PreK-8 Activity 36 - Pollution Search

Student Page
Pollution Scene (pdf)

Spanish Student Page
Escena de Contaminacion (pdf)

Additional Resources

Easy Chart - A free app that can be downloaded onto the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. This is a good tool for teachers and classrooms. Easily create bar, line and pie charts that you can customize, save and e-mail or upload. The charts you create can be saved using multiple color schemes and in multiple sizes. The app also works without an internet connection.

AllTrails - A free app that can be downloaded onto the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android. AllTrails helps users to get out and discover the outdoors. Use it to plan a national park visit, find a hiking path near home, or map a new trail of your own! AllTrails can help you find local places to run, hike, bike, fish, and more in the outdoors. You can even upload photos and images to trails you create.

Energy Quest
Energy Quest is an effort by the California Energy Commission to provide resources to teachers and students all about energy: its different forms, how it is generated, its sources and how to protect and conserve it. The Energy Quest website is arranged in easy-to-use tabs that lead to a rich, comprehensive supply of teaching material. The website’s interactive interface is useful and educational to both teachers and students alike.

EPA Drinking Water Info
Consumers have many questions about their drinking water. How safe is my drinking water? What is being done to improve security of public water systems? Where does my drinking water come from, and how is it treated? What can I do to help protect my drinking water? Answers to these and other questions are addressed in Water on Tap: What You Need To Know.

Safe Drinking Water Foundation (SDWF) Educational Materials
Hands-on drinking water kits, and more, that relate content to science, social studies, and math, investigating the topic from various perspectives to include economics, social, and health issues.

Superfund for Students - At this EPA website, students can learn about four different types of hazardous waste (groundwater contamination, surface water contamination, soil contamination, and air contamination) and how to clean up each type. Later, students can test their knowledge of hazardous wastes with the Superfund Scavenger Hunt or Superfund quiz.

Tox Town uses color, graphics, sounds, and animation in lessons that show the connections between chemicals, the environment, and the public’s health. It lists everyday locations where you might find toxic chemicals, gives nontechnical descriptions of chemicals, gives additional links, etc.

ToxMystery makes a game out of identifying sources of toxic chemicals inside the home. Students follow Toxie the cat as they search for hazards in each room in the home.

Chemicals Around the Home - This EPA website lets elementary and middle school students can learn about everyday chemicals found in the home. Students virtually visit a kitchen, living room, laundry room, bathroom, bedroom, backyard, and garage to read facts about the items found there. The website includes information on what to do when a chemical accident occurs in the home, ten frequently asked questions about household products, and a Test Your Knowledge quiz.

Water1der - Available for iPad, iPhone, and Android devices, the free Water1der application features questions related to conservation, irrigation, water cycle, watersheds, pollution prevention, and more. For use with middle level and older students, the app uses popular game-playing formats (multiple choice, true and false, matching, etc.)

EPA tools let computer users "see" air quality information on a virtual globe:

Go to the Air Emissions Sources Web site: www.epa.gov/air/emissions
View information in Google Earth format about which facilities emit any of six common pollutants: http://www.epa.gov/air/emissions/where.htm 
See AQI forecasts and current conditions: http://www.airnow.gov/
View air quality information in Google Earth format: http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=google_earth.main
EPA is also using the Google Earth platform to display Acid Rain Program data: http://epa.gov/airmarkets/progress/interactivemapping.html 

Marine Debris 101
This NOAA-sponsored website contains background information on the impact of marine debris. There is a special section for educators that features brochures, posters, and fact sheets to use in the classroom.

Earth & Sky Radio Show Correlations
This activity can be supplemented with related Earth & Sky radio show audio and transcripts, available for free download, for use in your classroom.
- Ralph Kahn Believes Future Levels of Pollution Will Reflect Our Choices (2009)
- John Incardona Links Car Exhaust to Heart Disease (2009) 

Reading Connections
The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. Geisel, Theodor Seuss (Dr. Seuss). ISBN 0394800028. Publisher: Random House, Inc. 1976. Using simple words and a rhyming text, the Cat In the Hat returns in a magical and messy adventure that shows just how difficult it is to totally clean up a problem. Grades K-4.

The Lorax. Geisel, Theodor Seuss (Dr. Seuss). ISBN 0394823370. Publisher: Random House. 1971. In this classic story, the Once-ler describes how his greedy actions destroyed a beautiful and thriving environment. Children will enjoy the colorful characters and rhyming verse. Also available in Spanish. Grades PreK-6.

Flush. Hiaasen, Carl. ISBN 0375821821. Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf. 2005. On Father's Day, Noah visits his dad at the local jail. Dad is a feisty environmentalist with a short fuse. Convinced that the Coral Queen was dumping raw sewage into the harbor, he sank the floating casino. Noah knows that his dad was right about the sewage, even if his corrective method was a little over the top. To clean the slate and the harbor, he drafts a motley crew of  riends to get the goods on the illegal dumpers. Grades 4-6.

All the Way to the Ocean. Harper, Joel. ISBN 0971425418. Publisher: Freedom Three Publishing 2006. A delightful read that teaches the young how they can participate in keeping our oceans and their inhabitants clean. Beautifully illustrated; it is an inspiring book that's also printed using recycled paper and soy inks. A great gift to begin teaching children that they can make a difference for the environment. Grades 2-6.

Pollution and Conservation. Lambert, David. ISBN 0531180603. Publisher: Bookwright Press. 1986. Discusses the causes of pollution, its effects on the environment, and what is being done to repair some of the damage it has caused. Grades K-6.

Wastes. Miller, Christina. ISBN 0531101304. Publisher: FranklinWatts. 1986. Surveys the treatment of household waste and some possible future solutions to the growing problem of its disposal. Grades 6+.

WumpWorld. Peet, Bill. ISBN 0395311292. Publisher: Houghton-Mifflin. 1970. The WumpWorld is an unspoiled place until huge monsters bring hordes of tiny creatures from the planet Pollutus. All Grades.

Hazardous Waste. Stenstrup, Allen. ISBN 0516055062. Publisher: Children’s Press Inc. 1991. Explains what hazardous wastes are, how they are produced, and why it is difficult to dispose of them. Grades 4-8.