Introduction:

Acid rain is one of the environmental problems that beset the world. It does not only cause respiratory ailments, but it causes extreme harm on various ecosystems. Acid rain can be extremely harmful to forests. Acid rain that seeps into the ground can dissolve nutrients, such as magnesium and calcium that trees need to be healthy. Acid rain also causes aluminum to
be released into the soil, which makes it difficult for trees to take up water. Trees that are located in mountainous regions at higher elevations, such as spruce or fir trees, are at greater risk because they are exposed to acidic clouds and fog, which contain greater amounts of acid than rain or snow. The acidic clouds and fog strip important nutrients from their leaves and needles. This loss of nutrients makes it easier for infections, insects, and cold weather to damage trees and forests. Without pollution or acid rain, most lakes and streams would have a pH level near 6.5. Acid rain, however, has caused many lakes and streams in the northeast United States and certain other places to have much lower pH levels. In addition, aluminum that is released into the soil eventually ends up in lakes and streams. Unfortunately, this increase in acidity and aluminum levels can be deadly to aquatic wildlife, including phytoplankton, mayflies, and other organisms.

Your task is to suggest a feasible solution to reduce/eliminate the causes of acid rain pollution. Your final product needs to be a report (or presentation) that will persuade the general public and politicians to enact new laws to eliminate, or reduce, the causes of acid rain pollution. In your “acid rain” report you need to include sections dealing with the adverse environmental effects, the inherent causes, current policies in effect for dealing with the problem, and feasible suggestions to reduce/eliminate acid rain. Your report can be presented as a PowerPoint presentation. (If you need extra help with the PowerPoint, consult your teacher.) Your group was chosen to create a policy or solution to reduce the problems brought about by Acid Rain. You are about to present your solutions to help create a sustainable future for the various ecosystems. You will present your findings to a committee of the EPA, local politicians, and State Representatives to alleviate this problem. Your contributions will be of great help in the preservation of a more sustainable future.

Step 1

You will be working in groups of five students. You will conduct secondary research about the causes and effects of acid rain on various ecosystems. You have to create a PowerPoint presentation describing the causes and effects of acid rain. Make sure to include 1-10 slides, use bullets to highlight main ideas.

You will research about the topic using various reliable websites to create a PowerPoint presentation on the Students will be divided into four groups for this task. Each group will need to follow the TIPS Public Policy Analyst procedure, based on work done at Syracuse University, to accomplish this task. The steps of the procedure are as follows define the problem (what is acid rain, and what are its effects?), gather evidence (what evidence is there for this pollution?), identify causes (find the main cause(s) of the problem), evaluate any existing policies (what policies are in effect today, and how effective are they?), create three new policies/solutions (come up with three ‘better’ policies), and identify the best solution (brainstorm for the ‘best’ policy)

· Use the following websites to research about the causes and effects of Acid Rain:

· The Effects of Air Pollution: Acid Rain | National Geographic

· How Does Pollution Affect All Living Things? | National Geographic

· What is Acid Rain? | Acid Rain | US EPA

· Effects of Acid Rain | Acid Rain | US EPA

· Reducing Acid Rain | Acid Rain | Clean Air Markets | US EPA

Student Responsibilities:

Student 1 : ( Researcher 1) You will be responsible to obtain information about the causes of acid rain from web sites, textbooks, articles, handouts, etc.

Student 2: ( Researcher 2) You will be responsible to obtain information about the effects of acid rain from web sites, textbooks, articles, handouts, etc

Student 3 :Group Manager/ Leader: You should be responsible to choose the design the power point presentation. ( Choose the color, font, data to be included and images).

Student 4: Time Keeper : Keep the time and assists each member and coordinate with the members of the group.

Step 2

· Use the following websites to research about the causes and effects of Acid Rain:

a. Identify the problem: What are the cuases and effects of acid rain?

· The Effects of Air Pollution: Acid Rain | National Geographic

· How Does Pollution Affect All Living Things? | National Geographic

b) Gather Evidence using evidences:

· How Does Pollution Affect All Living Things? | National Geographic

· What is Acid Rain? | Acid Rain | US EPA

· Effects of Acid Rain | Acid Rain | US EPA

c) Identify Causes of the Problem

· What is Acid Rain and What Causes It?

· Causes of Acid Rain | Acid Rain in New England | US EPA

· Environmental Effects of Acid Rain | Acid Rain in New England | US EPA

· Acid rain, from USGS Water-Science School

d) Evaluate the Policy

· Environmental policy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

· Laws and Policy| Pollution Prevention | US EPA

e) Develop a solution to the Problem

· Reducing Acid Rain | Acid Rain | Clean Air Markets | US EPA

· Acid Rain - Solutions

· http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/education/teachersguide.pdf

f.)Select the Best Solution – considering effectiveness and feasibility, find the best solute

Scoring rubric for this assignment

CATEGORY	Excellent	Very Good	Good	Poor
Amount of Information	All topics are addressed and all questions answered with at least 2 sentences about each.	All topics are addressed and most questions answered with at least 2 sentences about each.	All topics are addressed, and most questions answered with 1 sentence about each.	One or more topics were not addressed.
Quality of Information	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given.	Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic.
Sources	All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented in the desired format.	All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented, but a few are not in the desired format.	All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented, but many are not in the desired format.	Some sources are not accurately documented.
Mechanics	No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.	Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors	A few grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors.	Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.
Internet Use	Successfully uses suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Usually able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Occasionally able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Needs assistance or supervision to use suggested internet links and/or to navigate within these sites.

New York State Standards : Science

Standard 4 - The Living Environment : Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment, and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.

Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Upon completion of this task, students will have learned how to:

· search the web for information

· develop critical thinking and writing skills

· apply scientific concepts to evaluate an environmental issue

· question, analyze, evaluate public policy issues

· learned a great deal about the specific problem of acid rain; its causes, its effects, and some of the efforts in place to reduce or eliminate it