Evander Childs High School Ulugbek Akhmedov

You come home from your research institute, turn on the TV. Suddenly you realize the picture on the screen is of the place where you grew up. However, it was not like this just a few years ago. That afternoon, you receive a call from your friend, a good scientist, and colleague of yours, who invites to join his group that will solve acid rain. You are one of the best scientists in the US hired by the Environmental Protection Agency. Your group is their only hope in solving a devastating problem of acid rain pollution. Acid rain damages many structures like buildings, bridges, and architectural compositions. Acid rain destroys agricultural land affecting food production. It also badly alters our living environment by damaging plants in forests, lakes, and their inhabitants. Acid rain can even cause landslides endangering people’s lives and health.

Your task is find a solution for eliminating the causes of acid rain. The Environmental Protection Agency hired you because you are among the best scientists in the US. You are expected to make a report/presentation that will convince politicians and the public to implement laws eliminating the causes of acid rain pollution.

You will have to become a Public Policy Analyst, who will evaluate and propose new solutions for the Ecological Problem. You will have to follow the steps presented in the Process section, use the worksheets and resources to develop your project.

In your report/presentation, you are to highlight the origins of the acid rain problem, causes of acid rain, and their effects on the environment, evaluate present public policies concerning acid rain pollution, and develop proposals that will help people solve this environmental problem.

Your group will make a short 5-min report, and use pictures, maps, and table to present your proposals. You may also produce a Power Point Presentation using animation and other computer technologies.

You will be divided into groups of four. This is a group project.

You will have to follow the steps below in developing and presenting your work. Each link below will take you to the web site of Syracuse University, where you will find extended explanation for the terms:

(1) Define the problem

(2) Gather evidence

(3) Identify causes

(4) Evaluate a policy

(5) Develop solutions

(6) Select best solution

Use these worksheets to define the problem, gather evidence, identify causes, evaluate a policy, develop solutions, and select best solution.

Use the worksheets linked to this web site. They should help you to:

- define the problem – social consequences of acid rain;

- gather evidence: statistics, articles of experts, case studies;

- determine the causes acid rain;

- outline the present public policies concerning acid rains problem; state advantages and disadvantages of today’s public policies;

- find ways to improve the present public policy;

- develop possible new solutions;

- select the best solution;

- evaluate potential benefits and costs of the suggested policy;

You will use the following sources. However, you are not limited to these resources. You are strongly encouraged to use newspaper articles, scientific journals and magazines.

http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/arp/overview.html#phases (What are the Current Public Policies?)

http://www.instant-essays.com/environment/acid-rain9.shtml (What are Origin, sources, and causes of acid rain?)

http://arnica.csustan.edu/biol1010/human_impact/human_impact.htm (Describes Human Impact on Environment and connects acid rain to other ecological problems)

http://chemlinks.llnl.gov/Rain/ (Provide many links to maps and tables describing the acid rain problem)

http://h2o.usgs.gov/nwc/NWC/pH/html/ph.html (Maps and Tables)

http://water.usgs.gov/nwc/maps/index.html (Extensive Tables and Animation)

http://www.treepower.org/news/nytacidrain.html (The New York Times articles discussing the complexity of Acid Rains problem as well as the laws discussed in Congress)

www.cast.ilstu.edu/hthomas/HSC170/HSC%20170%20CL35.ppt (An example of Power Point Presentation on Acid Rain. If your presentation is Power Point, it will be evaluated in the same way as a printed report except you will not have to hand in a printed report. Instead EPA will gladly accept your Electronic File.)

http://weather.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa032602a.htm and this web site will help you come up with solutions and recommendations for EPA.

The product developed by your group of scientists will have to satisfy the certain criteria or requirements of the EPA presented in the Rubrics below. If your presentation is Power Point, it will be evaluated in the same way as a printed report except you will not have to hand in a printed report. If you wish to make a Power Point Presentation but do not know how to start you may want to learn how to develop a Power Point Presentation click here.

Evaluation of Your Presentation

Required components of the project	Evaluation of Your Presentation will be:
	65	66-75	76-85	86-95	95-100
Creativity	Oral report without any visualization	At least 1 table or map/picture is presented	At least 1 table and 1 picture are presented	At least 2 tables and 2 pictures are presented	At least 3 tables and 3 pictures are presented
Speech	Boring, mumbling speech that can be heard only by front row students.	Clear and Interesting, but not too convincing for the whole class	Clear, interesting and convincing for the whole class	Clear, interesting, convincing, and triggering class involvement	Clear, bright, strongly convincing, and triggering an exciting discussion
Class voting for a “Good Evaluation”	20% of support	30% of support	50% of support	70% of support	90 % of support

Evaluation of Your Paper Project

Required components of the project	Evaluation of Your Paper Project will be:
	65	66-75	76-85	86-95	95-100
Define the problem	The problem is defined in a short sentence. Definitions are somewhat clear.	The problem is defined in 2 extended sentences. Definitions are somewhat clear.	The problem is defined in 3 extended sentences. Definitions are clear to the group.	The problem is defined in 1 paragraph. Definitions are clear to the class.	The problem is defined in 1 well-developed paragraph. Definitions are clear to the class.
Gather evidence	Evidence is coming from 1 minor source. No tables are used.	Evidence is coming from 1 major and 1 minor source. 1 small table is presented	Evidence is coming from 2 major sources. 2 small tables are presented	Evidence is coming from 3 major sources. 2 extended tables and 1 graph are presented.	Evidence is coming from 4 or more major sources. 2 extended tables and 2 graphs are presented.
Identify causes	At least 1 cause is briefly mentioned.	At least 2 causes are mentioned but not expanded.	At least 2 causes are clearly presented.	At least 3 causes are clearly presented and somewhat inter-connected.	More than 3 causes are clearly presented and strongly inter-connected.
Evaluate a policy	Present public policy is mentioned but not evaluated	Present public policy is mentioned and shortly evaluated	Present public policy is presented and evaluated	Present public policy is clearly presented and evaluated	Present public policy is clearly presented and critically evaluated
Develop solutions	Only 1 solution is presented.	2 solutions are presented.	3 solutions are presented.	4 solutions are presented.	More than 4 solutions are presented.
Select best solution	Solution is put under question by the group members	Choice for the best solution is clear but not explained.	Choice for the best solution is explained clear and briefly.	Choice for the best solution is explained clear and fairly.	Choice for the best solution is clear and well explained, and convincing
Grammar	not more than 4 grammar mistakes	not more than 3 grammar mistakes	not more than 2 grammar mistakes	no grammar mistakes	no grammar mistakes
Typed report, including tables, pictures, and maps	at least 2 pages	3 pages	4 pages	5 pages	6 pages

Acid rain continues to be an environmental problem on the Northeast coast. Although the Clean Air Act allows implementing the public policy of controlling, limiting, and eliminating emission of gases producing acid rain, the measures are not sufficient. The huge automobile transpiration burning one third of fossil fuels remains one of the major contributors of sulfur and nitrogen oxides into the air. New technologies for power production are making their ways to more wide use, but this process is slow. The most difficult part is to promote public policy supporting wide spread of such new solution. Until then acid rain will remain to be a big concern. The project you have accomplished will be small but significant step humankind makes on the way to pollution-free world. Your next task will be regarding water pollution in New York City. It is to be forwarded to you within the next month.

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.