Introduction: We
have taken an initial look at the topic of stratospheric ozone depletion.
Causes have been examined. Spray cans, air conditioners and refrigerators have
been identified as sources of chlorofluorocarbons. The subsequent catalytic
degradation of ozone was addressed. The damage done to the Antarctic food chain
by excess solar ultraviolet radiation because of the thinning of the protective
ozone layer was discussed. Plankton populations have been decreasing, which in
turn led to decreases in krill and hence penguins. Also, worldwide frog
populations have been decimated possibly because of ultraviolet damage to
fragile eggs. Melanoma or skin cancer rates have risen dramatically in the
Southern Hemisphere, lands closest to the growing hole in the Antarctic ozone
layer.
You
are assigned today to play the role of a dermatology group. Your group will
make a presentation to a Congressional Committee, which is having hearings on
the Montreal Protocols. Under the present Administration, we will pretend that
the United States is contemplating withdrawal from these accords.
Task:
Your responsibility today is to do additional research on the web. You will use
this information tonight to: 1) develop a definition of the ozone problem with
regard to a potential departure from the Montreal Protocols using your
perspective as dermatologists; 2) summarize the information that you gathered
today; 3) identify the causes of ozone depletion; 4) evaluate what would happen
if the United States departs from the Montreal Protocols; 5) develop
alternative solutions to the ozone problem; 6) select the best solution; and 7)
evaluate the solution chosen for costs and benefits. If you have forgotten any
of these processes, refer to http://www.maxwell.syr/edu/plegal/tips
for the PPA model. You will have the first twenty minutes tomorrow, to put
together an oral presentation for the committee chairman, Mr. Gresko. You will
be graded on 1) your homework and 2) your oral presentation. The first is an
individual grade. The second will be a single grade based on the group’s oral
report ( convince me ).
Process: The class will be
divided into four groups, roughly equivalent to previous committees. Each has
been assigned eight or nine web sites to examine. The groups will make their
own specific assignments. Remember to take notes, you will not be permitted to
print out the articles. I suggest that you set up seven sheets of paper, each
headed by the seven steps as outlined in the Task section above, and keep your
note organized. For homework, you will write out your notes in paragraph form,
and this will be submitted for grading. Be sure to indicate which websites you
examined. Tomorrow, your class president will act pro temp as leader to
organize the class’ project, an oral presentation. Given the shortness of time,
I suggest that seven presenters be chosen, each supported by atleast one
‘research assistant’, corresponding to the seven steps in the task. You will
have access to everyone’s homework before it is collected. You must complete
the organization of your oral presentation in twenty minutes. You will have
fifteen minutes to complete the presentation itself, so one of you must be
chosen to keep track of time (hint: 15 minutes for 7 presenters is about how
many minutes each?).
Resources: You
have already seen a Power Point presentation on this topic and read about it in
Chemistry: An Environmental Perspective. You will now gather evidence
for your group oral presentation, which is tomorrow. For this purpose you will
be divided into the following teams with their websites:
Team Websites
Ritha http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov http://www.doc.mmu.ac.uk/aric/eae/enter.html
Marjorie http://www.foe.org/ozone/intro.html
Stephanie http://www.sepp.org http://www.globalchange.org
Sahara http://www.globalchange.org http://www.elp.gov.bc.ca/epd/epda/ar/ozone
http://www.ozone.org http://www.nas.nasa.gov/about/education/ozone/
Casey http://sedac.ciesin.org/ozone http://cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere
Stefan http://www.unep.ch/ozone http://atm.ch.cam.ac.uk/tour/index.html
Jennifer S. http://www4.nas.edu/beyond/beyonddiscovery.nsf/web/ozon..
Simone http://www.ozone-sec.ch.cam.ac.uk/theseo_brochure_html/..
http://cybersleuth-kids.com http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/vchemlib/mol/mol.html
John http://es.epa.gov/oeca/eptdd/adi.html
Eric http://www.nedo.go.jp/GET/index2.html
Kevin http://www.gcrio.org/unep1998
Gregory http://environment.about.com/msuboz.htm
http://science.nas.nasa.gov/Services/Education/Resource…
http://www.columbia.edu/~rw187
http://www.elp.gov.bc.ca/epd/epda/ar/ozone/index.html
http://www.dar.cssiro.av/ozone/default.htm
Elias http://www.epa.gov/ozone http://www.ilsr.org/ecotax/greentax.html
Jennifer B. http://www.sepp.org/ozone/ozone.html
Maria http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/xpress/dex/dex9507.htm
Aria http://www.nerc-bas.ac.uk/public/icd
http://www.ec.gc.ca/ozone/indexe.htm
http://www.environmental-expert.com/welcome-airpollution
I remind you, do not
assume that the websites next to your name are meant for you. The class is
grouped in teams of four and each team is responsible for all websites to the
right of their names. As part of a team, you will make up the individual
assignment.
Evaluation: The homework summaries of your individual web
quest efforts will be graded on the basis of fifty points (30 for completing
each of the seven PPA steps correctly, and 20 for demonstrating an adequate
understanding of the science behind your problem). The group oral presentation will be worth 50 points (7
points per PPA element, based on 4 points for the appropriate science and 3
points for showing an understanding of
what to include in each step, and one
point for convincing me that your position is correct).
Conclusion: The
effects of human activities can have many unforeseen consequences. This is
especially so if the activity is the result of an application of science (gas
laws and organic chemistry in the case of the spray cans). If proper research
is not done before hand, then the costs of cleaning up errors can be great in
terms of dollar output, jobs lost, retraining, and physical disabilities.