4/9/14

Tonight's homework is simply to study for tomorrow's exam on climate change, air pollution, waste management, and water pollution. Good luck.

4/8/14

Tonight's homework is to complete Assignment 61 (if you have not already done so) and do some reading. The pollution and global change exam will be on Thursday and Friday. Please look over your notes.

Reading Assignment
Mandatory - 10.3 (p. 201-205)
Recommended - 10.2 (p. 189-201)

4/7/14

Tonight's homework is to complete Assignment 60 if you did not previously and to begin preparing for Thursday and Friday's exam on air/water pollution, climate change, and waste management.

4/4/14

This weekend's homework is to complete Assignment 60. You may not be able to completely answer #1, but the rest of the questions should be straightforward enough.

 Assignment 60 - Water Treatment Post Lab Questions

Answer all of the following to the best of your ability in complete sentences.

1a. Use your observations to form inferences.

1b. Evaluate your hypothesis and support your conclusion(s) with your observations.

2. The filtration and treatment processes removed a great deal of rich, organic material from the initial sample of polluted water. An actual water treatment plant removes tons of organic wastes from water during the treatment process. Describe some applications for this material.

3. What parallels can be drawn between water treatment and wetlands? If you are not immediately familiar with wetlands then review your notes from earlier this semester and/or do some research to refresh yourself.

4. How is our discussion of water pollution and treatment connected to what we know about sustainability?

4/3/14

Tonight's homework:

1. Prepare for tomorrow's check-in (solid and e-waste and water use/pollution)
2. Read 19.2 - 19.9 in Botkin and Keller and add to today's notes.
3. Complete Assignment 59. See below.
4. Review/revise your hypothesis for submission tomorrow. Of the following methods (aeration, adding alum, filtration through sand, filtration through activated charcoal, adding chlorine, fine filtration), which do you think will clean the wastewater most effectively (measured through solids being present, clarity, odor, and/or color)? Support your hypothesis.

Optional: Check out Vice's "America's Water Crisis - Part 1" if you get a chance. The narrator is a bit of a trip and there's some swearing (exciting!), but it's good content. 

Assignment 59 Water Pollution Comprehension and Application Questions

Answer all of the following questions to the best of your ability in complete sentences.

In 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire, an embarrassing spectacle that led to a new era of environmental regulation in the United States. This was actually just one of several burning water bodies that raised public awareness about water pollution, while around the same time visibly terrible air quality led to similar pushes for curbs on air pollution.

a. What are some pollutants that might results in a water body catching fire, and what impact might these have on the aquatic environment?

b. Describe one possible point source for this pollution and one possible nonpoint source.

c. Name and describe the central tenets of one environmental law in the United States that deals with preventing or limiting water pollution.

d. You are the mayor of a small city that sits on the edge of a large lake. What steps can you take to limit the discharge of nonpoint source pollution into the lake?

4/2/14

Tonight's homework is to complete Assignment 58, read sections 19.1 and 19.10 (p. 400-401 and 414 - 417), and form a hypothesis about which type of water treatment (from section 19.10 - ex. primary treatment or chlorine treatment, etc.) will be most effective in cleaning the wastewater observed in class today.

Assignment #58 Water Usage Comprehension Questions

Answer all of the following questions to the best of your ability in complete sentences. Or don’t. See if I care.

1. If water is one of our most abundant resources, why are we concerned about its availability in the future? How does our discussion of our water supply connect to sustainability?

2. Think about your own personal water usage. What could (or especially would) you do to reduce your daily consumption of freshwater?

Math Fun! (you’re  welcome)

3a. Your old school showerhead uses 150 L for a 10-minute shower, whereas a reduced-flow showerhead uses only 100 L. If you take one shower per day, how many liters of water would you save in 1 year if you replaced your older showerhead?

3b. Also, your ancient toilet uses 25 L per flush, whereas a replacement toilet uses only 5 L per flush. If you flush the toilet four times per day, how many liters of water would you save in 1 year if you replaced your older toilet?

3c. How much water could both of your innovations and improvements save in a year?

4. Here’s your dam review. The Colorado River runs 1,450 miles from the headwaters of the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California. The river has many dams, aqueducts, and canals that divert water in order to supply water for electricity, irrigation, recreation, and domestic use.

a. Describe and discuss two environmental problems that are associated with water diversion.

b. If there is a shortage of water, choices will have to be made as to whether water should be diverted to urban areas, agricultural areas, or natural ecosystems. Make an argument for diverting water for urban consumption and an argument for permitting the flow of water to natural areas.

c. Identify another example (other than the Colorado River) of a large-scale water-diversion project. Discuss two environmental problems that have resulted, or might result, from this project.

4/1/14

Tonight's homework is to complete Assignment 57B (and make sure that Assignment 57A is complete as well if it was not finished in class). See below.

Resources:
"The Vice Guide To Congo"
"Following The Trail Of Toxic E-Waste"

Assignment 57A - Can We E-liminate e-waste?

Use the video clips and the ensuing discussion to answer the following questions to the best of your ability.

1. What are the issues that surround the production, use, and disposal of electronics like computers, cell phones, etc.?

2. What do you think should be done, if anything, about these issues? Support your opinion.

Assignment 57B - Recycling Free Response Practice

After reading the following editorial from The Fremont Daily, answer the questions that follow.

IS RECYCLING SMART ECONOMICS?

Debates about recycling often become highly charged and passionate. Over the past decade some headlines
have heralded that “trash is treasure” while others have proclaimed that “recycling is garbage.”
The antagonists in these debates are disagreeing over public policy and its role in shaping decisions about
resource use. Both sides in these debates frequently have broad policy agendas that go far beyond choosing
the most efficient way to manage solid waste. Both sides also promote their political agendas with
unsupported assertions and incomplete information. Determining what amount of recycling will result in
efficient resource use requires systematic analysis.

Proponents of recycling argue that recycling saves resources. For example, most manufacturers of aluminum
cans currently depend on recycled aluminum for more than 50% of their needs. This recycled input reduces
the economic and environmental costs associated with mining and landfills.

A common argument for the antirecycling side is that recycling wastes resources. It takes resources to
recycle. For example, it takes human effort to sort aluminum cans from other trash and energy to move
aluminum cans from the consumer back to the manufacturer.

It may not make economic sense to recycle all materials or all of any single material, but numerous studies
have shown that there are net benefits to society at low or modest levels of recycling most materials. The
question is, Which has the higher environmental cost: using recovered materials or using virgin materials?
Do recovered or virgin materials cost more in resources? The answer is complex and changing.
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Your next environmental decision is fast approaching. Should you put this copy of The Fremont Daily in the

recycling bin or should you put it in the trash?

(a) Consider the arguments regarding aluminum presented in the editorial, then make

 (i) a similar argument in favor of recycling the newspaper, and
(ii) a similar argument against recycling the newspaper.

(b) For each of the following, describe two pieces of scientific information that would be needed to evaluate

(i) the environmental benefits of recycling the newspaper, and
(ii) the environmental costs of recycling the newspaper.

(c) If a community can afford to begin a recycling program for either aluminum or newspaper, but not both,
which one would you recommend to be recycled? Provide two reasons why your recommendation is better
than the alternative.

(d) Discuss two difficulties that the community might face in implementing the recycling program in part (c).