EPA/20Z-1004
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Environmental Protection The Administrator April 1990
Agency (A-101ED)
v>EPA Educators
Earth Day Sourcebook
Grades? 12
Earth
Day
1990
vvEPA
You Can Make A Differeno
Printed on Recycled Paper
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' UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
THE ADMINISTRATOR
AN EARTH DAY MESSAGE TO EDUCATORS
FROM WILLIAM K. REILLY
ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Dear Educator,
Thank you for your willingness to teach your students about Earth Day and the environment.
Although Earth Day 1990 is April 22, all across the U.S.A., and in many places around the world,
educational events of all kinds will be held the week before and the week after. We at EPA are
working hard to make sure that it is not just a "one-time" event, but rather that it triggers long-term
education and action to improve the environment.
Many of you, I'm sure, recall Earth Day 1970. It may be useful to you to have some background on
that event and subsequent activities. In the late 1960s, a series of environmental horror stories gave
rise to the first Earth Day as citizens across the land sounded the alarm. A river caught on fire. Cities
were enshrouded by thick clouds of industrial pollution. Raw sewage was discharged into rivers.
Automobiles released ten times the emissions of today's cars. Oil spills occurred with increasing
frequency. And people said, "ENOUGH!"
Soon thereafter, the Environmental Protection Agency was formed to address these and other
problems. By the late 1970s, dramatic progress was evident in water quality, reduced automobile
emissions, and waste disposal. By Earth Day's tenth anniversary in 1980, however, a second wave of
environmental challenges became paramount, often more subtle and difficult to address. Evidence of
toxic chemicals appeared everywhere: in food, water, soil and air. Now, as the twentieth anniversary
of Earth Day approaches, environmental threats are even more daunting: acid rain, global warming,
habitat destruction, loss of wildlife and stratospheric ozone depletion.
What should we do? What can we do? First, we must recognize that, in one way or another, every
sector of the economy agriculture, housing, transportation, energy and each of us as a consumer
contributes to these problems. As President Bush said, "Through millions of individual decisions
simple, everyday, personal choices we are determining the fate of the Earth. So the conclusion is
also simple: We're all responsible, and it's surprisingly easy to move from being part of the problem to
being part of the solution."
We cannot succeed without educating all sectors of society and involving people in meeting the
environmental challenges ahead. We must act, and we must act together. We must start preventing
pollution before it occurs.
Please urge your students and colleagues to join Earth Day celebrations that will take place in your
community. Help them to become active in meeting the environmental challenges ahead.
William K. Reilly
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Teachers And Librarians
We are asking you to help spread the
word about Earth Day 1990, to help
focus your school's attention on the
state of the planet. We are asking that
you share this information with
administrators, teachers, and students,
, and reach out to parents and the
community with your activities so that
everyone can participate and do
something NOW to protect the
environment. Let Earth Day be the
starting point for continuing
environmental education.
Although environmental issues often
seem overwhelming, there are actions
that can be taken by your students and
their families which, while not difficult,
.. are very helpful; they may even result
in good environmental habits which
will endure.
Suggested Activties
Here are some teaching ideas which
may be used to start an environmental
education program in your school.
These ideas are designed to work across
the entire school curriculum. Please
- share these suggestions with other
-' science, English, mathematics, social
studies, art, drama, music, physical
- education, and special education
.. teachers. If we've left anyone out, please
include them, too! Act now and get
others in your school involved by
means of projects that cross all areas of
J the curriculum.
^ Plan a class discussion around the
messages in this booklet. What other
messages about caring for the planet
could be included? What other messages
about preventing pollution could be
conveyed? How do you inspire people
to take particular actions? What do you
think is the most important message?
Individual writing assignments can be
done on any of the questions posed for
discussion.
Break class into small groups. Have
each group design and prepare a poster
to illustrate a particular environmental
message. Share the posters with the
class and discuss their messages.
For the School Library
Create displays of posters, newspaper
clippings, and books that deal with
environmental pollution and actions
that can be taken to improve our
environment. Use these displays for
stimulating discussion among students
in organized discussion groups in the
library.
Develop a reading list of books and
articles in your library which are about
the environment.
Develop a "reader's guide" on how to
use library resources about the
environment.
Promote reading a book on an
environmental theme during this time
period.
Identify important historical and
current environmental leaders and
discuss how they made or are making a
difference. Discuss how each individual
can make a difference in the future of
our environmental quality.
Librarians, journalism teachers, or
other interested teachers and students
could write a newsletter for the school
reporting on student activities on Earth
Day, as well as activities in the
community, nation, and the world.
Librarians and teachers can invite
speakers who have written books,
articles, or newspaper articles about
environmental issues or knowledgeable
scientists from nearby universities or
laboratories, to make themselves
available to students in the classroom,
library, or assembly.
Art Activities
Have a poster contest on the theme of
pollution prevention or any of the other
concepts suggested in the vocabulary
list. Acknowledge the winners in an
all-school meeting. Display posters in
public areas.
Have a photography contest. Create a
photographic exhibit of the pollution
problems in your community,
environmental improvements, or
community efforts on the environment.
Acknowledge the winners of this
contest publicly.
If you have access to the necessary
equipment, make a class movie such as
a "documentary" or a "news broadcast"
about the environment.
English Activities
Have an essay contest on the theme of
pollution prevention or any of the
related concepts listed in the vocabulary
section. Read winning essays in an
all-school assembly. Have them printed
in local newspapers and read in
community meetings.
Write poems about the environment.
Write a play and read or produce it
for the class or an all-school assembly.
It can be on an environmental theme
focusing on a crisis that develops in a
family or community because of serious
pollution problems. Bring out the depth
of feelings that are experienced by the
loss of wildlife, open space, forests,
clean air, or water.
Have students give speeches to other
students, teachers, parents, and
community leaders to inform, to inspire,
or to take action to become
non-polluters. Have them include
requests for specific actions, like the
initiation of a community-wide
recycling program. Encourage them to
speak at community meetings.
Science Activities
Students can conduct a street or area
tree inventory and develop a plan for
planting new trees. Have them
document the largest (diameter, height,
spread) of each native tree species in
your area.
Children in urban areas can conduct
an inventory of the effect of air
pollution on trees, shrubs, and
especially evergreen trees. Which trees
should be growing in your area that are
not there now? Note other effects like
the loss of leaves, high rates of insect
infestation, and, on evergreens, whether
or not the needles have turned brown.
Analyze your findings and discuss the
implications for the future.
Students can adopt a wetland,
conduct a water monitoring project or
observe and identify the variety of
wildlife in a wetland area.
Plan tests in your school and at
homes for the presence of radon.
Music Activities
Celebrate your appreciation of the
planet by listening to classical
compositions such as Beethoven's
Symphony #6 (The Pastoral); Richard
Strauss's An AJpine Symphony; Ferde
Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite; Smetana's
The Mouldau, and folksongs such as
Woody Guthrie's This Land is Your
Land and Roll on Columbia and John
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Denver's Rocky Mountain High.
Folksingers' recordings about the
dangers of pollution include: Pete
Seeger's Sailing Up My Muddy Stream;
Peter, Paul and Mary's What Have They
Done with the Rain; Tom Paxton's
There Goes the Mountain; John Denver's
Whose Garden Was This?; and Malvina
Reynold's God Bless the Grass.
Contemporary rock singer Sting sings of
saving the rain forests in Don't Bungle
the Jungle and Save the Rain Forest.
Peter Gabriel sings of the dangers of
acid rain in Red Rain. Encourage
students to write their own lyrics and/or
music.
Social Science Activities
Explore the terms "consumerism" and
"conservation" through class discussion
and written assignments. Discuss the
concepts of "planned obsolescence" and
recycling.
Have students list actions that can be
taken in support of pollution prevention
and have them each decide what they
will be responsible for doing.
Physical Education Activities
Have students join with other
community groups to celebrate Earth
Day through such recreational activities
as Earth Day runs, nature hikes, bicycle
races, or rallies with an environmental
protection theme. Such races could be
held in local, state, or national parks.
Organize a "Walk-or-Bike to School"
day for students and teachers,
promoting alternatives to the use of
fossil fuels for transportation.
Create a dance in honor of the
environment.
School Outreach Activities
Urge your local park system and local
business offices to have students'
environmental art displays on Earth
Day, April 22, and the week after.
Students could participate with other
community groups such as community
art classes, photography, after-school
Head Start programs, and other local
programs.
Work with local zoos and nature
centers to do a "wildlife protection"
program.
Have students contact the area library
system urging a display of books,
posters, and art work at all libraries in
your community.
Contact local government officials
responsible for protecting and
improving trees, flower beds, and other
vegetation about local forestry and tree
planting efforts and request them to
publicize their efforts and needs during
the Earth Day program.
Encourage the use of consumer power
by identifying and supporting
"environmentally safe" products use
your money as votes for environmental
betterment.
Classes can write a letter to the local
newspaper, signed by all students,
urging concern about the environment
and calling upon the community to
participate in local Earth Day activities.
Vocabulary (Here are some selected
vocabulary words associated with
environmental assessment which
everyone should know. You and your
students can add to this list.)
General Environmental Words: ecology,
ecosystem, habitat, gene pool,
pesticides, deforestation, desertification,
compost, biosphere
Related concepts: "cleansing effect of
vegetation," "population explosion"
Waste Products Words: biodegradable,
toxic, dioxins, PCBs, landfill, municipal
wastestream, recycling
Air Pollution Words: ozone, nitrous
oxide, carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide, chlorofluorocarbon, benzene,
particulates, greenhouse effect, sulphur
dioxide, smog, acid rain, ozone layer
Water Pollution Words: eutrophication,
fish kill, algae bloom, oil spill, ocean
dumping, sludge, groundwater
Social Concepts: consumerism, planned
obsolescence, conservation, packaging,
throwaway society
Some Books to Read on the Subject
(Your librarian can add more . . .)
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Practical Waste Treatment and Disposal
Edited by Denis Dickinson
(A Halsted Press Book)
Vanishing Air (Ralph Nader's
Study Group Report on Air Pollution)
by John C. Esposito
Garbage As You Like It (A Plan
to Stop Pollution by Using Our
Nation's Wastes) by Jerome Goldstein
[Rodale Press]
Radon: The Invisible Threat
by Michael La Favore
Terracide: America's Destruction of
Her Living Environment
by Ron M. Linton
Water and Life by Lorus and
Margery Milne
Must the Seasons Die?
by Colin Moorcraft
GAIA - An Atlas of Planet Managemem
Edited by Dr. Norman Myers
Worldwatch Paper 62: Water:
Rethinking Management
in an Age of Scarcity, December 1984
Worldwatch Paper 87: Protecting Life o
Earth: Steps to Save the Ozone Layer,
December 1988
Timetable for Disaster by Don Widener
Classroom Discussion
Subjects
These pages can be reproduced for
students so they can follow your
discussion of the subjects shown.
You Can Make A
Difference
Teach your friends and family about
preventing pollution by your example.
Action by the President, Congress,
and state legislatures, rulings by the
courts, speeches by important people, o
your wishing it as important as they
are cannot, by themselves, clean up
the environment or keep it from
becoming more polluted than it is.
Millions of people cause pollution.
Many people contribute to unsightly
and unsafe neighborhoods, litter on
highways, schools and to our homes,
but millions of people can also help
plant trees, create parks, save wildlife,
and improve our oceans, rivers, streams
and wetlands.
You can help. You can become a verj
important person in this effort.
Here are some things you can do:
Please look at the page You Can Help.
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You can teach your friends and
family by your example to prevent
pollution. Share this information with
them.
One use is not enough. Recycle paper,
glass, plastic, aluminum, scrap
metal, motor oil, and yard wastes.
Reuse, repair, and recycle as often as
possible. Don't throw away what can be
used again. Avoid creating unnecessary
garbage by using wasteful disposables.
Consider using reusable mugs, glasses,
dishes, cloth towels, or sponges. Save
your leaves, grass, and bush clippings to
use as compost. Participate in a
recycling program. Encourage your
community and your school to begin
recycling. Maintain and repair clothes
and products. Donate usable clothes and
materials to thrift shops.
Use less energy. Set back your
thermostat, insulate your water
heater, and buy energy-efficient
appliances. Setting back the thermostat
not only saves money, but also saves
energy. It's an investment in yourself
and your environment.
Cars Buy energy-efficient vehicles
and keep them tuned. Carpool, bike,
walk, or use mass transit when possible.
A well-tuned internal combustion
engine makes your car, boat, or tractor
safer for you and the environment.
Carpooling and using mass transit,
biking, and walking result less pollution
being emitted. Disposal of auto waste is
another significant problem. Used oil
can contaminate water supplies; used
auto batteries contain lead, lead sulfate,
and sulfuric acid which can leak into
soil. Take used oil, batteries, and auto
tires to a recycling center or to an
appropriate disposal facility.
Apply pesticides and herbicides
carefully if they must be used.
Follow instructions carefully. Use
natural control materials whenever
possible.
Noxious air (indoor air pollution)
invades our homes and workplaces.
Reduce tobacco smoke, radon, asbestos,
and other indoor air pollutants.
Americans spend more than 85% of
their time indoors, so this is one of the
most important areas where you can
protect yourself from environmental
hazards. One of the most harmful
hazards is radon, a naturally occurring
colorless and odorless gas that seeps
into homes through cracks in
foundations or floors. It is the second
leading cause of lung cancer leading
to 20,000 deaths a year. Commercial
testing kits are helpful if directions are
followed carefully. Another indoor air
pollutant, tobacco smoke, which causes
problems for both smokers and
nonsmokers, further increases one's
chances of developing ling cancer,
especially when combined with radon.
Formaldehyde in new furniture and
carpets, pesticides, aerosols, household
cleaners, and solvents from dry-cleaning
are other common indoor pollutants.
Household hazardous waste Buy
only as much potentially toxic
materials or products as you need.
Dispose of remnants and containers
properly. Be alert to labels. Materials
that are toxic for people must be labeled
"Dangerous," medium toxicity products
are labeled "Warning," and low toxicity
products are labeled "Caution." Store
such materials carefully and use them
up. If you must throw them out, check
your local community's policy on
hazardous waste disposal. Encourage
your local community to institute a
hazardous waste disposal plan if one is
not in effect.
Environmental shopping Buy
recycled or recyclable products. Seek
out biodegradable, reusable, or
returnable packages. Look for the
recycling symbol on products you buy.
Such symbols identify recycled or
recyclable products. For home and
work, buy products that are made of
recycled or recyclable material. Buy
durable products don't buy throw
aways. Borrow or rent things you use
infrequently. Avoid buying products
which use unnecessary plastic or paper
packaging. Use returnable or reusable
containers. Look for pump rather than
aerosol sprays. Buy rechargeable
batteries for flashlights, toys, and
household items. Consider carrying your
own reusable shopping bag.
Lead Be careful around surfaces
covered with lead-based paint and be
cautious when children are near
renovation or rehabilitation of old
buildings. Be concerned about lead in
drinking water. Recycle auto batteries
that contain lead. Older homes,
especially those in poor repair or in
need of painting, may contain old
lead-based paint. The fine dust from
deteriorating old paint and that created
during renovation or rehabilitation of
older buildings may contain lead
particles. This dust can travel
throughout the house and even outside.
Keep children away from such areas.
Your family might consider contacting
an expert before undertaking such
renovations.
EPA has found unhealthy contaminants
in drinking water in some areas.
Because lead and other contaminants
may cause health problems, consider
having your water tested if your house
has lead pipes. Two drinking water
precautions are to run water until it
changes temperature, and use only the
cold-water tap for drinking and cooking,
especially for making baby formula.
Lead can slow children's physical and
nervous system development and cause
other neurological, reproductive, and
circulatory problems. Auto batteries
contain lead and should be recycled or
disposed of at appropriate sites to help
reduce the amount of lead in the
environment.
Plant trees, shrubs.and indoor plants.
They replenish the Earth's oxygen
supply and can provide habitat for
wildlife. Plant trees or bushes in your
yard or neighborhood. Trees in your
yard may save you money in heating
and cooling. They can beautify your
property and increase its value.
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You Can Help
Teach Your Friends And Family About Preventing Pollution By Your Example.
You can teach your friends and family by your example to help prevent pollution. Share this
information with them.
o
ne use is not enough. Recycle paper, glass, plastic, aluminum, scrap metal, motor oil, and yard
wastes.
Use less energy. Set back your thermostat, insulate your water heater, and buy energy efficient
a
' appliances.
Cars Buy energy-efficient vehicles and keep them tuned. Carpool, bike, walk, or use mass transit
when possible.
Apply pesticides and herbicides carefully if they must be used. Follow instructions carefully.
Otherwise, they can pollute air, ground, and water, and they can kill or harm beneficial insects as
well as wildlife, pets and people.
Noxious air (indoor air pollution) invades our homes and workplaces. Reduce tobacco smoke,
radon, asbestos, and other indoor air pollutants.
Household hazardous waste Buy only as much as potentially toxic materials or products as you
r
Lneed. Dispose of remnants and containers properly.
nvironmental shoppi
returnable packages.
Environmental shopping Buy recycled or recyclable products. Seek out biodegradable, reusable or
i
Lead Be careful around surfaces covered with lead-based paint and be cautious when children are
near renovation or rehabilitation of old buildings. Be concerned about lead in drinking water.
Recycle auto batteries that contain lead.
Plant trees, shrubs, and indoor plants. They replenish the Earth's oxygen supply and provide habitat
f
for wildlife.
Selected Quotes About The Environment
"When we try to pick anything out by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe."
John Muir
"And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
sermons in stones, and good in everything." Shakespeare
. . . Integrity is wholeness, the greatest beauty is Organic wholeness, the wholeness of life and things,
the divine beautyof the universe. Love that, not man Apart from that, or else you will share span's
pitiful confusions, or drown in despair when his days darken. Robinson Jeffers
"The need is not really for more brains, the need now is for a gentler, a more tolerant people than
those who won for use against the ice, the tiger, and the bear." Loren Eiseley
"We travel together, passengers on a little space ship...preserved from annihilation only by the care,
the work and, I will say, the love we give to our fragile craft." Adlai Stevenson
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