HEAD COUNTPre-Reading

(Why? To gain background information, start thinking of

questions, learn related vocabulary)

What do people need to survive?

OAirOFoodOWater OShelter

Where do we get food from?

OWe grow it on our ownOOther people grow it and we trade for it or buy it directly

OCompanies grow it and sell it to us through third parties like grocery stores

Where do we get water? O RainO Wells that tap into aquifers,

rivers or streams or reservoirs O Water either comes directly

from the well or after purification at a water treatment plant

O For some people, such as those in Southern California, water is sent from rivers or aquifers in a different part of their state or from other states through a pipeline.

What are some problems associated with air? O Pollution O results in warnings about outside

exercisesO increase in asthma and bronchitis

especially among the young and the elderly

O laws about burn daysO increased cost for cars as we add pollution

controlsO increased costs for factories as they try

to control pollutionO perhaps global warming from increased

greenhouse gases

What are some of the problems associated with getting food?

O Droughts O cause crops to fail making them either scarce or expensive

to buy

O Insects O destroy crops O To kill insects we use insecticides on plants which result in

polluting streams, rivers and aquifers which kill fish and cause cancers in humans,

O Plants don’t grow enough for the demand O we use chemical fertilizers to make them grow faster or

strongerO Fertilizers pollute streams, rivers and aquifers, and harm

fish and animals.O Fertilizers also cause cancers and other hormone-related

illnesses in humans

O Crops are susceptible to diseasesO so we genetically mutate the plants to they are strongerO Mutation results in fewer plant species O Altering plants also makes staple crops (crops we use for

almost everything) such as potatoes or wheat are now vulnerable to diseases which could wipe out the entire species

What are problems associated with water?

O Droughts and planet warming means not as much water for all needs

O transporting water over long distances is difficult and expensive

O fights over water rights (who has the right to water)

O water share prices getting expensiveO some places you must buy whatever water you

useO crops die from lack of water, so prices of water

and food increases. O loss of fishing or boating areas (water recedes

or dries up-fish die)O Less water means rationing water

O water used only on alternate daysO laws about what types of landscaping you

can use.

How much is a billion?

O 60 seconds = 1 minuteO 3600 seconds = 1 hourO 86,400 seconds = 1 dayO 604,800 seconds = 1 weekO 2,592,000 seconds = 1 monthO 27,108,000 seconds = 1 yearO 1 billion seconds = 38 years

How much is a billion? O 1 billion seconds ago, it was 1973.

O 1 billion minutes ago ( 1900 years), it was the Roman Empire. Jesus was alive.

O 1 billion hours ago(114,000years), it was the Stone Age.

O 1 billion days ago ( 2,739,729 years ), no humans walked the face of the earth.

O 1 billion months ago (82 million years), there were dinosaurs roaming the earth.

One… BILLION… dollars!

How much is a billion?

O 1 billion pennies makes five stacks about as big as a school bus.

O 1 billion pennies stacked on top of each other would make a stack 987 miles tall. (The space shuttle orbits at 190-250 miles.)

O To pay off a billion dollars, you’d pay $1 a second, every second for 31 years, 259 days, 1 hour, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds.

O 1 billion = 1,000 million = 1,000,000,000

A billion is a BIG number…

O This is what$1 billion dollarslooks like

O Want to see how many MILLIONS it takes to get to ONE BILLION?

O Go here: http://www.i69tour.org/billion.html