By: Ana Vasquez
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Industry and technology give humans a strong advantage
in competing with other species for limited resources such as food, energy and
space. According to a recent study,
human activity uses as much energy as all of Earth’s other multicellular
species combined. Today, humans are the
most important source of environmental change on the planet. Some human
activities that destroy habitats and degrade ecosystems do far more than
damage individual organisms. Human activities which have harmed ecosystems have
resulted in a loss of diversity in both living things and the nonliving
environment. Examples of these changes include land use, the
cutting of vast areas of forest, and pollution of the soil, air, and water. Another
way humans have changed ecosystems in a harmful way is by adding or removing
specific organisms to these ecosystems. Our ever increasing demand
for energy has impacted ecosystems negatively as well. Many environmental risks are
associated with our use of fossil and nuclear fuels. Individual choices and the
actions of society can contribute to the improvement of our environmental
problems.
As a member of the New York City Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
you are called to investigate current environmental problems caused by human activities.
Use your findings to provide recommendations to the State’s government about some
effective strategies that can be implemented within your community to improve
its environment. Also you need to inform
the state’s government to put into practice current policies in a more
effective way.
You will work in groups of three students and your team will complete
the following tasks:
1. Create a two pages report that will demonstrate the processes
involved to protect the environment in
► The paper must be double-spaced.
► The font used must be 12pt
2. Offer a final presentation describing
your findings.
►You will have five minutes for the oral presentation.
►Make
sure you explain your personal opinion about your investigation.
In order to complete the
task you will use public policy analysis format;
*Day #1 Define the problem: complete worksheet number one.
*Day #2 Using
resources provided below complete worksheet number two for gathering evidence.
*Day #3 At this point you are
ready to identify causes of the problem and complete worksheet number three.
*Day #4
Since you will conduct a presentation to evaluate
existing public policies and worksheet number four will help you accomplish this part
of the task.
*Day #5
A very important part of your job is to report to the EPA and the state’s
government to develop public policy solutions to eliminate or diminish the
problem and its causes, to help you simplify this explanations you will
complete worksheet number five
*Day #6 Finally you need
to develop the best public policy solution to keep the community focus for the
best solution and now you finish worksheet number six
*Day #7
Today your will organize the final report and practice for the final presentation.
*Day #8 Presentations begin today.
THE CITY OF NEW
YORK DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
PRE-AGRICULTURAL HUMAN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
HUMAN
DISTURBANCE IN NEW YORK CITY
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CRITERIA
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At the end of this activity you should be
able to defend your position based on the research performed regarding human
impact in our area. You should also be
able to identify solutions and design ways for community education. You will also research and learn about some
very important issues that are a very real situation in our world today. In
completing this task, you should be able to see the impact humans have on our
environment and how you can help to diminish the way in which we negatively
impact our surroundings.
Standard 4 SCIENCE –The Living Environment
Key Idea 7:
Human decisions and
activities have had a profound impact on the physical and living environment.
Population growth has placed new strains on the
environment-massive pollution of air and water, deforestation and extinction of
species, global warming, and alteration of the ozone shield. Some individuals
believe that there will be a technological fix for such problems. Others,
concerned with the accelerating pace of change and the ecological concept of
finite resources, are far less optimistic. What is certain, however, is that
resolving these issues will require increasing global awareness, cooperation,
and action.
Since the students of today will be the elected
officials and informed public of tomorrow, the teacher should encourage a
diversity of activities that will allow students to explore, explain, and apply
conceptual understandings and skills necessary to be environmentally literate.
PERFORMANCE
INDICATOR 7.1
Describe the range of interrelationships of
humans with the living and nonliving environment.
Major Understandings
7.1a The Earth has finite resources; increasing human
consumption of resources places
stress on the natural processes that renew some resources
and deplete those resources
that cannot be renewed.
7.1b Natural ecosystems provide an array of basic
processes that affect humans. Those
processes
include but are not limited to: maintenance of the quality of the atmosphere,
generation of soils, control of the water cycle, removal of
wastes, energy flow, and recy-
cling of nutrients. Humans are changing many of these basic
processes and the changes
may be detrimental.
7.1c Human beings are part of the Earth’s ecosystems.
Human activities can, deliberately
or inadvertently, alter the equilibrium in ecosystems.
Humans modify ecosystems as a
result of population growth, consumption, and technology.
Human destruction of habitats
through direct harvesting, pollution, atmospheric changes,
and other factors is threatening
current global stability, and if not addressed, ecosystems
may be irreversibly affected.
PERFORMANCE
INDICATOR 7.2
Explain the impact of technological development and growth in the human
population on the living and nonliving environment.
Major Understandings
7.2a Human activities that degrade ecosystems result in a loss of diversity
of the living
and
nonliving environment. For example, the influence of humans on other organisms
occurs
through land use and pollution. Land use decreases the space and resources
available
to other species, and pollution changes the chemical composition of air, soil,
and
water.
7.2b When humans alter ecosystems either by adding
or removing specific organisms,
serious
consequences may result. For example, planting large expanses of one crop
reduces
the biodiversity of the area.
7.2c Industrialization brings an increased demand for and use of energy and
other
resources
including fossil and nuclear fuels. This usage can have positive and negative
effects
on humans and ecosystems.
English Standards
E1c Reads,
understands and produces written and oral work.
E4b The student
analyzes and revises the work to make it suitable for the audience.
S7b The student
argues from evidence.
S7e Students
communicates in a form suited for the audience.
A2a Student
makes an oral presentation of project plan.