Statistics and Pollution
Unit: Statistics in Pollution
Children are becoming very sick and many are hospitalized from being poisoned from the air, and the government is working on passing laws to fix our ecosystems. Some people are not willing to make this change because they are not being affected by the air. The class will discuss whether or not this is an urgent event and if the government needs to pursue a change right away. What if the government does not do anything? Will you step up and start this change? How will you get it done? How exactly are our ecosystems changing?
Issue: Landfills are continuing to grow more and more every year with the toxic waste that we produce.
Introduce the Driving Question: The instructor will relate the increase in pollution to how graphs show increases and decreases in functions. Pollution in our ecosystems is making the landfills grow more and more every year. These graphs raise the question: Will we be able to make any changes towards pollution in the next five years? As people of the ecosystem, the choice is up to us to make the change.
Driving Question: Will we be able to make any changes towards pollution in the next five years?
Grabber Activity
At the beginning of class, a series of videos about pollution will be presented to the students. The videos will show the increase of pollution by using graphs and images. For example, the videos might show that the amount of waste in landfills has increased over the years. The videos might also include graphs or statistics analyzing the levels of CO₂ within a span of several years. The videos will not only show the rise of pollutants, but it will also show the impact pollution has on wildlife, natural habitats, and human life.
After watching the videos, the students will briefly discuss as a class the environmental issues they saw in the videos. They are also encouraged to discuss topics or pieces of information that weren’t mentioned in the videos. The purpose of the videos is to bring a greater sense of awareness to the issue of pollution. They might also bring a sense of urgency to solve the issue of pollution. The videos will also give students ideas on what they should research in their project.
To address information not mentioned in the video, students will be given three articles to read. One of the articles will mention the government's role and attempts to reduce various kinds of pollution. Another article will explain the impact pollution has had on plants and animals in various ecosystems. The third article will discuss how various forms of pollution affect the health of humans. Reading these articles will allow students to think more critically about the problem of pollution. Whereas the videos brought awareness and interest to the topic of pollution, the articles direct students’ focus on the impact and possible solutions to pollution. They also give students ideas about what details they should pay attention to and include in their project.
Culminating Activity
Students will be divided into groups of 4-5 people. Each group will research a particular kind of pollution. For example, some groups might research how substances such as carbon dioxide pollute the air, while others might research the rate of pollution in water and land overall. Students will be given time to work on the project during class for two weeks. They can use class time to research their topic, analyze their statistics, or ask for help. They can also use iPads to research or go on their laptops to share documents with one another.
There are 4 main components to the project: an overview of the topic, an analysis of the graphs and charts, a solution and statistic created by the student, and the final presentation. All components except the final presentation should be typed. The overview should be at least 1 page long and should state the impact the pollutant has had on Earth. Students are free to include any other information in the overview. It would be especially helpful to list any attempts people have made to solve the problem.
An important part of the project is to relate the problem of pollution to math. Students should use concepts they’ve learned in math to represent statistics and data about their topic. Students are required to include at least 2 graphs or charts in their project. They should use terms they’ve learned in our graphing unit such as domain, range, minimum, and maximum. They should use this terminology and explain its significance to the graph. They can also discuss how features of the graph affect how the information is perceived by the public. For example, they might discuss how the domain or range affect the accuracy of the information.
Students will also suggest a solution to their issue. The solution can be small and simple, such as recycling one can a day. It can also be a solution suggested by scientists or the government. They should explain why the solution will help the problem. In addition to the solution, students will create their own statistic based about their topic. They can base this statistic on other information they’ve found. For example, if they learned that recycling one aluminum can can save 1 cubic inch of space in a landfill, they could calculate how much space they would save if they recycled one can everyday for a year.
On the third week of the lesson, groups will present their topic to the rest of the class. Two groups will present each day, so presentations should be at least 20 minutes long. In their presentation, students should mention all 4 of the project components. Students will be given a lot of freedom as to how they present their project. For example, they could make a poster, powerpoint, or diorama. Students can use their report as a reference. However, they should not simply read from it word for word. At the end of each presentation, other students can ask questions. The teacher will also ask each group a few questions related to the project. For example, the teacher could ask what the most exciting or difficult part of the project was.
Example of Graph and Analysis:
Source: http://www.energytrendsinsider.com/2012/07/02/global-carbon-dioxide-emissions-facts-and-figures/
Example Analysis: This graph shows the emission of carbon dioxide in the world. The x-axis of this graph marks the years in which the levels of CO₂ are observed. The domain of this graph is from x=1965 to x=2011. The domain of the graph is helpful because you can see that CO₂ emissions were still rather high back in 1965. However, the graph could be improved if the domain extended to 2016 or made predictions for the CO₂ levels in the future. The y-axis labels the amount of CO₂ emitted in billion metric tons. The range is from 0 to 35. If the range started at y=10, the graph would appear less steep. This would make it look as if the increase in CO₂ was less drastic. Also, the range of the graph would change if the CO₂ levels were measured by a unit other than billion metric tons. The minimum of the graph is at x=1965. This means that the emission of CO₂ was the lowest in 1965. The maximum is at x=2011. This means that the most amount of CO₂ was emitted in the year 2011.
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