Project Immersion: Conservation: Pollution

Grades 3-5: Pollution From River To Sea

Objective To track marine pollutants from a river and how they enter the ocean.

Materials None

Time Frame 1/2-1 hour

Teacher Background See Conservation in the Background Information Section.

Dive In! It is a well known fact that pollution is present in the environment. What is a great deal less well known is how it got there and where it comes from. Major sources of marine pollution are from sewage outflows, garbage dumping, disposal of landfill and hazardous waste and organic materials from agriculture. Towns, factories, farms and houses all contribute.

Process Students will track the progress of a day's worth of pollution from a single, imaginary river into the ocean and see it's effect on marine mammals, especially cetaceans.
Draw on the board a river leading to the ocean. Explain to the class that they can put several different items on the river including small, medium, and large cities, factories, and farms. Each produces a certain amount of pollution. This can be an arbitrary number as long as small cities produce less than large, factories should equal medium cities and farms equal small cities. Also place cetaceans and fish in the ocean near the river.
After you have finished placing items on the river, have students add up all the pollution that enters the river and then the ocean. Show how it kills or drives away fish and whales by contaminating the clean water they need . You can make the cities into local towns and so forth. You can also choose to show houses and boats instead of cities and factories.

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Objective	To track marine pollutants from a river and how they enter the ocean.

Materials	None

Time Frame	1/2-1 hour

Teacher Background	See Conservation in the Background Information Section.

Dive In!	It is a well known fact that pollution is present in the environment. What is a great deal less well known is how it got there and where it comes from. Major sources of marine pollution are from sewage outflows, garbage dumping, disposal of landfill and hazardous waste and organic materials from agriculture. Towns, factories, farms and houses all contribute.

Process	Students will track the progress of a day's worth of pollution from a single, imaginary river into the ocean and see it's effect on marine mammals, especially cetaceans. Draw on the board a river leading to the ocean. Explain to the class that they can put several different items on the river including small, medium, and large cities, factories, and farms. Each produces a certain amount of pollution. This can be an arbitrary number as long as small cities produce less than large, factories should equal medium cities and farms equal small cities. Also place cetaceans and fish in the ocean near the river. After you have finished placing items on the river, have students add up all the pollution that enters the river and then the ocean. Show how it kills or drives away fish and whales by contaminating the clean water they need . You can make the cities into local towns and so forth. You can also choose to show houses and boats instead of cities and factories.