Resource Consumption and Our Environmental Footprint

 

Mr. Tejada

IS 52

 

 

Introduction

Global warming is a term we use quite often. It's referring to the warming that can occur as a result of increased emissions of greenhouse gases, from both natural and human induced activities. We fail to realize how much of an environmental footprint we're making, and what our biggest areas of resource consumption are.

 

 

Task

Your task is to help identify the problems that cause Global warming, and develop a policy designed to address the issue. 

Your recommended policy should be presented in the form of a brief essay explaining the steps leading up to your proposed solution to the problem.

 

 

Process
You will utilize the steps of the Public Policy Analyst to construct your policy.

 

The Public Policy Analyst (PPA) is designed to help students to maximize their participation in government as responsible citizens. As a public policy analyst, you and your class will develop the following policy skills, learning how to:

 

}  Identify the nature of a social problem

 

}  Gather evidence to support the existence of the problem

 

}  Determine the causes and factors contributing to the problem.

 

}  Evaluate the existing policy

 

}  Develop public policy alternatives

 

}  Determine the best public policy solution to the problem

 

Step 1: Identify the Problem (Modified)

 

Use the following resources and the PPA worksheet to identify one problem that has a negative impact on the environment. (Such as global warming, oil spills. Etc.)

 

Use the PPA Worksheet 1 & the following resources:

 

http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet1.html

 

Resources for Step 1:

 

Oil Spills

With our recent ecological catastrophe, the Gulf Coast oil spill, it's time we put forth some effort to alleviate the potential breakdown of the world as we know it. Unfortunately, we can't reverse the damage already done to our planet, but we can help reduce the amount of pollution we release into our atmosphere by "going green."

 

(http://www.holloman.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123220230)

 

Garbage

  In the U.S., we generated an estimated 1.5 billion pounds of e-waste in 2006 alone.  This includes about 44 million computers and televisions.  This amount is likely to increase because e-waste is growing at three times the rate of other municipal waste.  Although e-waste accounts for only 1 to 4 percent of municipal waste, it may be responsible for as much as 70 percent of the heavy metals in landfills, including 40 percent of all lead.

 

(http://www.arcbrowarderecycling.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49)

 

Step 2: Gather Evidence

 

Use the following PPA Worksheet 2 and Resources to Gather Evidence on your problem.

 

http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet2.html

 

Resources for Step 2:

 

http://www.toxicsaction.org/problems-and-solutions/waste

http://www.nrdc.org/energy/gulfspill/?gclid=CJzb0p3cqLwCFZPm7AodSUAAuw

http://www.kidsdata.org/topic/525/environment-airquality-ozone/map#loct=3&fmt=1086&tf=64

 

Step 3: Identifying the Causes

 

Use the following PPA Worksheet 3 and the Resources from step 1 and 2 to identify the causes of your problem.

 

http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet3.html

 

Step 4: Final Product: Develop a Public Policy Solution

 

Use the following worksheet to create your product:

 

http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet5.html

 

 

EVALUATION

 

 

Conclusion

Congratulations, by completing this Web Quest you have shown a clear understanding of your problem and have worked to create a policy that attempts to solve your problem.

 

The citizens of the world thank you for your hard work and dedication to the environment and diligence towards increase the quality of life of the planet.

 

 

Standards Addressed:

 

Mathematics, Science, and Technology

Standard 1:    Analysis, Inquiry, and Design

Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.

Standard 2:   Information Systems

Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.

Standard 3:   Mathematics

Students will understand mathematics and become mathematically confident by communicating and reasoning mathematically, by applying mathematics in real-world settings, and by solving problems through the integrated study of number systems, geometry, algebra, data analysis, probability, and trigonometry.

 

English Language Arts

Standard 1:   Language for Information and Understanding

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; 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 that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Standard 3:   Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.

Standard 4:   Language for Social Interaction

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.

 

Social Studies

Standard 4:   Economics

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the United States and other national economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through market and nonmarket mechanisms.

Standard 5:   Civics, Citizenship, and Government

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.