Discuss how power plants and industry burn fuel to produce energy
List these fossil fuels as coal, oil, and methane gas.
Review how these fuels release sulfur dioxide and nitric oxides into the environment.
Discuss lab results to show the chemical production of sulfuric acid and nitric acid and carbonic acid.
List and discuss VOC'S. Define volatile and include solvents such as benzene, formaldehyde, and toluene. Along with these are the more common acetone, acetic acid, ethanol, and butanal.
Perform a demonstration to explain how a temperature inversion occurs.
Lab which demonstrates how acid rain is produced from burning fossil fuels which produce sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide.
Tests for the presence of sulfuric acid and carbonic acid are completed and compared to controls.
The effect on the statue of David's nose was demonstrated using marble chips and the acid rain produced.
Discuss and review primary pollutants.
Using a bar graph, discuss the major contributors to air pollution.
Outline the chemistry of major pollutants and toxins in the air
Discuss the EPA and the regulations promulgated to decrease air pollution
Diagram and discuss the operation of a catalytic converter used in automobiles, and how it converts noxious gases and particles into less noxious vapors.
Session Minutes
60
Minutes Student Attended
60
Lesson Comments
on line lesson. Shared screens and diagrams were a large help
Define and explain why air pollution is only "pollution" when it affects human health.
Place air pollution into 2 categories, primary and secondary.
Define what constitutes a primary air pollutant, and list some very common examples.
Write the chemical expressions for the creation of sulfur oxides from sulfur and oxygen, carbon monoxide from carbon and oxygen combustion, and nitrogen oxides from nitrogen and oxygen combustion.
Discuss how these contribute to acid rain.
Begin to fill in a chart which outlines each.
From a photograph of a highly air polluted city, outline and discuss possible causes of this pollution.
Relate the 1998 winter olympics in Negano, Japan. This was a city with high air pollution.
Elicit ways in which the pollution affected the athletes, include asthma development, shortness of breath, visual problems, allergies, and toxicity to chemicals.
Discuss how the pollution originated and why the presence of the olympic city increased the air toxicity.
List what "good" air should contain, and discuss if the IOC should screen the cities better before awarding.
Session Minutes
60
Minutes Student Attended
60
Lesson Comments
Ayden always needs a little coaxing, but once started, he arrives at good answers to the questions,
Define and discuss economics
Discuss how people decide th value of a product
Discuss regulation and economic incentives
Outline and discuss private efforts employed by business and private organizations in addressing the environmental crises.
Elicit a listing of possible renewable energy sources. Include solar, wind, and water.
Discuss the use of wind turbines, as a modern method to produce electricity.
Show that wind as been used for hundreds of years, in the form of windmills, to power equipment.
Indicate that in certain states, like Florida, solar power can be most advantageous to produce both electrical power on a grand scale, and to heat water on an individual scale.
Read and discuss from Silent Spring the beginning of the chapter which deals with the human price being paid from the use of pesticides.
Elicit a workable definition of hazardous waste as waste which will cause a risk to human health.
Expand on the 3 types of hazardous waste; solid, liquid, and gaseous.
Explain how they can be toxic, corrosive, and explosive in all 3 states.
Compile a list of hazardous waste and the warning labels to be aware of.
Discuss the toxicity of heavy metals like lead, mercury, and zinc.
Discuss that the lack of properly discarding the waste can and will leak into the air and groundwater.
