Water Pollution - What to Do?

Ideas for a Mini-Unit: A Work In Progress

Drat 7-2-98

Major Concept: Chemical Reactions

Content Skills

Substance has characteristic properties

Measuring

Substances react chemically

Observation

Collecting Data

Using Tools

Inferring

Communicating Results

The Challenge

Environmental pollution has become one of the most important issues which continually faces our society. Uncontrolled and unlimited pollution of our air and water cannot be justified by short term economic gain. Hence, every responsible citizen must be cognizant of the consequences of polluting planet Earth.

Water is the specific focus of our concerns in this mini-unit. Water is a resource most taken for granted. Even though most of planet Earth is covered by water, less than one percent of the hydrosphere is available fresh water for human use.

Once upon a time, natural processes of decomposition and settlement coupled with the water cycle could maintain the quality of water. Today, the rate at which pollutants are added to water is much faster than natural remedies.

Performance Tasks

Task 1: Learn how to identify acid rain

Collect rain water in sample containers over a several week time period from your school's location and from as many other locations in Kentucky as possible. Determine acidity of each sample by neutralization. Analyze the sample source location to ascertain any pollution or environmental factors which might cause the results above.

Task 2: Learn about chemical pollution of water

Research chemical pollution of water in your area. Consider sources of pollution to include organic, industrial and agriculture pollution. Collect water samples from several water sources in your community and test the water samples for those chemical impurities identified above.

Assessment

As a scientist and a citizen in your school's area and sharing some of the environmental problems discovered in the above tasks, what steps would you take to deal with the problems?