each other. Water molecules spend time

suspended in air, traveling through and joiningwith other water molecules in rivers, lakes andstreams. In the same way, pollutants canmove from one medium to another. For exam-ple, toxic chemicals in the soil can leach intoaquifers and pollute drinking water.

Furthermore, when we try to clean up pollu-tion after it has been generated, we some-times end up just moving it from one locationor medium to another. For example, the air fil-ters used in cars help keep air clean, but musteventually be disposed of themselves in land-fills. Types of pollution are connected just asair, land and water are connected.

General EE Resources• Association of Illinois Soil and Water • Illinois State Geological Survey

Conservation Districts (AISWCD) Provides information on Illinois geology andLists resources and programs available through online publications and maps such as the the AISWCD which includes contests, projects, Illinois Surface Topography map.education tools and a Local Outreach/Education www.isgs.uiuc.eduDirectory. www.ilconservation.com/

• National Resources Conservation Service• Environmental Literacy Council (NRCS) - Soil Education Offers a number of teacher resources as well Provides information regarding soil facts,as a wealth of information on the environment. state soils, tools for educators and muchwww.enviroliteracy.org/index.php more. http://soils.usda.gov/education/

• Illinois Department of Agriculture • University of Illinois Extension - www.agr.state.il.us Schools Online

An interactive web site, targeted towards third• Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic through fifth grades, that can be used by parentsOpportunity www.commerce.state.il.us/dceo/ and students to learn about the world aroundBureaus/Energy_Recycling, or www.istep.org them as well as a useful tool for teachers.

www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/schoolsonline/• Illinois Department of Natural Resourceswww.dnr.state.il.us/education • U.S. EPA www.epa.gov www.epa.gov/kids; www.epa.gov/region5/• Illinois Department of Public Healthwww.idph.state.il.us Office of Solid Waste Educational Resources

www.epa.gov/epaoswer/education/index.htm • Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Teacher Center www.epa.gov/teachers/www.epa.state.il.us

• U.S. Geological Survey• Illinios Recycling Association http://education.usgs.gov/

www.illinoisrecycles.org

“Drawing Out” Pollution


Activity OverviewIn this activity students share what they know about pollu-tion, identify pollution in their community and expand theirunderstanding of different types of pollution.

BackgroundAlthough not all pollution is visible, most of us are not farfrom an example of a possible pollutant or the effects ofpollution. It can be as obvious as a billowing smokestack, oras subtle as a plot of ground where no plants have grown fora long time.

Below are some ideas of what you might have students lookfor if they were searching for sources of pollutants:

• Evidence of fossil fuels being burned (dark smoke from vehicle exhaust or smokestacks)

• Solid waste that is not properly disposed of (litter, oil, tires, appliances)

• Signs that toxins or dangerous chemicals are being used (signs saying a lawn has been treated with weed killer or fertilizer, crop dusters)

• Discharge through pipes in watersheds intostreams, lakes, ponds, rivers

If actual sources of pollution are difficult to identify, considerhaving students look for animals or things that may havebeen affected by pollution and work backward to determinethe cause, such as:

• Unusual number of dead plants or animals• Statues or buildings that appear excessively dirty

or corroded• Signs that toxins or chemicals have been released

in the area (odd smells)• Oil slicks on the surface of a body of water

Preparation1. Review vocabulary and background information on“What is Pollution,” pages 13-17.

2. Scout the proposed path for the student walk either onschool grounds or within the community. Try to plan a routethat will allow students to find examples of pollution. It might

Subject: ArtScience

Skills: • Observing• Comparing/Contrasting

• Organizing• Researching

Concepts: 1. A-E

Objectives: Students will:1) identify forms of pollutionand describe the effects thatvarious pollutants can have on people, wildlife and plants.

2) describe relationshipsbetween various forms of pollution and human actions.

State Standards:Science: 11.A.2 b, c, d, eSocial Science: 17.C.2 cPhysical Dev. & Health:22.C.3 a

Vocabulary: • pollutant• pollution

Setting: Indoor and Outdoor

Materials:• blackboard and chalk• clipboards• poster board or butcher

paper• crayons, markers, pencils• tape

Time: One or two class periods


be helpful to arrange for the assistance ofother adults who are aware of objectives ofthis activity.

Procedure1. Ask students to imagine what life wouldbe like without clean air, land or water.

2. Have students brainstorm a list of asmany things as they can that might contami-nate, or make unsafe, the air we breathe, theland we live on, or the water we drink. Havestudents share their ideas and write their sug-gestions on the board. Ask students if theyknow what word people use to describe thetypes of things they have listed.Answer: Pollution or Pollutants.

3. Discuss what the term pollution meansand explain the three basic types.

4. Take students on a walk outdoors to lookfor pollution or pollutants. Have the studentsbring paper, clipboards and a pencil. Duringthe walk have students find examples of pollu-tion on land, in the air and in water. As stu-dents spot different examples, have themexplain how each one could pollute, and whatkinds of plants or animals could be affected byeach one. For example, oil in the parking lotcould wash into a storm drain which emptiesinto a creek or river; aquatic insects, fish,frogs, turtles, and plants could be affected.Also, ask students what might have causedeach form of pollution. For example, how didthe oil get on the parking lot in the first place?

5. Have students record what they find andhave them indicate how many times they seecertain types of pollution.

6. Back inside, have students draw picturesof pollutants they spotted on the walk. Theycan continue to research examples of pollu-tion by looking through magazines, newspa-pers, and the Internet. Students should try to

find at least one example for each type of pol-lution: air, land and water.

7. Create a large chart on posterboard orbutcher paper with columns for each of the

three categories of pollution. Have studentstake turns placing their pictures into the different categories.

8. As a group, review and discuss the finished chart. Ask students the followingquestions:• Do any items appear in more than one

category?• Can something pollute two different things,

such as air and water, or land and water? If so, how?

• Can people always see, hear and smell pollution?

• Which examples might affect people’s health?

• Which examples might affect plants or animals?

9. Return to the answers given in step one.Do students feel they are living in a cleanenvironment? Why or why not?

Wrap UpAssessment• Distribute copies of the Urban, Suburbanand Rural Assessment of Drawing OutPollution, pages 21, 22 and 23. Studentsshould circle items in the pictures that are

Air Land WaterPollution Pollution Pollution

Ways to Classify Pollution


potential sources of pollution. They shouldexplain how each item circled might causepollution and what or whom it might affect.Possible answers can be found on page 24.

ExtensionsInterdisciplinary• Read aloud the story “The Cat in the HatComes Back” by Dr. Suess (available throughmost public libraries). Although generally con-sidered appropriate for younger audiences,this is an excellent example of a book withdeeper meanings for students to explore. Askstudents what represents pollution in the story(the pink stuff). Have students discuss the var-ious ways that the cat tries to get rid of thepollution (moving it from one place to another,breaking it into little pieces). Ask them if peo-ple sometimes think about pollution this way.Have them consider how the cat finally got ridof the pollution (a voom, a mysteriousmachine that gets rid of anything). Ask students if they understand how it works. Dothey think such a machine exists to get rid ofpollution, why or why not? (Answer: No, oncepollution is generated, it generally takes time,energy and effort to remove it. Also, sometrash is reused or recycled, not simply disposed of.)

Community• As a part of step 8, have students list pollu-tion prevention solutions for each of the pollu-tants or pollutions identified. For example, if oilis found in the parking lot, students could sug-gest checking vehicles for oil leaks and pro-viding routine maintenance. Then have stu-dents determine if the solution will causemore harm than good.

Technology• Have students research information on typesof pollution and local pollution sources on theInternet. One resource for information on localpollution sources is Enviromapper athttp://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/em/index.html

Resources• Lake Notes - Septic Systems Fact SheetInformation on how a septic system works,signs of problems, suggestions for avoidingpollution. IEPA (see order form in appendix)

• Lake Notes - Fertilizers and Pesticides:Options for Lawn and Garden Use Fact SheetInformation on safe fertilizer application, integrated pest management, and safe use ofpesticides. IEPA (see order form in appendix)

• Lake Notes - Home and Yard Fact SheetInformation on what you can do in your homeand yard to prevent pollutants from gettinginto lakes and streams. IEPA (see order formin appendix)

• Drinking Water and Groundwater Kids' StuffIncludes classroom lessons, games andactivities for teachers and students fromgrades K through 12.http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/index.html

• Project A.I.R.E - Air Pollution BackgroundInformation (PDF Version) Fact sheet on airpollution and ways to detect and prevent it.http://www.epa.gov/region01/students/pdfs/rd_airpol.pdf

• U.S. EPA Region 5 Environmental Education The Publications web page offers ordering anddownloading information for a variety ofcurriculum and EE recources and materials.http://www.epa.gov/region5/enved/publications.html

• Make a Difference CampaignThe U.S. EPA provides resources that will help students to make informed decisions as to how they can reduce, reuse and recycle within their lifestyle.Includes a how-to guide, tools and posters on the holdings, lifecycles of DVDs, cell phones and soccer balls. http://www.epa.gov/osw/education/mad.htm


2. Make copies of the prediction grid, one perstudent or group.

3. Create identification labels for the socks.

Procedure1. Ask the students to identify sources of airpollution in the community. List these on theblackboard. The list should include automo-biles, power plants, wood or coal burningstoves, factories, farming, and natural sourcessuch as brush fires.

2. Explain to the students how a vehicleburns gasoline or diesel fuel. Some of the fuelis changed into energy to move the vehicle.By-products of the process include heat andair pollutants which exit the vehicle throughthe exhaust system via the tailpipe.

3. Use the background information to discussthe types of pollutants in vehicle exhaust.

4. Have the students assemble in the parkinglot. Distribute prediction grids (one per studentor team). Have students rank which car theypredict will produce the most particulate mat-ter (i.e., the dirtiest sock). Have them explaintheir choices. Place a white tube sock over thetail pipe of each vehicle. The elastic sock topsshould fit snugly over the tailpipes; if they donot, secure them with rubber bands.

5. Ensure that the students are standingaway from the vehicles and start the engines.While the engines run have students comparetheir predictions.

6. After five minutes turn off the engines andremove the socks from the tailpipes usingoven mitts or heavy gloves. CAUTION: Tailpipes may be extremely hot; do not have students perform this step.

7. Turn the socks inside-out and attach theappropriate label. Arrange socks from most toleast dirty.

8. Compare the students’ predictions to theactual results. Remind the students that theyare only seeing particulate matter, and thatcars also produce large amounts of invisibleair pollutants such as carbon monoxide andoxides of nitrogen.

Wrap UpAssessment• In small groups, have the students reviewthe findings and compare them to their predic-tions. Have the groups come up with writtenanswers to the following questions, usingcomplete sentences:

1. How closely did your predictions match theactual results?

2. What could have affected the differences infindings between the different vehicles?(Possible answers: type of fuel used, enginetype, age of vehicle, maintenance).

3. Are the cars with the cleaner socks alwaysthe best choice? What else might you look forin selecting a car? (Answer: No, because thistest does not measure all kinds of emissions,only particulate matter. Also, cars are selectedfor different uses and to fulfill different needs;the ‘cleanest’ car in your test may be too smallor expensive for some people, or may nothave acceptable fuel efficiency.)

ExtensionsCommunity• Find out if emission inspections are requiredin your area. Hypothesize and investigate whyemissions testing is required and if it isrequired all over the state. Plan a field trip to avehicle inspection site, if feasible.


Technology • Climate Change• Discuss alternative modes of transportation This web site offers information on several topicsand alternative fuels. How do they differ in regarding climate change, such as the following:terms of emissions produced? past, current and future climate change, emissions, effects, policy and actions.Multidisciplinary http://www.epa.gove/climatechange/index.html• In small groups, have students research the Also, visit U.S. EPA's web site on climate change foramount of unleaded and diesel fuel that is kids at: www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/index.html.sold in their neighborhood or town each month. Have teams compile their results and determine how many gallons of each type of • IEPA Bureau of Air - Air Teamfuel are burned every month/year. If students This site provides information on emissionsdetermine this number is high, have themresearch ways in which to reduce the amount www.epa.state.il.us/air/vim/index.htmlof fuel consumption in their lives.

• Illinois Green FleetsResources www.illinoisgreenfleets.org • Air Facts - Criteria Pollutants Fact Sheet • Inventing a Monitor (PDF) Information on six criteria air pollutants An activity from Project A.I.R.E. that has studentsrecognized by the U.S. EPA. IEPA (see order devising and testing methods to monitorform in appendix) air pollution.

• AIRNow

Provides a wealth of information nationwide, • Partners for Clean Airincluding hourly data on ozone and particulates. www.cleantheair.orgwww.airnow.gov • Project A.I.R.E. Offers several different air-related warm-up • Alternative Fuels Data Center exercises, activities and reading material.This site provides useful information about www.epa.gov/region01/students/teacher/aire.htmlalternative fuel and alternative fuel vehicle(AFV) technologies, programs, funding, Adapted From: “Let’s Sock Car Exhaust,” Environmentalregulations, contacts, and more. Resource Guide - Air Quality. Air and Water Management

www.eere.energy.gov/afdc Association. Pittsburgh, PA. 1991.

• Automobiles and Air Pollution (PDF)Background information on the causes andconsequences of pollution caused by automobiles.www.epa.gov/region01/students/pdfs/rd_auto.pdf

•

testing and the vehicle inspection process.

I

•

www.epa.gov/region01/students/pdfs/activ7.pdf


Resources• Getting to Know Your Local Watershed experience. Learn how one person with a pas- Provides overview information on “What is awatershed?” Explains different sources ofpollution that affect watersheds, and uses ofwatersheds’ natural resources. www.2ctic.purdue.edu/KYW/Brochures/GetToKnow.html

• Illinois Water Quality ReportThis report provides an assessment of thequality of the state’s surface and groundwaterresources, including waterbody specific infor-mation and maps. www.epa.state.il.us/water/water-quality

• Drinking Water & Ground Water Kids' StuffThis web page offers several games and activities relating to groundwater and drinking water, including the water treatment cycle. http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/index.html

• Water Quality: Potential Sources of Pollution,Middle School EditionThis 24” x 36” color poster depicts point andnonpoint sources of pollution. The reverseside contains two activities, Dispersion ofNonpoint Pollutants and How Substances AreMeasured in Water. Available online at:http://water.usgs.gov/outreach/OutReach.html

• Wetlands, Oceans and WatershedsProvides information on watersheds, differenttypes of waterbodies and how to protect ourresources. www.epa.gov/owow

• EnviroMapper for Water This interactive tool is a web-basedGeographic Information System (GIS)application that displays information aboutbodies of water in the U.S. It allows you tocreate customized maps and can display thehealth of a river near you. www.epa.gov/waters/enviromapper/index.html

• Living Lands and WatersThis non-profit organization offers wonderfuleducational workshops with an up-close river

sion for a cleaner river environment is makingquite a difference in our rivers today.www.livinglandsandwaters.org

• Project WET (Water Education for Teachers)Project WET is a K-12 national water educa-tion program that teaches about people's rela-tionship to water, including the history ofwater, uses of water and water management.The activity guide contains hands-on water-related activities that give teachers and stu-dents opportunities to investigate our mostprecious natural resource. These activitieshave been correlated to the Illinois LearningStandards.

Teachers can obtain a copy of the activityguide by attending a Project WET workshop intheir area. Project WET is sponsored by theWaterCAMPWS. For information aboutthe program go to: http://watercampws.uiuc.edu/index.php?menu_item_id=255, orhttp://www.projectwet.org/.

• Get InvolvedLearn how to participate with students aroundthe world in World Water Monitoring Dayhttp://www.worldwatermonitoringday.org/Celebrate Water Monitoring Month and orderoutreach and educational materials.www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/volunteer/monitoringmonth.html

• Lake Education Assistance Program (LEAP)The Illinois EPA offers a $500 grant availableto all Illinois schools and not-for-profit organi-zations for the study of lakes/ponds and theirwatersheds. This money can be used topurchase lake-related educational materials,field trips, equipment and activities. Applic-ation deadlines are September 30 andJanuary 31. www.epa.state.il.us/water/conservation/leap.html. 217-782-3362.

Adapted From: “Deadly Waters,” Project WILD Aquatic.Western Regional Environmental Education Council.Bethesda, MD. 1992.


SedimentsSmall particles of sand, soil, clay, and other miner-als are washed into rivers, lakes and streams fromthe land. Often these come from construction proj-ects or paved areas, but they can also come fromnatural runoff or erosion. Stream channels andharbors that have been filled with sediment oftenneed to be dredged. Sediment can harm wildlifeby covering nests of fish or by clogging the gills offish and shellfish.

Petroleum (gas/oil) ProductsOil spills, such as the Exxon Valdez spill, kill fish,seabirds, shellfish, and aquatic plants. However,there are many other ways that petroleum prod-ucts (such as oil, gasoline, and kerosene) cancontaminate water. They can seep into groundwa-ter from damaged or corroded underground stor-age tanks, be washed into waterways from drive-ways, streets or service stations, or be releasedfrom ships, refineries, or drills. Petroleum productsare poisonous to many animals. Additionally,waterbirds cannot fly if they get oil on their feath-ers.

Heated or Cooled WaterElectric power plants generate large amounts ofheated water. This warm water can’t carry asmuch oxygen as cooler water. If oxygen cannot bereturned to the water, fish and other aquatic ani-mals can be harmed. Cooler water is sometimesreleased by deep dams; this too can damageaquatic animals and plants that require warmertemperatures to survive.

Organic WastesOther organic wastes can also get into the water.These include natural animal and plant productssuch as wood pulp or food by-products. Theseproducts also contain nutrients for bacteria andalgae. The concentration of bacteria will increaseif too much organic waste gets into the water.These bacteria will then use up the oxygen in thewater, and fish will die.

Animal/Human WastesUntreated sewage and runoff from farms, stock-yards, and barns can contain viruses and bacteria

that are very danger-ous to humans. Peoplecan contract cholera,typhoid fever, dysen-tery, hepatitis, andother diseases if theydrink or come into con-tact with water that hasbeen polluted this way,or if they eat fish or shellfish from polluted water.Human and animal wastes also contain nutrientsand act as a fertilizer in water. Bacteria feed onthe nutrients and use up all of the oxygen in thewater. This kills many aquatic animals and plants.

Inorganic CompoundsDetergents, pesticides, herbicides, salts, mineralcompounds, and other inorganic compounds areharmful to water ways. They come from factories,mines, agriculture, factories, households, andsometimes from natural sources as well. Many ofthese chemicals are poisonous to fish and otheranimals or cause damage to structures, such asboats or water purification equipment.

FertilizersRunoff from farms, gardens, lawns and golf cours-es sometimes contains excess fertilizers. Whenhigh concentrations of these fertilizers get intowater, they cause large amounts of algae to grow.The algae feed on the nutrients in the fertilizer,just as crops would; once they use up all of thenutrients, the algae die and are themselves eatenby bacteria. The bacteria use up all the oxygen inthe water, which makes the water unsuitable forfish, shellfish, and other animals.

Acid PrecipitationNormal water is not usually acidic. However,plants and animals can be harmed or killed bywater that has been made acidic by inorganicchemical pollution.

Types of Water Pollutants Handout

Environmental Pathways 45 2—Why is Pollution an Environmental Issue?

ExtensionsCommunity• Have the students arrange to weigh theamount of waste produced in their cafeteriaduring a typical day. Establish this as theschool’s baseline. Then, schedule a “waste-free lunch,” where the goal is to have nowaste produced in the cafeteria at all. (Thiswill require coordination with parents, students and others.) Have students come upwith ideas for minimizing their waste for thisone day. They can also make the day a com-petition with another school, a nursing home,or a local business.

Multidisciplinary• Have the students research how other cul-tures and civilizations deal or dealt with theirwaste: what they reused or recycled, how theydisposed of it. Have them consider other con-temporary cultures as well as historical ones.

Outdoor• Identify an area on or near the schoolgrounds where the students can construct acompost bin. Have them construct a simpledesign. Use the compost pile to experimentwith the length of time it takes for differentsubstances to decompose. Additionally, havestudents analyze the critter content of the binto determine which microorganisms are aidingin the decomposition process.

Technology• Identify a local business or industry that hasa state-of-the-art recycling process or hasbeen successful in reducing waste production.Arrange for a field trip to their site, or invite aguest speaker to give a presentation explain-ing how their program works, what technology and composting/vermicomposting. To find the is involved, and any plans for future improve- Request For Application (RFA) go to www.ISTEP.ments. org. For additional information contact Brett Ivers

Resources at 217-785-2013 or [email protected].

• U.S. EPA's Wastes - Educational Materials Adapted From: “Case of the School Cafeteria”

This website contains a variety of environmental Energy, Economics and the Environment. Indianaeducation materials relating to solid waste Department of Education. Indianapolis, IN. 1994.

issues for teachers and students.www.epa.gov/epawaste/education/index.htm

• IEPA Bureau of Land, Landfill CapacityReportThe site contains the annual report on the status of sanitary landfill space.www.epa.state.il.us/land/landfill-capacity/index.html

• IEPA, Bureau of Land - Waste ManagementProgramsInformation is provided regarding householdhazardous waste collections, used tire man-agement, waste management requirementsand open dump reporting.www.epa.state.il.us/land/waste-mgmt

• DCEO’s Vermicomposting Kit: EEEK!There's a Worm In My Room Contains lesson plans, a video and all theinformation you would need to know aboutsetting up a vermicomposting (food compost-ing with worms) bin of your own! (FreeRental!) To reserve an educational kit, contactSusan Nevitt at DCEO, Recycling Unit, 217-785-2863 or [email protected]. www.istep.org

• DCEO’s The Case for Investigating the 4Rs: (Grades K-adult) contains videos, lesson plans,and a variety of products made from recycled materials. (Free Rental!) To reserve aneducation kit, contact Susan Nevitt at DCEO, Recycling Unit, 217-785-2863 or [email protected]. www.istep.org

Å The Illinois Zero Waste Schools Grant ProgramProvides grants to assist schools with the develop-ment or expansion of recycling, source reduction,

2—Why is Pollution an Environmental Issue? 46 Environmental Pathways

Story: Playing with Food...WasteNARRATOR: Dean and Marlene had been through a dis-cussion of solid waste just before lunch. As they sat in thecafeteria, they both noticed how much trash was being putinto the waste baskets, just in the cafeteria alone.

DEAN: Look at that. I can’t believe how full the cans are get-ting! Look how much we’re throwing away!

MARLENE: Well, what do you expect? Everything here isdisposable. The trays get thrown out, the forks and spoonsare plastic, the napkins are paper. I hadn’t noticed it before,but we don’t reuse anything here.

DEAN: Yeah, but it’s not just us. Doug brought his lunch, andhe threw most of it away -the paper bag, the plastic bag hissandwich was in, and the celery sticks he never eats.

MARLENE: You’d think if they at least gave us reusabletrays and silverware, we could do a lot better.

NARRATOR: Then Ahmed, who was sitting nearby, over-heard their conversation and chimed in.

AHMED: Unfortunately, it’s cheaper right now for them tobuy things that are disposable. If they were going to washeverything, they’d have to buy dishwashers, pay people toload and unload them, and pay the cost of the water andsoaps.

DEAN: And, more than likely, people would steal or losesome of the silverware, so they’d have to replace it from timeto time.

AHMED: So they might have to raise the costs of the lunch-es here to cover the extra expense.

NARRATOR: Marlene was looking intently at the lunchtray.

MARLENE: You know, why can’t they just recycle these?We recycle other plastics at home.

AHMED: I don’t think this is one of the types of plastic wecan recycle around here. They might have to send it a longway off to be recycled. That may not be worth the fuel it takesto transport it.

MARLENE: Then why can’t they start getting trays made ofrecyclable plastic?

NARRATOR: Denise also overheard part of the conversa-tion and joined in at this point.

DENISE: You know, there’s something else, too. At my sis-ter’s college dorm, they have a cafeteria too. But they havebig dispensers of milk instead of these little cartons. Peoplecan just line up and take as much milk as they need. And theydon’t have to throw away all the cartons—they just wash thecups afterward.

AHMED: Yeah, but you still need to have dishwashers.

MARLENE: Besides, you know how slowly the lines movearound here. If we had to wait for people to pour themselves aglass of milk, we’d be here all day.

DENISE: So? Wouldn’t it be worth it to have less litterthrown away?

MARLENE: I don’t think that’s the problem. Look how muchfood gets thrown away here. Most of this stuff could be com-posted.

DEAN: Why don’t we ask if we can put a can or a bucket outfor people to put in all the things we can compost? They didthat at a camp I went to for a week.

AHMED: Yeah, and then the school could have its own com-post pile.

MS. WINTHROP: Not so fast, kids, it’s not that easy.

NARRATOR: It was Ms. Winthrop, the principal.

MS WINTHROP: Those are all good ideas, but you’re for-getting a few steps.

DENISE: Like what?

MS. WINTHROP: Well, a lot of the food here can’t go in acompost bin. You can’t put in milk or meats, for instance. Ifany of those got into the compost bucket by mistake, becausesomebody wasn’t paying attention or just felt like being a snot,everything in the bucket would have to be thrown out. Unlessone of you wants to pick through it and sort it out...?

DEAN: Ugh, no, I think I’ll pass on that.

MS WINTHROP: Besides, we don’t have a good spot for acompost pile here. Our school is pretty cramped. I think theonly place that we could put a compost pile would be on thesouth wall, right outside of your classroom window.

AHMED: That might be a problem on hot days.

MS WINTHROP: Plus, I’d need someone to turn the pile,someone would have to be responsible for taking the foodwastes out after every lunch.

MARLENE: I can’t believe there’s nothing we can do.

MS. WINTHROP: I’m not saying you can’t do something,I’m saying you have to recognize that there will be a cost. Itcould be more expensive lunches, longer lines, later dismissaltimes because lunch runs over, less room for playgrounds ifwe make a compost pile, detergents in the water. Are any ofthese worth it to you?

DENISE: But, wait, there’s a cost to doing nothing, also.These paper napkins come from somewhere, and all thispaper that gets thrown out is paper we can’t use for otherthings. Besides, as it is the school pays for someone to bringnew napkins, trays, and milk cartons every week, and payssomeone to take all this trash away. And I know that ourlandfill isn’t going to last forever. I know because they’realready talking about using the land across from my house asa landfill when the one we’re using can’t take any more.

AHMED: So what do we want to do?

Environmental Pathways 49 2—Why is Pollution an Environmental Issue?

9. With the groups still in character, askthem to try to agree on a plan that suits every-body. Remind the students in advance thatseveral people, if not everybody, will have tocompromise to accomplish this goal.

10. Attempt to end the activity on a positivenote, thinking about solutions. Are therethings that the land developers can do to mini-mize the pollution risks from their land use? Ifso, what?

Wrap UpAssessmentHave each student write a composition statingwhat their character in the role play heard theother interest groups say and how their argu-ments were viewed.

ExtensionsCommunity• Learn more about environmental impactstatements. Obtain an actual copy of state-ments prepared for your local area, if avail-able. Identify the concerns that are addressedand discuss these with students.

Multidisciplinary• Draw an additional version of the mapshowing the larger watershed, where watercomes from and where it goes from the pond.Does this view change the options that areavailable?

Outdoor• Trace any stream or river system that passesthrough your community from its source to itsfinal entrance into the ocean. List all the sitesthat you can identify where the quality of thewater might be lowered. http://water.usgs.gov/outreach/OutReach.html

Technology• Using the Internet or the World Wide Web,collect articles about local or state water relat-ed or land use issues.

Resources• Aquatic IllinoisThis CD-ROM contains lessons and activitieson wetlands, rivers and streams, ponds andlakes, surface and groundwater, exoticspecies, aquatic history, water as resourceand watersheds.

For more information and access to the CD-ROM please contact The Illinois Departmentof Natural Resources at (217) 524-4126, e-mail: [email protected], or visit http://www.dnr.state.il.us/education/classrm/kits.htm to access online.

For an online order form for DNR’s education-al materials, visit http://www.dnr.state.il.us/education/edmaterials.htm

• Getting to Know Your Local WatershedProvides overview information on “What is awatershed?” Explains different sources ofpollution that affect watersheds, and uses ofwatersheds’ natural resources. To order call765-494-9555 or view online at http://www2.ctic.purdue.edu/KYW/Brochures/GetToKnow.html.

• Lake Notes - Determining Your Lake’sWatershedExplains watershed boundaries and giveshelpful information on reading watershedmaps. IEPA (see order form in appendix)

• Water Quality: Potential Sources of Pollution,Middle School EditionThis 24” x 36” color poster depicts point andnonpoint sources of pollution. The reverseside contains two activities, Dispersion ofNonpoint Pollutants and How Substances AreMeasured in Water. Available online at:

• Groundwater and Land Use in the Water CycleThis 24” X 36” color poster graphically displays various land use practices and geologic formations. Order online at:

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/education/

2—Why is Pollution an Environmental Issue? 50 Environmental Pathways

• Water Where You LiveClick on the state you’re interested in, and findout all about the streams, rivers, and lakes.You can even find out about the beaches.www.epa.gov/OW/states.html

• Wetland Teaching KitThis teaching kit was developed by the IllinoisState Museum for teachers of grades fifththrough eighth. It is available for lending at nocharge. The resources and activities in the kitinclude soil and freshwater study sets, a vari-ety of posters, original video and audio cas-settes featuring songs and stories on Illinoiswetlands, field guides, and activity sets.For information on borrowing “The WetlandTeaching Kit” please visit the following web linkfor a lending site near you: www.muse-um.state.il.us/ed_opp/wetland-kit.html

• Illinois State Water Survey • Edens Lost and Found Provides a wealth of information regarding The Chicago segment of Edens Lost and FoundIllinois water and atmosphere. showcases determined, ordinary Illinois citizens, aswww.isws.illinois.edu well as professionals and government officials, who developed innovative "best practices" that address• Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds the widespread problems facing many of America'sProvides information on watersheds, different urban environments. These "best practices" can betypes of waterbodies and how to protect our adapted in any size community. For this reason theresources. www.epa.gov/owow Illinois Sustainable Education Project (ISTEP) is providing a DVD (Chicago, "City of Big Shoulders")• The Water Sourcebooks to Illinois educators and community leaders wishingThis activity guide contains numerous activities to promote an integrated approach to restoring andabout the water management cycle and how it supporting the environment at a local level with affects all aspects of the environment. It is avail- broad-based community participation, and to use able in four sections: K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12 as an educational resource in the classroom. For and each section consists of five chapters: more information about Edens Lost and Found,Introduction to Water, Drinking Water and contact Brett Ivers at DCEO, Recycling Unit,Wastewater Treatment, Surface Water 217-785-2013 or [email protected], Ground Water Resources, andWetlands and Coastal Waters. www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/wsb/index.html

• Lake Education Assistance Program (LEAP)The Illinois EPA offers a $500 grant available to Adapted From: “Dragonfly Pond,” Project WILD Aquatic.all Illinois schools and not-for-profit organiza- Western Regional Environmental Education Council.tions for the study of lakes/ponds and their Bethesda, MD. 1992.

watersheds. This money can be used to pur-chase lake-related educational materials, fieldtrips, equipment and activities. Applicationdeadlines are September 30 and January31. www.epa.state.il.us/water/conservation/leap.html. 217-782-3362

• Educating Young People About WaterThis Wisconsin based web site offers guidesand a water curricula database to assist you intailoring your specific water education needs.www.uwex.edu/erc/eypaw

• The Electronic NaturalistThis free electronic newsletter is a weeklyeducational series that provides information onanimals, plants and environmental issues.www.enaturalist.org

Environmental Pathways 55 3—What Kind of Pollution Issues Affect Illinois?

River and stream water quality in Illinois hasimproved considerably since 1972. (In 1972,the Clean Water Act waspassed to protect the water inthe United States.) The numberof rivers and streams with poorquality has declined, while thenumber of rivers and streamswith good water quality hasincreased. Water is tested atmore than 3,000 monitoring sta-tions throughout Illinois to deter-mine water quality conditions.

Most of the pollution that entersIllinois rivers and streamscomes from nonpoint sources(pollution that cannot be tracedto one source). The commonnonpoint source pollutantscome from:

• habitat change (removingplants such as trees fromstream banks or changing thecourse of a river or stream), • runoff (oil, chemicals, soil andother pollutants that are washedfrom streets, parking lots anddriveways) and • resource extraction (removing resourcessuch as coal from the land). The other majorcauses of pollution in Illinois rivers andstreams are point sources. These are pollu-tants discharged from a pipe such as from afactory or waste-water treatment plant, orsome other identifiable source.

Portions of the DesPlaines, Sangamon,Illinois, and Mississippi rivers contain fishwhose flesh contains high levels of pollutants.Fish consumption advisories have beenissued for parts of these rivers. A fish con-sumption advisory identifies species of fishwithin certain bodies of water that contain

enough contamination that the public shouldlimit the amounts they eat, or in some cases,

not eat them at all.

Most of the pollution in lakesconsists of sediments and nutri-ents that wash into lakes. Lakesfunction as traps or sinks forpollutants from watersheds (thearea drained by a river or riversystem). The water in pollutedlakes may have bad taste andodor, be overgrown with aquaticplants and/or look dark brown orgreen. The water quality prob-lems in lakes limit the use of thelake for fishing, boating andswimming, and affect the aqua-tic life. If the lake is filling in withsediment, its life will be short-ened. Those lakes showingimprovement are part of specialrestoration projects to reducethe amount of pollution thatreaches them.

Contaminant levels in fish aremonitored through a cooperative effort between the Illinois Departments of

Agriculture,Natural Resources, Nuclear Safety, PublicHealth and the Illinois EPA, which is commonly referred to as the “Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program.” Meal advisories are issued when fish are found with elevated levels of contaminants, such as chlordane, methylmercury and poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). In 2005, themethylmercury advisory applied to predatorfish, which includes all species of blackbass (largemouth, smallmouth and spotted),striped bass, white bass, hybrid stripedbass, walleye, sauger, saugeye, flatheadcatfish, muskellunge and northern pike – INALL ILLINOIS WATERS. Current Illinois fish

The IEPA and the cityof Chicago monitor(test) Lake Michigan’swater quality.Information from LakeMichigan water testinghas shown that thewater quality ofIllinois’ portion of LakeMichigan hasimproved over the last20 years. For example,the amount of pollu-tants such as phos-phates and ammoniahas declined.Phosphates andammonia are found insewage, industrialwaste, and runoff fromagricultural fields. Ingeneral, Lake Michiganwater quality conditions are good.

3—What Kind of Pollution Issues Affect Illinois? 56 Environmental Pathways

advisories can be viewed on IDPH’s web siteat http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/factsheets/fishadv.htm.

The northeastern portion of Illinois’ border isformed by 63 miles of the shoreline of LakeMichigan. The lake provides drinking water forChicago, as well as many of its suburbs. Fiftymiles of Illinois shoreline are suitable forswimming.

There are pollutants which are found attachedto sediments in several Illinois harbors onLake Michigan. These include such pollutantsas polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Forexample, sediments in Waukegan Harborwere found to be contaminated with PCBs. Asa result, a cleanup project was done toremove nearly one million pounds of contami-nated sediments. Pollutants such as PCBs arealso found in Lake Michigan fish. These pollu-tants bioaccumulate in fish, which means thatolder and larger fish tend to have higher levelsof pollutants.

More than four million people in Illinois usegroundwater as a source of drinking water.Approximately 400,000 residents in the stateare served by their own private wells. Seventypercent of Community Water Supply (CWS)

systems in the state withdraw water from con-fined aquifers that have natural geologic pro-tection from surface and near-surface activi-ties. This means the remaining 30 percent ofthe communities withdraw water from uncon-fined aquifers that are susceptible to pollutionfrom land use and other surface activities.

Groundwater quality is a major concern inIllinois. Water quality degradation or contami-nation results from point and nonpointsources throughout the state. In many indus-trialized areas, including the metropolitanareas of Chicago, Rockford, and St. Louis,groundwater has been degraded by improperstorage or disposal of chemicals. In manyagricultural areas, the quality of groundwaterin shallow aquifers has been reduced by theroutine application of agricultural chemicals.Nearly 10 percent of the CWS wells in thestate are estimated to have water qualitywhich is either susceptible to pollution, or ofpoor quality, as a result of impacts by agricul-tural runoff. Approximately 22 percent of theCWS wells using unconfined aquifers and 2percent of the CWS wells using confinedaquifers have been affected.

Land Cover in Illinois27.5 million acres agricultural land (crops, such as corn and soybeans,

and rural grassland)4.1 million acres forested land (upland, partial canopy and coniferous)2.3 million acres urban and built-up land1.4 million acres wetlands0.7 million acres other (surface water, and barren and exposed land)

36 millions acres

Source: The Illinois Interagency Landscape Classification Project, Land Cover of Illinois 1999-2000.


Wrap UpAssessmentHave students brainstorm a list of possiblesources of the air pollution they found. Dividethe list into natural and man-made sources.Ask them if they think any of the pollutants arepreventable.

Have each student pick a pollution source anddevelop a way of preventing or reducing thepollution that comes from it. Their results canbe in the form of a model or a written paper.

ExtensionsCommunity• Do the experiment a second time, and havethe students take the strips home or to placeswithin the community. Have them do a com-parison to the results they had at the school.

Multidisciplinary• Allow students to design posters to showthe steps they took to acquire the data. Createa bulletin board where students can displaytheir posters and monitoring strips so that theclass can compare all results.

Technology• Daily Air Quality Report Learn about energy sources and visit the An air quality index is available online formajor air pollutants that are monitoredthroughout the state.www.epa.state.il.us/air/aqi.

The Illinois Annual Air Quality Report is also available online atwww.epa.state.il.us/air/air-qualityreport. • Partners for Clean Air

Resources• Air Facts - Air Quality MonitoringInformation on levels of air pollution in Illinoisand how they are monitored.IEPA (see order form in appendix)

• Air Facts - Criteria PollutantsA fact sheet on the six criteria air pollutantsand how they are regulated and controlled.IEPA (see order form in appendix)

• Air Facts - Nonattainment: Falling Short ofAir Quality StandardsA fact sheet on the steps being taken to improve air quality in regions in Illinois that fall.below national standards.IEPA (see order form in appendix)

• Project A.I.R.E. - Air Pollution Background Information (PDF Version)Fact sheet on air pollution and ways to detectand prevent it. www.epa.gov/region01/students/pdfs/rd_airpol.pdf

• Renewable Energy and Energy EfficiencyU.S. Department of Energy: Kids Saving Energyweb site: www.eere.energy.gov/kids/U.S. Energy Information Administration

Energy Kids web page at: www.eia.doe.gov.

• Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Tools for Schools KitThis kit is available free of charge. To ordercall 1-800-483-4318 (document number 402-K-95-001), or visit www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/actionkit.html.

www.cleantheair.org/overview.shtml

Adapted From: “Air Strips,” Environmental Resource Guide. Air Quality Air & Waste Management Association.Pittsburgh, PA. 1991.

Student Air Particle Worksheet

Names: Location:

Hypothesis - What types of particles do you think you will collect with your air monitor?Why?

Draw the Particles Number of Particles Describe the ParticlesFound in One Grid Square


Add the numbers in the boxes. Divide the total by 3.This is the average number of particles you found.

Conclusion - Was your hypothesis correct? Why or why not?


4) A possible compromise might include making some of the changes suggestedby Scientist 1 to help increase energy conservation, while continuing to do research as Scientist 2 suggested.

5) Opinions will vary. Note that decisions about climate change, like decisions about many complicated environmentalissues, are often based on information that may not be as complete as people would like. Values that people have also influence their decisions.

6) It’s important to stay informed about scientific issues so that you can better understand problems and can change your daily behaviors to help solve problems.

ExtensionsCommunity• Have students contact local auto dealers,appliance showrooms, and heating/coolingrepair services and determine if their productsstill contain CFCs. Find out what steps arebeing taken or have been taken to phase outCFC use in their community. Alternatively, theinstructor could locate these individuals in thecommunity and invite them into the classroomfor a presentation/discussion.

Multidisciplinary• Have students research the topic further,exploring different people’s points of view.With this expanded information, hold either a debate or a town hall meeting and have students take on the point of view theyresearched.

Technology• Have students locate a scientist via the inter-net and research the methods that he/sheused or could use to study the effect(s) html; U.S. EPA – Climate Change – What Youof CFCs.

Resources• Air Facts - Air Quality Monitoring Education/Peace Corps. Washington D.C. 1993.

Information on levels of air pollution in Illinoisand how they are monitored.IEPA (see form in appendix)

• Benefits of the CFC Phaseout The CFC phaseout is already producing benefits for the environment, businesses, andindividuals.http://www.epa.gov/ozone/geninfo/benefits.html

• Cycles of the Earth and Atmosphere,A Website for Teachers

On-line teaching module for middle schoolscience teachers. The content focus is climatechange and issues related to both stratos-pheric and tropospheric ozone.http://www.ucar.edu/learn

• Global Warming: Early Warning SignsA science-based world map depicting thelocal and regional consequences of global climate change.http://www.climatehotmap.org/index.html

• Illinois Annual Air Quality ReportThis report highlights information obtainedfrom the Bureau of Air’s statewide air monitor-ing network.http://www.epa.state.il.us/air/air-quality-report

• World Meteorological OrganizationIncludes topics such as weather, climate,water, environment and much more.www.wmo.int/pages/index_en.html

• Resources for Children,Youth and EducatorsUnited Nations: www.un.org/wcm/content/site/climatechange/pages/gateway/youth;Climate Change Education .Org: www.climate changeeducation.org; NOAA-Climate Changeand Our Planet: www.education.noaa.gov/sclimate.

Can Do: epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/school.html Adapted From: “A Heated Controversy,” Environmental Education in the Schools

North American Association for Environmental


One Point of View on Global Climate Change by Scientist 1

It’s time to face the facts—theincreasing amounts of carbondioxide and CFCs in the atmos-phere are making our planet’sclimate warm up. We see thewarning signs in our increasingworld temperatures. The 1990swas the hottest decade inrecorded history. While this isn’tproof that global warming hasbegun, it certainly should warnus that something is happeningto our climate.

Over the past 100 years, aver-age world temperatures haverisen by about 1°F. That maynot seem like much of anincrease, but keep in mind thattemperatures today are onlyabout 9°F warmer than theywere during the last ice age. Ittakes only a small change intemperature to cause bigchanges in our world. If wecontinue to put as much carbondioxide into the atmosphere aswe do now, the world’s averagetemperature may increase by3° to 10°F within 50 years.If temperatures do rise, we canexpect some drastic changesto take place. As temperaturesgo up, polar ice caps will melt,sea levels will rise and manycoastal areas will becomeflooded. The warming couldmake droughts occur moreoften in certain areas. Some

places, like the Midwest, couldbecome so hot and dry thatmany crops couldn’t grow thereanymore. All over the world,plants and animals may not beable to adapt quickly enough tothe sudden changes in theirhabitats. Some species couldeven become extinct.

Some people claim that weshould wait until we’reabsolutely sure of global warm-ing before we do anything tocontrol it. I disagree. If we waittoo long, it may be too late toprevent damage from thewarming trend. Besides, manyadaptation policies make goodsense even without climatechange. They preserveresources, diversify oursources of fuel, and increaseour general quality of life.

We should cut carbon dioxideproduction by at least 20 per-cent and phase out CFCs now.Since people in the UnitedStates produce a lot of the car-bon dioxide and CFCs that gointo the air, we have to set anexample for the rest of theworld. We must develop safer some information probably chemicals to replace CFCs. We needs updated)have to switch to solar powerand other alternative energysources. Until we make thatswitch, we have to use less fos-sil fuels. Industries that contin-ue to use coal and other fossilfuels must become more ener-gy efficient. These industries

should be taxed for the exces-sive carbon dioxide theyrelease. A higher tax shouldalso be placed on gasoline toencourage people to drive less.Car makers should be requiredby law to make cars that getbetter gas mileage. Agricultureand waste disposal processesmust change so that werelease less methane into theatmosphere.

Individuals must do their part,too, by using cars less andpublic transportation more, andby buying more energy-efficientappliances and cars. The burn-ing of the tropical rainforestmust stop as well. By preserv-ing these forests, we canreduce carbon dioxide emis-sions caused by the burningand save the trees and othervegetation that help absorbcarbon dioxide.

It will cost money to makesome of these changes. But it’sbetter to pay the price now—not later, when the effects ofglobal warming can’t bereversed. (*please note -

Scientist 1—It’s Warm in Here or is It?


special chemical or physical mechanisms to remove pollutants from wastewater. Thismore expensive treatment is usually neces-sary to protect Illinois streams.

Preparation1. Review the background information.

2. Arrange for a field trip or a visit from aguest speaker to take place two days aftergiving the students the assignment. The fieldtrip can be to a reservoir, water treatmentplant, or water pumping station; guest speak-ers could include representatives from yourlocal water utility or businesspeople involvedin the drilling of private wells.

Procedure1. Ask the students if they know where theirdrinking water comes from. Try to have themget as specific as possible in their answers.(For example, is the water stored in a reser-voir prior to coming to their homes? Do theyknow where their well is located on their prop-erty? Does the community get its water froma lake or river?) Ask them if they know whathappens to water in their homes after it goesdown the drain: does it wind up in a septictank, or is it connected to a municipal sewersystem?

2. Give the students the assignment of dis-covering and learning the exact steps andprocesses that water goes through on its wayto their homes. Remind them that differenthomes may have different water supplies, andthat they are to answer regarding their ownhomes, not their friend’s or classmates’.Instruct them to determine every step alongthe way: how water is purified, how it is trans-ported, where it is kept, and so forth. They areto write their findings in a one- or two-pagecomposition.

3. Two days after giving the assignment, takethe students on a field trip to a water-relatedfacility, or have a guest speaker come to

class. Try not to announce the speaker to theclass in advance. Encourage them to askquestions and to use this as an opportunity todetermine the accuracy of the research theyhave completed thus far.

4. Give the students one more day to finishtheir research. When the students turn in theirpapers, ask them in class to explain howwater first gets to their homes. As they provideanswers verbally, elaborate on their answersand diagram the process on a chalkboard. Dothe same with the question of where water goes.

5. Divide the class into groups of four or fivestudents. Tell the class that each group isgoing to develop a creative way to communi-cate the water purification cycle that they havejust diagrammed. Each group must select howthey wish to communicate the information.They are allowed to use any means they wantto, as long as it can be shared with the rest ofthe class. Also, each member of the groupmust have a role in the performance. Forexample, if a group decides to write a story,then each member should be involved in recit-ing the story. Assign a reasonable time inwhich groups can create their presentations.

6. Give students time over two to three daysto prepare and practice their presentations.

7. Have the groups present their original pre-sentations in front of the class (or possibly toanother class or grade level.)

Wrap UpAssessmentPrior to the presentations, instruct the stu-dents that they will be rating each other’s workon set criteria. Have them grade each presen-tation in the following areas: Creativity;Accuracy; Completeness; and Clarity ofCommunication. Each student must also statewhat they liked about each presentation, what


they learned from each one, and what theywould have the team improve upon.

ExtensionsMultidisciplinaryHave the class (or some of the groups)research how wastewater was handled histori-cally, either by settlers or by NativeAmericans. Have them do a similar type of Water Resources: http://water.usgs.gov/presentation to the class.

TechnologyHave the students discuss water conserva-tion. Briefly review some of the technologythat is available to help consumers conserve www.dnr.state.wi.us/education.water. Have the students think of new prod-ucts or mechanisms that will reduce theamount of water that is consumed in theirhomes or the community.

OutdoorHave the students visit a local wetland. Usethe visit as an opportunity to discuss, com-pare and contrast how nature and humanspurify and recycle water.

Resources• Water Science for SchoolsUSGS offers a wealth of informationregarding the many aspects of waterincluding useful pictures, data, maps andan interactive center.http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/NRCS Information for Teachers: www.il.nrcs.usda.gov/teachers.html.

• H2O Below: An Activity Guide forGroundwater StudyAn educational curriculum for middle schoolstudents developed as part of the Illinois Middle School Groundwater Project.To order contact the IDNR at 217-782-7498or online at: http://dnr.state.il.us/teachkids/ordertype.asp or http://dnr.state.il.us/education/edmaterials.htm

• Water Quality: Potential Sources of PollutionThis 24" x 36" color poster depicts point and nonpoint sources of pollution. The reverseside contains two activities, Dispersion ofNonpoint Pollutants and How Substances AreMeasured in Water. Available online at:http://water.usgs.gov/outreach/index.html.

• Groundwater and Land Use in the Water Cycle This 24" x 36" color poster graphically displays various land use practices and geologic formations. Order online at:

• Common Lake Water Quality ParametersA Lake Note Fact Sheet that describes how water plants monitor different water qualityparameters to help determine treatment.To download online go to: www.epa.state.il.us/water/conservation/lake-notes/index.html.Marine Education Resources: www2.vims.edu/search/bridge1output_menu.cfm?q=pollution

• Kids’ StuffU.S. EPA’s Office of Groundwater and DrinkingWater has compiled resources especially forkids to learn more about drinking water,including games, activities and experiments.www.epa.gov/safewater/kids

• Consumer Confidence ReportsProvides an Annual Drinking Water QualityReport that is broken up by public water sup-plies. It includes detection of regulated con-taminants, if there is a violation or concern foreach contaminant, and the likely source ofcontamination. http://epadata.epa.state.il.us/water/bowccr/ccrselect.aspx


plete story. It may be helpful for them to takenotes on the back of the worksheet to helpthem organize the information and keep trackof the suspects.

3. Have students read the story or read thestory aloud to the class, pausing at times toallow them to reflect on the information or towrite down notes.

4. After hearing the story, students shouldcircle on the worksheet who they think the cul-prit or culprits are and indicate why.

5. Ask the students to list all of the suspectsor possible causes of pollution in the lake. Thelist will probably include some or all of the following: Ms. DeRose, Mr. Penn, Mr. Who’sbakery, Farmer Tress, Acme Widget, the construction site, the disposal company, thesnow plow.

6. Assign each of the suspects to a differentplace in the classroom (for example, Mr. Pennby the window, Ms. DeRose under the clock).Instruct the students, at your signal, to get upand stand in the part of the room which corre-sponds to the person they think was mostresponsible for the lake being polluted. Tellthem they must go to the place they circled ontheir worksheet. If there are students whobelieve there was more than one cause, havethem form a separate group.

7. Have the groups which have assembled byeach suspect decide on a single main reasonwhy they believe that person (or cause) ismost responsible. Have each group select aspokesperson to explain their reason to therest of the class. (If there is a group of students who felt there was more than oneperson responsible, have that group presentlast.)

8. Read the following answer, discuss it withthe class and get their responses.

“A Genuine Water Who-Done-It” Answer:What Findit discovered is that the lake hasbeen contaminated by pollutants from a num-ber of sources. The factory, though, was notone of them.

The sources that Findit identified during hisride were these:1. Waste oil dumped onto the ground.2. Oil, gasoline, and other pollutants from theroad washed onto the soil and down the slopeto the lake.3. Possibility of leakage from undergroundstorage tanks below Mr. Who’s bakery shop.4. Pesticide runoff from the farm fields.5. Fertilizer runoff from Ms. DeRose’s garden.6. Sediment from the construction site.7. Runoff from Well’s ducks’ wastes.

Findit did not have time to research the com-pany that handled Acme’s hazardous waste.If this was a reputable and law-abiding firm,there should have been no connection to thepollution in the lake. However, if the companydisposed of the wastes illegally (such asdumping them down a storm drain or storingthem in corroded or insecure containers), thenit too could have contributed.

Wrap UpAssessment:• Have the students select one character (possible culprit) from the story. Instruct themto research the particular kind of pollution thatthe character contributed, and develop a waythat the character could keep that pollutantfrom entering the lake. (Note: having the char-acters move or go out of business are notacceptable answers.) Have them write or drawtheir ideas or present them to the class.

ExtensionsCommunity• Find out if there is a similar mystery at alake, river, or stream in your community. Takethe students on a field trip for a water body


clean up. While there, have them try to identify possible sources of water pollution inthe area. Have them perform a water qualityassessment by checking for indicator speciesor performing chemical tests for dissolvedoxygen, phosphates, and nitrates.

Multidisciplinary• Have the students turn the story into a briefplay, which they can then present to otherclasses. Alternatively, they can put on a mocktrial with one of the characters as a defen-dant.

Outdoor• Have students develop a list of possible non-point sources of pollution in and around theschool. From this list each student is to develop one or two bingo-type cards, withpotential pollution sources in the place ofnumbers. Students trade cards with eachother so that no student has his or her owncard. The class then goes on a walk aroundthe school ground, getting tokens each timethey pass a source mentioned on their card.The winner is the first one who gets four orfive in a row.

Technological• Have a local water quality professional(water well inspector, water utility representa-tive, state water scientist with the IEPA orIDNR, etc.) visit the classroom. Have themexplain how they monitor and protect freshwater supplies. Ask him / her to bring some ofthe tools and equipment they use for waterquality measurement so students can seehow technology plays a part.

Resources• Water Quality: Potential Sources of Pollution,Middle School EditionThis 24” x 36” color poster depicts point andnonpoint sources of pollution. The reverseside contains two activities, Dispersion ofNonpoint Pollutants and How Substances AreMeasured in Water. Available online at:http://water.usgs.gov/outreach/OutReach.html

• Illinois Water Quality ReportProvides information on Illinois watershedsand compares water quality of each area tostatewide data.www.epa.state.il.us/water/water-quality

• Clean Water ActAn introduction to the Clean Water Act,

the primary federal law that protects ournation’s waters, including lakes, rivers,aquifers and coastal areas.www.epa.gov/watertrain/cwa/

• Nonpoint Source PollutionA fact sheet about nonpoint source pollution,

the nation’s largest source of water qualityproblems.www.epa.gov/OWOW/NPS/facts/point1.htm

• Water Science for SchoolsThis site provides extensive background infor-mation on a wide variety of water topics. Italso includes on-line activities, data tables,maps and a glossary of terms.http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/

• Teaching Resources - WaterA wealth of information on water educationfor all age groups.www.epa.gov/teachers/water.htm

• Lake Notes Learn about NPS pollution with the following Lake Notes: Shoreline Buffer Strips, Shoreline Stabilization, Fertilizers and Pesticides Basics, and Home and Yard. www.epa.state.il.us/water/conservation/lake- notes/index.html


to have students weigh their models beforeadding the water.

10. After three weeks, have students discussthe following:

• What changes have they seen in the garbage in their landfills?

• What, if anything, has started to decom-pose?

• Is there any mold or fungus growing in your landfill?

• Has the weight or size of the landfill or any of its layers changed? If so, what do you think this means?

• Are all the layers of your landfill the same as when you started? Why or why not?

• How do your results compare with your hypothesis?

• How does your landfill compare with theresults of the other teams?

• Do you think your landfill could with-stand a heavy rain or an illegal toxic dumping?

Wrap UpAssessment• Have students make one last hypothesis -Which of their landfills, if any, would not allowleachate to escape. Have them write downtheir predictions.

Test their predictions with the following simu-lation. Fill a beaker with 100 ml of water andsix drops of food coloring (avoid yellow, as itdoes not show very well) for each model.Dump this “toxin” into each of the landfill mod-els and have teams report if any of it reachedthe sand layer. Have the class review theresults. Were any types of landfills more suc-cessful in resisting the toxin? What’s the bigdeal if a landfill leaks anyway? Discussleachates and the impacts of a landfill’s con-tents seeping into groundwater.

ExtensionsCommunity• Visit a local landfill. Before going, have stu-dents hypothesize what they think it will be

like (will it have an odor, how large or smallwill it be, will garbage be visible). Additionally,have them prepare a list of questions for thelandfill representative.

Multidisciplinary• Have students keep a journal during theentire activity. Have them look closely (maybewith a magnifying glass) at their landfill modeland compare it with the other models. Askthem to record and/or draw any changes thatthey may see during the process.

Outdoor• Have students do a quick inventory of thethings that are being taken to the curb in theirneighborhoods on trash pick-up day. Ask themto determine if there are any items that couldbe disposed of in another manner (compost-ing, recycling, donating to charity, buyingitems with less packaging, etc.). Have stu-dents brainstorm ways that they could edu-cate others about where the trash goes.• Do a more in-depth study in which studentsweigh the garbage they or their families throwout in one week. How does that compare tothe amounts that could be recycled or com-posted?

Technology• Invite someone who designs and/or buildslandfills as their occupation to come speak tothe class. Have students develop questions toask him or her that are relevant to their landfill Provides grants to assist schools with the develop-development experience.

Resources• IEPA Bureau of Land - Open DumpsProvides information about the laws and hazards of open dumps.www.epa.state.il.us/land/open-dumps/index.html

• IEPA Bureau of Land - Landfill Capacity ReportThe site contains the annual report on the sta-tus of sanitary landfill space.

www.epa.state.il.us/land/landfill-capacity/index.html

• Household Waste Disposal SolutionsAn online guide for proper disposal of com-mon household items that require specialtreatment.www.epa.state.il.us/land/hazardous-waste/household-haz-waste/hhw-disposal.html

• Teaching Resources - Waste and RecyclingThis site provides a wealth of knowledge on waste and recycling. www.epa.gov/teachers/waste.htm

• DCEO’s Vermicomposting Kit: EEEK!There's a Worm In My Room (Grades K-adult)Contains lesson plans, a video and all theinformation you would need to know aboutsetting up a vermicomposting (food compost-ing with worms) bin of your own! (Free Rental!)

Å DCEOôs The Case forInvestigating the 4Rs(Grades K-adult)

Contains videos, lesson plans and a variety ofproducts made from recycled materials.(FreeRental!)

To reserve a DCEO educational kit, contact SusanNevitt at 217-785-2863, [email protected]Å The Illinois Zero Waste Schools Grant Program

ment or expansion of recycling source reduction,and composting/vermicomposting. To find the Request for Application (RFA) go to www.ISTEP.org. For additional information contact Brett Iversat 217-785-2013 or [email protected].

Adapted From: “Leachate Legacy,” Environmental Resource Guide—Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention. Air & Waste Management Association. Pittsburgh, PA. 1992.



sheet. Have them create a list of ingredientsnecessary for each alternative. Have them goto the store and obtain the prices for eachingredient and the price for the product to besubstituted. For example, a non-hazardousalternative to drain cleaners consists of bak-ing soda and white vinegar. Students woulddetermine the cost for these two items as wellas a common commercial drain cleaner.

Outdoors• Visit U.S. EPA's "Resources: Be an Environmental Steward" web page for ideas and examples on how to engagemiddle school students in hands-on activities. www.epa.gov/epawaste/education/teens/steward.htm

Technology• Have students visit the U.S. EPA’s interactiveweb site “Learn About Chemicals Around YourHouse.” www.epa.gov/kidshometour

This site allows students to choose a room ina house and then select those products thatcontain pesticides or toxic substances.

Resources• IEPA, Bureau of Land - HouseholdHazardous Waste (HHW) CollectionsThis site provides information on the collectionschedule and the accepted HHW waste types.www.epa.state.il.us/land/hazardous-waste/household-haz-waste/index.html

• U.S. EPA's Resources for Teen Awarenessand Environmental InformationThis web site provides links to interactive tools and maps for information on environmentalactivities that may affect the air, land or waterin your community. www.epa.gov/epawaste/ education/teens/general.htm

• Clean Sweep U.S.A.Keep America Beautiful (Grades 6-8)An interactive web site that provides backgroundinformation and six different lesson plans regard-ing waste management, source reduction, composting, recycling, trash as a source of energyand landfills. www.cleansweepusa.org/

• Keep America BeautifulLearn how you can get involved in cleaning upyour community. The three focus areas of thisnonprofit public education organization con-sist of the following: litter prevention, beautifi-cation and community improvement, andwaste reduction. www.kab.org

• Earth 911Provides community specific information onrecycling, pollution and the environment.www.earth911.org

• Consumer’s Handbook for Reducing SolidWasteThis site describes how people can help solvea growing problem...garbage!www.epa.gov/osw/wycd/catbook/

• DCEO's The Case for Investigating the 4RsInvestigating the 4Rs.This kit contains videos, lesson plans and avariety of products made from recycled mate-rials. Grades K-adult (Free Rental!)

To reserve an educational kit, contact SusanNevitt, Illinois Department of Commerce andEconomic Opportunity (DCEO), RecyclingEducation Unit, at 217-785-2863 or [email protected]. www.illinoisbiz.biz/dceo/Bureaus/Energy_Recycling/Education/ISTEP_cases_program.htmwww.istep.org


Name:_______________________________

Home Inventory of Potentially Hazardous Household ProductsStudent Sheet

Take this worksheet home and with your parent’s or guardian’s help try to locate the 10 items listed below. On the item’s package or label, you should be able to find the hazard characteristic.In the column labeled Proper Disposal, write the number or numbers of the way you think the itemshould be disposed of: 1) Buy only what you need.

2) Use it up for its intended purpose.3) Donate it to someone who can use it.4) Recycle it.5) HHW (Household Hazardous Waste) collection.

Car Battery

ShavingCream Can

Used MotorOil

Empty SprayPaint Can

Drain Cleaner

Ant & RoachKiller

FurniturePolish

Rug SpotRemover

FlashlightBattery

Ammonia

Do You Item Where Is Warning Hazard ProperHave? It Stored? Labels Characteristics Disposal


turn that card over, tape it again to the boardwith the answer side showing, and read theanswer. Consult the master list to verify the“right” question. If a team guesses correctly,place the point amount on the scoreboard: ifthey guess incorrectly, place the point amountwith a minus sign. At the end of the round tallythe scores.

19. Play “Double Jeopardy,” adding the teamscores from this round to the scores fromround one. Rules do not change, only thepoints per question increase.

20. After the game has ended, ask students • Environmental Education Resourcesthe following questions. - Earth Day Network: www.earthday.net/environ-

• What similarities were there between the mentaljep, www.earthday.net/EJ/EJ_Fourth_types of pollution? Edition.pdf

• What were the major differences? - National Environmental Education Foundation• What type of pollution do you expect to www.neefusa.org/

find in our community? Why?• What types of things can be done to

prevent or reduce pollution?

Wrap UpAssessment• Use all of the student-generated questions ina formal assessment, such as a quiz or test,to confirm individual student comprehension.

Resources• Illinois Environmental Protection Agencyhttp://www.epa.state.il.us

• United States Environmental ProtectionAgencyhttp://www.epa.gov

Adapted From: “Community Jeopardy,” CommunityConnections. The Oakland Museum. Oakland, CA. 1992.


Group Planning Student Page

1. The type of pollution we will investigate: ________________________________________

2. ResearchYour group must have someone investigating the following research areas. Write your name next tothe research area you will investigate. Do your research for the questions listed on a separate page.

_________ Natural Causes: • Find at least two natural causes of this type of pollution.• What type of natural or human communities does it affect? • What type of harm or damage can it cause?

_________ Human Causes: • Find at least four human causes of this type of pollution.• What type of natural or human communities does it affect?• What type of harm or damage can it cause?

_________ Natural Systems: • What natural systems are involved in this type of pollution?• Can this type of pollution affect other natural systems (air,

land, and water)?

_________ Possible Remedies: • Find at least three ways in which this type of pollution could be prevented or reduced.

• Identify at least one strategy that is controversial or that different people will disagree about. Why will they disagree?

3. ResourcesWhat resources do you plan to use for your investigation?

4. RolesYour group must have someone responsible for the following roles. Write your name next to yourrole. Everyone must have a role.

_________ Research Coordinator: Makes sure each person has something to research and helps to find resources.

_________ Question / Answer Coordinator: Makes sure each person in the group completes their question/answers on time.

_________ Card Coordinator: Makes sure the group creates eight cards and that all have the pollution topic listed on each.

_________ Facilitator: Takes any group questions to the teacher for clarification. (Do this after making sure that no one in the group knows or agrees on the answer to the question).

Date: _____________________________ Group Members:

Environmental Pathways 103 4—What Can We Do About Illinois Pollution Issues?

soil and groundwater. For these reasons, usedtires must be carefully disposed of.

The IEPA is responsible for the transport, stor-age, disposal and recycling of used tires inIllinois. As of July 1994, whole used tires can-not be disposed of in a landfill. So what canbe done with all those tires?

Shredded scrap tires can be used as tirederived fuel (TDF) to burn with coal in powerplants and factories to produce energy. Airpollution is reduced when TDF is blended andburned with coal.

When the steel belting is removed from shred-ded steel-belted tires, the material can beused as playground turf instead of gravel, con-crete, asphalt, or wood chips. This rubber turfprovides a much safer play area because ofthe cushioning properties of the rubber. Whena glue is added to this material and it ispressed and flattened, the result is “elas-tocrete,” a flooring material that can be usedfor playgrounds and exercise rooms.

Rubber that does not contain wire can beground into a sand-like material. This “crumbrubber” is used in rubberized asphalt (anexperimental pavement for roads), railroadcrossing mats, ink pens, rulers, and in themanufacture of many other products. Usedtires can be refurbished and reused through aprocess called retreading. Retreading a tireinvolves replacing the grooved surface of atire with new rubber. Planters, swings, play-ground equipment and sandboxes can also bemade from scrap tires.

Alternative FuelsSince the 1990s, federal and state policieshave been directed toward cleaner air andenergy independence. Alternative fuels pro-vide both a reduction in vehicle emissions anda use of domestic energy resources. TheUnited States has been accustomed to

importing a majority of its petroleum for trans-portation uses and consuming seven millionbarrels of oil per day more than it produces.Other countries, including Brazil, theNetherlands, New Zealand, Italy and Japanhave established their own fuel programs uti-lizing domestic resources to gain a largerdegree of energy independence.

Listed below are some alternative fuels thatare technologically and economically feasible.The only major problem with alternative fuelsat this time is the lack of widespread refuelinginfastructure, but that is a solvable problem.

For current information on alternative fuels,such as E-85, please visit IEPA’s IllinoisGreen Fleets web page at http://www.illinois-greenfleets.org/, or the U.S. Department ofEnergy, Energy Efficiency and RenewableEnergy’s web page at http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/.

Alternative fuel information provided by the“Alternative Fuels Resource Guide For FleetManagers,” IEPA, Springfield, IL, 1998.http://www.epa.state.il.us/air/clean-fuel-fleet/index.html

Natural Gas****Natural gas is used as a vehicle fuel in nearly40 countries around the world. Natural gasvehicles are much cleaner than conventionalgasoline burning cars, having 95 percent lesstailpipe emissions. Carbon monoxide, nitrousoxides and hydrocarbons are all much lowerthan the emissions from gasoline engines.

Natural gas does not have to be manufac-tured as other types of fuels do. It requires norefining and very little processing. Natural gasis retrieved under pressure from an under-ground field, cleaned and purified to meetspecifications and distributed through anexisting pipeline network.

4—What Can We Do About Illinois Pollution Issues? 104 Environmental Pathways

Contrary to popular belief, natural gas is not ahighly explosive fuel and in fact is less hazardous than gasoline. This is because itsignition temperature is twice that of gasolineand it does not burn as well in open air. Theonly perceived disadvantage of a natural gasvehicle is the added weight and size of speciallarge fuel tanks to hold the natural gas.

Liquid PetroleumLiquefied petroleum gas (LPG), or propane,has been used as a motor vehicle fuel formore than 80 years. It became more popularin the 1950s as a fuel to power indoor factoryequipment such as forklifts, so as to reduceharmful carbon dioxide emissions and work-ers’ exposure to them.

LPG is a by-product of natural gas or petrole-um refining. The chemical and physical prop-erties of it offer several advantages over gaso-line. It has an octane of 104, which reduces“knocking” of the engine. Propane engineshave been reported to experience less wearand require less maintenance than gasolineengines, because of its cleaner burning prop-erties—a characteristic of natural gas as well.

The primary air quality benefit of LPGs as amotor fuel is lower hydrocarbon and carbondioxide emissions compared with convention-al gasoline. It burns clean and produces virtu-ally no particulates or sulfur emissions. LPG is a nontoxic gas. No long-term effects have beenreported from exposure to propane vapors.

EthanolMany of the harmful pollutants that automo-biles emit into the air are caused by the burn-ing of fuels. A special fuel made from cornand other high-starch content crops calledethanol is being used in cars and trucks.Brazil leads the world in experience withethanol as a transportation fuel. It has beenproducing ethanol from sugarcane since the

1930s. Currently, more than four million vehi-cles run on ethanol in Brazil as a result of agovernment program to make ethanol fromsugar cane.

Ethanol can be used alone as a fuel, or it can be blended with gasoline. Each bushel of cornthat is processed can make two and a halfgallons of ethanol. Over 17 percent of thecorn grown in Illinois, or one out of every sixrows of corn, goes to the production ofethanol in the state.

ElectricityElectric cars are not a new concept for today’sauto manufacturers. General Motors hasmaintained some type of electric vehicle pro-gram since the early 1900s. Prior to WorldWar I, more than one-third of the motor vehi-cles in the United States were electric, manyof them powered by Thomas Edison’s nickel-iron battery. The advances of gasolineengines eventually caused electric cars to be phased out.

Electric vehicles do not have any direct emis-sions and so have the distinction of being“zero emission vehicles” or ZEVs. They arepowered by electricity stored in a recharge-able battery pack.The electricity comes fromthe electric grid; the emissions come fromsomewhere, but not the car.

Problems associated with ZEVs are technolo-gy, price, production and availability of thevehicles. The biggest obstacle facing electricvehicles is the development of batteries thatare capable of holding an electric charge forlong distance travel.

Pollution Prevention Opportunities in the HomeHow many throwaway conveniences have youcome to enjoy—even taken for granted—inyour home, at school, or when you’re out

Environmental Pathways 109 4—What Can We Do About Pollution Issues?

want to focus on the details of the problemand what, if anything, was done to solve it.What specific steps were taken? Does theproblem still exist? Who is affected?

Multidisciplinary• Have each student develop a survey basedon the pollution problems and solutions theydeveloped in the activity. Students couldexchange and complete each other’s surveysor they could have other classes or familymembers complete them.

Outdoor• Have students participate in a local commu-nity or river cleanup day, or participate in yourcounty’s adopt-a-highway program. If noneare offered, have students with the assistanceof community members and organizationsplan one. Living Lands and Waters:www.livinglandsandwaters.org/

Technology index.cfm • Have students visit one or both of the follow-ing websites to determine what types of pollu-tants are in their town, county or state. My environment: www.epa.gov/myenvironment Envirofacts: www.epa.gov/enviro/index.htmlTRI Explorer: www.epa.gov/triexplorer/

Illinois Water Quality Resource Assessmentshttp://www.epa.state.il.us/water/water-quality/

Resources• EnviromapperEnviroMapper is a powerful tool to map vari-ous types of environmental information,including air releases, drinking water, toxicreleases, hazardous wastes, water dischargepermits and Superfund sites. View spatial dataat the national, state, and county levels, aswell as utilize GIS functionality, such as dis-playing multiple spatial layers, zooming, pan-ning, identifying features, and querying singlepoints.www.epa.gov/emefdata/em4ef.home

• Surf Your WatershedA service to help locate, use and share envi-ronmental information about your state andwatershed. http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/

Adapted from: “Ecotopia/Dystopia,” Community Connections.The Oakland Museum. Oakland, CA. 1992.

Living with Wants and Needs

4—What Can We Do About Illinois Pollution Issues? 110 Environmental Pathways

Subject: Language ArtsMathematicsScienceSocial Studies

Skills: • Analyzing • Classifying• Creative thinking

Concepts: 2. F4. H, J, M

Objectives: Students will:1) identify the differencebetween wants and needs intheir own lives.

2) learn that they have choic-es as consumers related totheir needs and wants.

State Standards:Language Arts: 4.A.2 b,cMathematics: 6.C.2 a & 7.A.2 bScience: 11.A.2 c & 13.B.2 fSocial Studies: 15.B.2 a, b, c15.D.2 a, b & 15.E.2 a

Vocabulary:• source reduction

Setting: Indoor

Materials:• copies of the Wants andNeeds Cards (p. 113)• three plates• three types of cookies• means of measuring waterfrom a sink

Time: Two class periods

Activity OverviewStudents examine the concepts of wants and needs anddetermine ways that their personal choices can affect pollution.

BackgroundPeople have different ideas about what constitutes “wants”and “needs.” Generally, people will agree on the definitionthat needs are what we require for survival, and wants arethings we would like to have or which would make our liveseasier, but which are not necessary for survival. Opinionsand decisions will depend upon a person’s culture, back-ground, values and personal situation. For example, millionsof people around the world live without electricity, yet mostpeople in America would consider it necessary for survival.A person living in rural Illinois might be totally dependentupon her or his car, whereas someone living in Chicago,where public transportation is common, may not even ownone. On the other hand, a spinning wheel might have beenthought of as a necessity (need) in most households cen-turies ago to make clothing, but is a craft item (want) for mostof us now.

Although people may classify some of these things different-ly, there are some items which are common needs for allhuman beings. All people share basic biological needs forfood, water, shelter and air. Other important things for allpeople are medicine, clothing and transportation. Other“wants” may be classified as “needs” if a person requiresthem to meet basic biological needs.

Preparation1. Make one set of copies of the Wants and Needs cards foreach pair of students. Keep each set of cards separated inan envelope so that they do not get mixed together.

2. Get three different packages (brands) of one type ofcookie (e.g., three different kinds of chocolate chip or peanutbutter). One package should have excessive packaging, theother two should be different enough from each other thatwhen compared, there is a difference in the amount of pack-aging and the cost per cookie (or per ounce of cookie).

3. Obtain three plates and label them A, B, and C.

Environmental Pathways 147 APPENDICES

IEPA Document Order Form Send the completed form to:Illinois Environmental Protection AgencyEnvironmental Education Coordinator, Mailcode #351021 North Grand Avenue EastP.O. Box 19276Springfield, IL 62794-9276

Your Name:___________________________________________________________

Name of School / Organization:__________________________________________

Mailing Address:______________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Telephone:__________________________ E-mail: _________________________

Check the box beside the material you would like sent to you. Please only order what you need.

• Air Facts - Air Quality Monitoring (pp. 61, 65)

• Air Facts - Criteria Pollutants Fact Sheet (pp. 28, 61)

• Air Facts - Nonattainment: Falling Short of Air Quality Standards (p. 61)

• Lake Notes - Determining Your Lake’s Watershed (p. 49)*

• Lake Notes - Fertilizers and Pesticides: Options for Lawn and Garden Use Fact Sheet (p.20)*

• Lake Notes - Home and Yard Fact Sheet (p.20)*

• Lake Notes - Septic Systems Fact Sheet (p.20)*

*Lake Notes are also available online at www.epa.state.il.us/water/conservation/lake-notes/index.html

IEPA Document Order Form

APPENDICES 148 Environmental Pathways

Documents

2006 Manual w-Updates.xp - epa.state.il.us