Pollution

AHS Agriculture

Unit Essential Question

• What is pollution and how can we help reduce it?

Warm-up

• Word Splash

Pollution

• Introduction of contaminants that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the environment

Forms of Pollution• Air Pollution (carbon monoxide,

sulfur dioxide, CFCs, nitrogen oxides- industry or cars)

• Littering• Noise Pollution• Soil Contamination (spills or

underground leakage, hydrocarbons, pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals)

Forms of Pollution• Radioactive pollution- nuclear

power generation, nuclear weapons research

• Thermal Pollution- hydroelectric plants

• Visual Pollution

Forms of Pollution• Water pollution- release of water

products and contaminants into surface runoff into river drainage systems, liquid spills, wastewater, discharge, eutrophication and littering

Effects of Pollution- Humans• Discuss with partner what you

think are effects of pollution.

Effects of Pollution- Humans• Ozone- breathing problems, heart

disease, chest pain, congestion, etc.

• Water pollution- causes 14,000 deaths per day, contamination of drinking water by untreated sewage

Effects of Pollution- Humans• Oil spills- skin irritation and rash• Noise- encourages hearing loss,

high blood pressure, stress, sleep loss

• Lead and heavy metals cause neurological problems

• Chemical and radioactive substances cause cancer and birth defects

Effects of Pollution- Environment• Ocean Acidification• Invasive species – reduce

biodiversity• Global Warming• Infertile soils• Acid rain• Less sunlight= less trees• Species loss

Effects of Pollution- Environment• Superfund activity

Carbon Footprint• The measure of the impact our

activities have on the environment and in particular, climate change

• 2 types

• Lets see what ours is!

• Fill in the worksheet as we go.

Carbon Footprint• Primary Footprint – Measure of

direct human emissions of carbon dioxide created by the burning of fossil fuels. These include energy consumers like electricity and modes of transportation.

Carbon Footprint• Secondary Footprint – Measure

of indirect human emissions of carbon dioxide that are created by the shipping and manufacturing of a product. This includes food and drink items from foreign countries.

Carbon Footprint• How can we reduce our carbon

footprint?

Carbon Footprint• Organic gardening

• Reduce

• Reuse

• Recycle–Give an example for each R

Carbon Footprint• Worksheet for the week.

• Carbon Footprint Activity

Landfills and Solid Waste Management

Warm-up

• Describe why pollution is bad.

Lesson Essential Question

• What is solid waste and how can we mange it?

Solid Waste

• Nonliquid, nonsoluble materials ranging from municipal garbage to industrial wastes that contain complex, hazardous substances.

Solid Waste

• 2 sources of Solid Waste

–Municipal

–Industrial

Industrial Solid Waste

• Spoilage from mining, logging, etc

• Not put in landfill

• Usually spread as topsoil

Municipal Solid Waste

• Take out the trash

• Dispose by place in landfill and bury it under soil

• Bigger problem

• Generated by households

Municipal Solid Waste

• Paper

• Metal

• Scraps

• Wood scraps

• Plastic

• more

Municipal Solid Waste

• 1960- 2.7 lbs per person/day

• 1990- 4.3 lbs

• 2005- 4.5 lbs

• Figure 9.3 pg 107

Municipal Solid Waste

• Read through packet and explain what each of those charts shows.

• 20 minutes

Types of Solid Waste

• Hazardous Waste- dangerous or potentially harmful to humans or environment

Types of Solid Waste• Radioactive Waste

–Low- level waste- medical wastes (tools, filters, rags, medical tubes)

–High- level waste- used reactor fuel- disposed in long-term deep underground disposal sites

Types of Solid Waste• Non hazardous waste- municipal

waste and industrial waste

Solid Waste• What is solid waste packet.

Disposal of Solid Waste

Warm-up• How do we dispose of solid waste?

Lesson Essential Question• Is the way we dispose of solid

waste working?

Disposal of Solid Waste

• Burying

• Landfills

• Dig a hole, fill it with trash, cover it and let it decompose.

• Why is this not always effective?

Disposal of Solid Waste

• 1950 studies showed that water ran through landfills, picks up and transports contaminants and biological agents- bacteria, viruses, and dissolves water soluble chemicals.

Disposal of Solid Waste

• This water enters the groundwater supply and stays there until it is removed for human use.

• Water must be tested and treated

Disposal of Solid Waste

• Leachate- any liquid that picks up solids or solutes when passing through

MSW

• Disposed of on any landform, ditches, open pits, hillsides, or even open areas. May or may not be burned. May or may not be covered.

Landfill

• What is a landfill??

–An open area into which garbage is placed to be covered with a layer of some other material, typically soil

Landfill Types

• Natural Attenuation

• Containment

Natural Attenuation

• Hold waste material in a covered area

• Allow natural percolation of precipitation to pass through waste and pass through soil and rocks to neutralize (micro-organisms and soil particles)

Natural Attenuation

• Paper and yard wastes safe here

Natural Attenuation

• How it works:

• Absorption: Clay- particles in leachate “stick” to the clay

• Biological removal: bacteria, fungi break down/absorb constituents

• Ion exchange: neutralizes constituents

• Dilution: concentration lowered by mixing with water

• Filtration: trap in pores of soil• Chemical Precipitation: phase

change: liquid to solid then removed

Containment• Minimize seepage of leachate into

the surrounding soil and groundwater

• Hazardous solid waste• Add liner • Multiple layers of clay and

bentonite

Containment

• PVC or others may be used

• Leachate collection pipes used for above liners

• Leachate treated in wastewater treatment plant

Landfill Design

• Regardless of landfill, shapes will be similar

• 3 shapes: at grade, canyon, fill or trench fill.

• pg. 112 in book

Landfill Design

• The Garbage Story

Classification of Water Pollution Sources

Warm-up

• What do you think is the common cause of water pollution?

Lesson Essential Question

• What is water pollution?

Water Pollution

• “If wastes are put into the water, they cannot be seen; therefore, they must be gone. After all think of the billions and billions of gallons of water on this planet. There is no way we could ruin it.”

Water Pollution

• 3 basic sources

–Point

–Diffuse

–Background

Point Source Pollution

• Direct introduction of contaminants into the water supply at an identifiable location

• EX: Wastewater from factory being dumped into a stream through a discharge pipe

Diffuse source pollution

• Aka non-point-source pollution• Introduction of contaminants

across a wide area• EX: Surface contamination from

a farm or city that seeps into groundwater supply from runoff.

Background Pollution

• Ongoing contamination from natural sources

Urban Pollution

• Pollution in our cities due to items such as road salts, street detergents and sewer systems.

• Runoff of chemicals enters storm sewers and can end up in rivers and streams

Urban Pollution

• Affects ground water supply

• Methane and ammonia from landfills

Industrial Pollution

• Causes the most pollution

• Also does the most to control pollution

4 types of Industrial Pollution

• Thermal Pollution

• Radioactive Materials

• Organic Chemicals

• Inorganic Materials

Agricultural Pollution

• Animal wastes

• Pesticides

• Fertilizers

• Silt sediments

Agricultural Pollution

• Huge buildings and giant feedlots create problems with waste disposal

Agricultural Pollution

• Spread manure on fields may leach into groundwater

–Keep runoff water away from livestock and stockpile manure

Agricultural Pollution

• Pesticides and fertilizers used to control insects, diseases and weeds. Overuse or incorrect applications may affect groundwater supply

Agricultural Pollution

• Too much fertilizer reaching water creates eutrophication (excessive enrichment of water)

–Algea-filled

–No longer useful

–sediment

Water Pollution

Seepy Sandwhich lab!

Answer questions after.

Air Pollution

Lesson Essential Question

• Why does air pollution matter?

Particulate Matter

• Pieces of solid material or liquid suspended in the atmosphere

Particulate Matter

• No such thing as “clean” air–Earth constantly bombarded

with debris, gasses, dust, and ashes

–As air moves across the planet, picks up salt, pollen, spores, and dust

Particulate Matter

• Human activity over the past years introduced gasses that do not occur naturally–Smoke and dust

Other Gasses

• A lot of interest

• Anthropogenic emissions- gasses and particulate that result from human activity

• Leading to GLOBAL WARMING

Other Gasses

• An Inconvenient Truth.

• Answer Questions

Recycling

Warm-up

• What is recycling?

Lesson Essential Question

• How does recycling help pollution?

Recycling

• One way of reducing the amount of waste. Shows pro-active towards saving out Earth.

Recycling

• Don’t recycle to save trees. No shortage of trees

• Natural resources not really benefited in any substantial way by recycling.

• Why is it so important?

Recycling• Recycling saves energy,

creates jobs, and generates revenue for us

• 56,000 recycling centers employ 1.1 million Americans and generate payrolls of $37 billion

Recycling

• Centers gross $236 billion in annual revenues

• Energy saved- only 5% of energy needed to recycle a bottle vs producing a new one

• 2005- saved 900 trillion BTUs in US alone

Ways to recycle

• Top 10 ways from http://www.eponline.com/Articles/2007/11/12/Tips-Top-Ten-Ways-to-Recycle.aspx

• Reduce your waste

• Reuse anything possible

• Recycle plastics, paper, etc.

Ways to recycle

• 1. Buy recycled paper and print on both sides.

• 2. Recycle your outdated technology.

• 3. Make recycling bins readily available.

Ways to recycle

• 4. Recycle your empty ink and toner cartridges.

• 5. Buy remanufactured ink and toner cartridges.

• 6. Recycle old newspapers laying around the office.

Ways to recycle

• 7. Look for the recycled option in all the products you buy.

• 8. Buy rechargeable batteries

• 9. Purchase rewritable CDs and DVDs so that you can reuse them from project to project.

• 10. Reuse your morning coffee cup.

Cons of Recyclingfrom http://www.grosscatholic.org/teachers/sefranek/Freshman%20Biology/

RecycleSample/finalsites/Pros,%20Cons,%20and%20Effects.htm

• Recycling no matter how much good it can do costs money because of the transportation and processing costs.

• It also uses money because of the machinery needed in order to recycle materials.

Cons of Recyclingfrom http://www.grosscatholic.org/teachers/sefranek/Freshman%20Biology/

RecycleSample/finalsites/Pros,%20Cons,%20and%20Effects.htm

• Recycling also uses energy and can also pollute the earth because of the fumes produced by incineration and machinery use.

Pros of Recyclingfrom http://www.grosscatholic.org/teachers/sefranek/Freshman%20Biology/

RecycleSample/finalsites/Pros,%20Cons,%20and%20Effects.htm

• Recycling lowers cost because materials are made from recycled products instead on new minerals.

• Recycling avoids the cost of moving garbage barges and incineration.

Pros of Recyclingfrom http://www.grosscatholic.org/teachers/sefranek/Freshman%20Biology/

RecycleSample/finalsites/Pros,%20Cons,%20and%20Effects.htm

• Recycling helps the earth because we are using old materials rather than depleting the Earth stock.

Is it worth it?

• Group 1- For Recycling

• Group 2- Against recycling

• Take 10 minutes, research more information on recycling

• Come back together and we will debate this issue

Review

• Complete Review for Exam