Thurgood Marshall Academy

The Living Environment

10^th Grade

INTRODUCTION:

Pesticides are chemicals used to control, to repel, to attract or to kill pests, for example insects. In 1962, Rachel Carson wrote “Silent Spring” exposing the harmful effects of DDT to humans and other living organisms.

TASKS:

You are a toxicologist, and your job is to find out the many effects of pesticides to humans. You are required to clearly state your findings, and you will make a power-point presentation that you will present to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), at a public hearing and to politicians at that same hearing. Your presentation should include the effects of pesticides to humans throughout the past fifty years. Furthermore, it should be thorough in order to convince the agency, the public and the politicians to take actions to enact new policies on the use of pesticides.

PROCESS:

You will be working in groups of four. As a member of the group your job will be to use the resources below to help you research the many effects of pesticides on humans and other living organisms. After you have thoroughly research your information, you will also go through the steps of a Public Policy Analyst (PPA) below to help you develop possible new policy regarding the use of pesticides.

You must follow the following PPA step by step:

First, define the problem.

Second, gather evidence to support the existence of the problem.

Third, determine the causes of the problem.

Fourth, evaluate the existing policies.

Fifth, develop new public policies.

Sixth, decide which policy will provide the best solution to the problem.

RESOURCES:

http://www.wordiq.com/privacy.html?PHPSESSID=d735ce4bdb0a1abce73858ed2c985e6b

http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/nycap/heps.htm

http://www.birdmag.com/pesticides.htm

http://www.livingcosmos.com/diduknow.htm

http://www.autopenhosting.org/rachelcarsoncouncil/

EVALUATION:

Criteria	Not OK Grade: 50	OK Grade: 70	GOOD Grade: 85	GREAT: Grade 100
1. Participation in group	Group determined	Group determined	Group determined	Group determined
2. Survey	No survey	Five or less residents surveyed	Ten or less residents surveyed	More than ten residents surveyed
3. PowerPoint presentation	Did not discuss all six steps	Discussed all six steps somewhat unclearly	Discussed all six steps very clearly	Discussed all six steps very clearly and obviously put a lot of work into developing their PowerPoint presentation
4. Worksheets (PPA) Define the problem Gather evidence Identify causes Evaluate a policy Develop solutions Select best solution	Not OK Grade: 50 Incomplete Incomplete Incomplete Incomplete Incomplete Incomplete	OK Grade: 70 Partially complete Partially complete Partially complete Partially complete Partially complete Partially complete	GOOD Grade: 85 Complete but not accurate Complete but not accurate Complete but not accurate Complete but not accurate Complete but not accurate Complete but not accurate	GREAT: Grade 100 Complete and accurate Complete and accurate Complete and accurate Complete and accurate Complete and accurate Complete and accurate

STANDARDS

The present Web Quest focuses on the following Science Performance Standards:

S5 Scientific Thinking

S5d: Proposes, recognizes, analyzes, considers, and critiques alternative explanations; and distinguishes between fact and opinion.

S5e: Identifies problems; proposes and implements solutions; and evaluates the accuracy, design, and outcomes of investigations.

S6 Scientific Tools and Technologies

S6d: Acquires information from multiple sources.

S7: Scientific Communication

S7a: Represents data and results in multiple ways.

S7b: Argues from evidence.

This web quest also focuses on the following English Language Arts Performance Standards:

E1c: Read and comprehend informational materials.

E2a: Produce a report of information.

E3c: Prepare and deliver an individual presentation.

E4b: Analyze and subsequently revise work to improve its clarity and effectiveness.

CONCLUSION:

By completing this project on the environmental effects of pesticides WebQuest, and by following and completing the steps of the PPA you have learned how pesticides effect humans and other living organisms. You have also learned the skills necessary to be a public policy analyst. You have also learned how to conduct research and to prepare a PowerPoint presentation based on that research. You have also shown that you are able to work cooperatively with members of your group.