Bell Ringer 9-18-14Answer True or False; if you answer false,

JUSTIFY why.

1. The United States produces more garbage than any other nation in the world.

2. Noise can be a form of pollution.

3. All natural resources can be reused.

4. The destruction of animal habitats has a negative effect on animals but does not affect humans.

Answers

1. True- The United States produces more garbage than any other nation in the world.

2. True- Noise can be a form of pollution.

3. False

4. False

Student Learning Objectives:

SPI 0807.5.4 (Biodiversity) Identify several reasons for the importance of maintaining the earth’s biodiversity.

TOC:Environmental Problems, Solutions, and Biodiversity

Environmental Problems and Solutions

You’ve probably heard it before. The air is unhealthy to breathe. The water is harmful to drink. The soil is filled with poisons. The message is…

Earth is SICK and in great DANGER!

Group Work:

1. Come up with a list of challenges to the environment with your group.

2. From the list, choose four that your group feels to be the most important and explain why they are most important.

3. Share your choices with the class.

Environmental Statistics: Water Related• 40% of the world lacks basic sanitation facilitation• 1 billion people are without safe drinking water; Americans

consume 26 billion liters of BOTTLED water annually• Clean water and sanitation for all- $9 billion; Americans

spend that much the day after Thanksgiving shopping for Christmas presents.

• Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.

• Some 1.8 million child deaths each year as a result of diarrhea

• The loss of 443 million school days each year from water-related illness.

• Close to half of all people in developing countries suffering at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits.

• 400 million children with no access to safe water (1 in 5)

Environmental Statistics: Other

• Americans spend more annually on trash bags than nearly half the world does on ALL goods.

• Wood consumption a day: world average- 4 lbs. U.S.- 14 lbs.

• Leading oil consumers in millions of barrels a day: U.S.A.- 20, China- 5.6, Japan- 5.5

• U.S. accounts for 25% of the global oil consumption

Pollution• Pollution is the presence of harmful

substances in the environment. • Pollutant is any harmful substance.• Examples:

– solid materials– chemicals– noise– heat

• Often, pollutants damage or kill the plants and animals living in the affected habitat.

• Pollutants may also harm humans.

Garbage Facts:

• America produces more household waste than any other nation.

• If stacked up, the beverage cans Americans use in one year could reach the moon 17 times!

• The average American throws away 12 kg of trash a week.

• Billions of kilograms of this waste are classified as hazardous, which means it’s harmful to humans and the environment.

• Examples of hazardous wastes from homes:– Old cars, paints, batteries, medical wastes, and

detergents all pollute the environment.

Where Does Garbage All Go?

• Household waste- landfills

• Hazardous waste- specially designed landfills

• Some are burned in incinerators.

• Some are improperly disposed of by dumping them into rivers and lakes.

Chemicals• Chemical

pesticides used to kill crop-destroying insects also pollute the soil and water.

• Rachel Carson wrote about the dangers of pesticides more than three decades ago.

High Powered Waste

• Nuclear Power Plants produce radioactive waste that can cause cancer, leukemia and birth defects.

Question…

• Is the greenhouse effect a positive or negative element in our environment?

• How will the greenhouse effect and global warming affect our future?

• Discuss with your elbow partner.

Greenhouse Effect

• Heat caused by pollutants cause the greenhouse effect.

• These warmer temperatures could melt the icecaps and cause flooding.

Global Warming• Too much of the

greenhouse effect could cause global warming, or the gradual increase in Earth’s temperature.

As the temperatures rise, the polar icecaps begin to melt a little each year. This threatens the life of the polar bear.

It’s Way Too Noisy!• Some pollutants affect the senses. • These include bad odors and loud noise. • Example: Construction worker’s tools or

Music through head phones.• If a person does not protect their ears, they

can slowly lose their hearing.

Question…

• What is the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources?

• Which is better for our environment? Why?

• Discuss with elbow partner.

Another problem for our environment is that we are using up, or depleting, natural resources.

Resource Depletion

• Renewable Resources can be used again and again.

• Example: Fresh Water, solar energy

Nonrenewable Resources

• Nonrenewable Resources can only be used once.

• Example: fossil fuels, such as oil and coal

Coal

• Some nonrenewable resources, such as petroleum, are probably not in danger of running out in your lifetime, but they cannot last forever.

• Plus, the removal of some materials from the Earth carries a high price tag in the form of oil spills and loss of habitat.

Exotic Species• An organism that makes a home for itself in a new

place is an exotic species. • Example: Zebra Mussel (1980’s)

• One reason alien species often thrive in foreign lands is that they are free from the predators in

their native land.• Exotic species often become pests and drive out

native species.

Overpopulation

• Overpopulation occurs when the number of individuals becomes so large that they can’t get all the food, water and other resources they need.

• 1800- 1 billion people in the world

• 1990- 5.2 billion people in the world

• By 2100, there may be 14 billion.

Population Statistics• Some people believe that the human

population is already too high for the Earth to support.

• Today, one out of ten people goes to bed hungry every night.

• Millions of people die each year from hunger-related causes.

• Every 16 seconds somewhere in the world someone dies of hunger.

• Check out the graph on pg. 90.

Habitat Destruction• Biodiversity-variety of life; this refers to the

many different species found in a particular habitat all across the planet.

• Every time a bulldozer digs or a chainsaw buzzes, every time hazardous wastes are dumped, a habitat is damaged, changed, or destroyed.

• When habitats are damaged biodiversity is lost.

Forests

• Deforestation-clearing of forest lands.• Tropical forests are cut for mines, dams, and

roads. They are also cleared for paper, fuel, and building materials.

• After tropical rain forests are cleared, little can grow on the land.

Wetlands

• Wetlands help control flooding by soaking up the water from overflowing rivers.

• They filter pollutants from flowing water and provide breeding grounds for animals.

• They help prevent soil erosion and restore underground water supplies.

• Wetlands are often drained and filled to build homes and shopping malls or dredged to keep passages for ships open.

• Wetlands can also be destroyed by pollution.

Marine Habitats• Oil spills harm the marine

habitat. • Oil from cities and industries is

sometimes dumped into the ocean.

• All of the oceans are connected, so pollutants from one ocean can be carried around the world.

• Example: Exxon Valdez dumped 2,300km of oil off the Alaskan Coast.

Plastics

• Plastics also contribute to killing marine animals.

• Plastics are not biodegradable, so they are not broken down by the environment.

• Animals try to eat them and often get tangled in them and die.

• Dumping plastics is against the law.

Effects on Humans

• Polluted waters-may make you sick or you could possibly die

• Some chemicals cause cancer 20 or 30 years after the person is exposed to them.

Conservation

• Just as people are responsible for damaging the Earth, people can also help heal the Earth. One major way…

• Conservation-the wise use of and preservation of natural resources.

• Example: riding a bike

3 Ways to Conserve

• 1. Reduce

• 2. Reuse

• 3. Recycle

Reduce

• Waste and Pollution– 1/3 of all waste is packaging.

• Less paper

• Thinner paper

• Better biodegradable plastics

What could you do to reduce the amount of trash produced?

• List at least three ways.

Reuse

• Do you get hand-me-down clothes from an older sibling?

• Reusing paper and plastic bags.

• Recharging batteries

• Reusing water for watering plants

Recycle

• Recycling is a form of reuse. It requires breaking down trash and using it again.

• Challenge: – You and your family begin recycling! You can

take your recyclables behind the Kroger on Sam Ridley (bins), to the Smyrna Dump (recycle bins), or any other close places with recycle bins.

Things to Recycle

• Plastic

• Paper

• Aluminum cans

• Wood

• Glass and Cardboard

Resource Recovery

• Some factories are burning their own waste to make electricity. This saves the environment and money.

Maintaining Biodiversity• Provide protection for

endangered species.• The Endangered

Species Act forbids activities that would damage a plant or animal on the endangered species list.

• Protect complete habitats.

Sonoran pronghorn

Conservation of National Parks

Biodiversity Brochure

• This project will be worth one 100 point grade, assessing the standard “SPI 0807.5.4 Identify several reasons for the importance of maintaining the earth’s biodiversity.”

• Information to include in your brochure:– Group Members– Title – References– reasons for the

importance of maintaining the earth’s biodiversity.

Make sure to follow your rubric with needed informationthat will be used for grading.

Biodiversity Brochure Rubric1. What is biodiversity?

Here, you should write five or more sentences answering the question, “What is biodiversity?” Make sure that all information is written in your own words.

2. Why is biodiversity important?Here, you should have five or more bullet points listing reasons that maintaining biodiversity is important. You should also have at least two pictures, labeled

3. What I think we should do with the land, and why we should do it.Here, you should have a persuasive paragraph describing what you would do with 100 acres of untouched land in Tennessee as a particular member of the community. Write from the perspective of your assigned title.

Pictures can be printed or hand- drawn 10 pointsAnswering parts of all questions 20 points each (60)Colorful and neat 10 points Group Members Names 5 pointsReferences ( at least 3) 10 pointsTitle 5 points

Total: 100 points

Exit Ticket

3 things you learned today…

2 questions you still have…

1 way you can relate this to you and your daily life…