PROBLEM SOLVING: AIR POLLUTION IN URBAN AREAS

Joan M. Longmire

Preview of Main Ideas

This activity is designed to have students in cooperative groups brainstorm and evaluate ideas for solving the problem of air pollution in urban areas. Students will first need to gain some background information about air pollution and environmental concerns. If possible, recent news articles about air pollution problems and programs for reducing it will be provided for the students.

Connection with the Curriculum

This activity could equally be conducted in a science class or social studies class studying about urban environmental problems.

Teaching Level: Grades 5-8 (works best at 7+)

Objectives Classification Outline (Also see objectives classification matrix below)

Objective #1: The student will be able to research an aspect of the air pollution problems in urban areas and compile a list of facts associated with human activities that affect the environment.

Essential Element: Environment and society.

Standard #14: How human actions modify the physical environment.

Knowledge Statement #1: The consequences of human modification of the physical environment.

Skill Set #2: Acquiring geographic information.

Skill #1: Use a variety of research skills to locate and collect geographic data.

Theme: Human-environment interaction.

Objective #2: The student will be able to brainstorm possible solutions to a specific air pollution problem.

Essential Element: The uses of geography.

Standard #18: how to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.

Knowledge Statement #1: How the interaction of physical and human systems may shape present and future conditions on Earth.

Skill Set #5: Answering geographic questions.

Skill #1: Develop and present combinations of geographic information to answer geographic questions.

Theme: Human-environment interaction.

Objective #3: The student will be able to evaluate possible solutions to specific air pollution problems by considering such things as costs, consequences, legal problems, and human resistance to the solutions.

Essential Element: The uses of geography.

Standard #18: how to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.

Knowledge Statement #3: How to apply the geographic point of view to solve social and environmental problems by making geographically informed decisions.

Skill Set #5: Answering geographic questions.

Skill #2: Make generalizations and assess their validity.

Theme: Human- environment interaction.

Materials

1. Recent news clippings concerning air pollution in a metropolitan area.

2. School library books, encyclopedias, and other materials concerning the environmental protection movement, air pollution, acid rain, greenhouse effect, health problems affected by pollution, ozone pollution, automobile pollution, and urban pollution problems. Some possible library resources include:

            a. Baines, John. Acid Rain, Steck-Vaughn library, 1989.

            b. Baines, John Conserving the Atmosphere, Steck-Vaughn Library, 1989.

            c. Becklake, John & Sue. Pollution, Gloucester Press, 1990.

            d. Hare, Tony. The Ozone Layer, Gloucester Press, 1990.

            e. Jakobson, Cathryn. Think About the Environment, Walker and Company, 1992.

            f. Johnson, Rebecca L. The Greeenhouse Effect, Lerner, 1990.

            g. Johnstone, Hugh. Domestic Waste and Industrial Pollutants, Franklin Watts,             1990.

            h. Koral, April. Our Global Greenhouse, Watts, 1989.

            i. McCormeck, John. Acid Rain, Gloucester Press, 1986.

            j. Pringle, Laurence. Global Warming, Arcade Publishing, 1990.

            k.Pringle, Laurence. Lives at Stake, MacMillan, 1980.

            l. Pringle, Laurence. Living in a Risky World, Morrow Junior Books, 1989.

            m. Pringle, Laurence. Rain of Trouble,MacMillan, 1988.

            n. Stewart, Gail. Acid Rain, Lucent Books, 1990.

            o. Zeff, Robert Lee. Environmental Action Groups, Chelsea House Publishers,             1994.

            p. “The Ozone Below,” Audubon, Sept/Oct 1994, p. 14+.

            q. “Want to Clear the Air? Hop on the Bus!,” Current Health, January 1995, p. 16-   17.

            r. “The Cost of Clean Air,” Popular Science, January 1995, p. 34.

Suggestions For Teaching the Lesson

Opening the Lesson

1. Prior to doing this lesson, have the students read a reading or chapter in the class text concerning the environment and pollution. For instance if using Introduction to the Social Sciences by John Jay Bonstingl, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1991, assign the students to do the following before beginning this lesson: Experiment 6-F: “Human-Environment Interaction: What is a System”; Unit 6, Reading 5: “Human-Environment Interaction: Everything is Connected to Everything Else”; and Experiment 6-G: “Human-Environment Interaction: Everybody is connected to the Systems of Our Planet.”

2. DAY 1: Divide the class into cooperative groups. Groups should have at least 4-6 students each. Each group is assigned a topic: air pollution, ozone pollution, automobile pollution problems, acid rain, greenhouse effect, environmental protection movement, air pollution related health problems. Topics assigned will depend on how many groups there are and what materials are available. Each group will research its topic and develop a “Fact Sheet” of important information on its topic with emphasis on causes and effects of pollution and possible solutions to the problem. A copy of the “Fact Sheet” from each group will be turned in to the teacher.

Developing the Lesson

1. DAY 2: Today the students are reorganized into new groups jigsaw fashion so that the information gained from the previous lesson is shared with students. Students are asked to take notes on the facts from the other groups. This should take one class period. If the teacher wishes to help the students review the most important facts, she or he could develop a handout from the fact sheets turned in the previous day. This handout could be answered during the sharing or could be assigned as homework.

Concluding the Lesson

1. DAY 3: Divide the class into discussion groups. This division could be a new division or a reuse of one of the prior class groupings. Ask each discussion group to solve the following problem: How can we further reduce pollution in our community (or “in urban areas” if you do not live in the metropolitan area)?

Give the students these specific tasks to perform in their discussion group:

a. Brainstorm and make a list of the causes of air pollution in our area;

b. Develop three or more ideas for reducing the pollution;

c. For each idea, make a list of things that would need to be done in order to implement the idea;

d. Which people or groups of people would be most adversely affected by the implementation of each idea?

e. For each idea, make a list of the difficulties you think would be encountered when implementing the idea;

f. State which idea is likely to be the most effective and why;

g. Indicate which idea would be the easiest to implement at this time and why;

2. Ask each member of the discussion group to play the role of one of the following: politician, worker who commutes to work, parent with asthmatic child, factory owner, public health physician. Ask each one which he/she would favor and why.

3. Have each group share their ideas for the reducing air pollution with the class giving details of their evaluation of the ideas.

Extending the Lesson

1. Students can write letters to local and state official voicing their concerns about air pollution and suggesting the best solutions they determined in their group discussions.

2. Invite a speaker from the local Environmental Protection Agency, a scientist working on pollution solutions, or a health official concerned with air pollution to speak to the class.

Assessing Student Learning

1. Quiz students on the air pollution facts they learned from their research and sharing.

2. Use an assessment rubric designed to assess student problem solving ability for the group brainstorming and evaluation session.

GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS CLASSIFICATION MATRIX – GRADES           5-8   

Title:          Problem Solving:  Air Pollution in Urban Areas                    Author:     Joan M. Longmire

Note:  See also Objectives Classification Outline in the lesson.

Back to Geographers Have High Standards Table of Contents

Back to Home