What is the environment?
The environment is everything around us. All our surroundings including the air, soil, water, plants, and animals make up the environment. Plants and animals need a healthy environment to survive. When the environment is damaged by man, then some living organisms may not be able to survive. Human activities have caused land, water, and air pollution.
Earth source: NASA
What is land pollution?
When we first think of pollution we often think of trash by the side of the road. This type of pollution is called land pollution. Land pollution is anything that damages the land.
What is air pollution?
Air pollution is when unwanted chemicals, gasses, and particles (חלקיקים) enter the air and the atmosphere causing harm (פגיעה) to animals and damaging the natural cycles of the Earth. Some sources of air pollution come from nature, such as eruptions of volcanoes, dust, and forest fires.
What is water pollution?
Water pollution is when waste, chemicals, or other particles cause a body of water (i.e. rivers, oceans, lakes) to become harmful (מזיק) to the fish and animals that need the water to survive.
What is global warming?
Global warming is the term used to describe the rising of the average temperature on Earth. It has to do with the overall climate of the Earth rather than the weather on any given day.
Here are few of the things that scientists think may happen as the temperature rises. Some of them are already happening:
- Glaciers melting – Many glaciers (קרחונים) are already melting and shrinking throughout the world. If the temperature increases they will continue to melt (להינמס).
- Ocean levels will rise – As the glaciers melt, the ocean levels will rise. This could cause flooding (הצפה) in cities located near the coast (חוף ים).
- Migration of animals – Animals will migrate to cooler spots as their old habitats get too warm. This could upset the food chain and put some species in danger of extinction (הכחדה).
Scientists are looking for ways to help the environment recover. One way is using renewable energy.
Renewable Energy
One important aspect of helping the environment to recover is renewable energy. Renewable energy uses energy sources that cannot be “used up.” Rather than burning fossil fuels like coal and oil, renewable energy uses energy sources like the wind and the sun.
What can we do to help our planet?
- Comprehension questions to check for understanding. (20 min)
What can cause this pollution? Put the items below in the correct column (some may fit in more than one place). Feel free to add other words of your own to the list.
chemical gasses, oil, forest fires, garbage
| Air Pollution | Water Pollution | Land Pollution |
Put the sentences in the correct order (this can be done by numbering them, by printing them out and having students arrange them on their tables, or together on the board):
- glaciers melt
- the temperatures go up
- animals look for cooler places to live in
- people leave the coast line
- ocean level rises
- the coast lines are flooded
- some animals may die
- Post reading – Speaking (20-30 min) – Discuss the question at the end – What can we do to help our planet? Your students may say that they are only kids and they can’t really do anything. Do not accept this answer. You will find a number of suggestions* in Lesson #4 of this unit, or you can research ideas on your own. The suggestions* are copied here, for your convenience:
Water:
- Save water – Fresh and clean water is a precious resource. Don’t waste it! Take shorter showers, ask your parents not to water the lawn, make sure the toilet isn’t running, and don’t leave the faucet running.
- Don’t use weed killer – Ask your parents if you can pull the weeds in the yard so they don’t need to use weed killer (an herbicide).
- Scrape your plates clean into the trash and don’t put grease into the kitchen drain.
- Trash – Always pick up your trash, especially when at the beach, lake, or river.
Air:
- Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
- Turn off the TV or computer when you are not using it.
- Talk to your parents about carpooling with friends and planning errands so that you can get them all done in a single trip.
Land:
- Recycle whatever you can and put the recycled items in the correct bin.
- Produce less trash – for example, drink from a cup and not from a plastic bottle.
- Pick up trash! You can help out by picking up trash when you see it lying around. Kids make sure to ask your parents for help before you pick up strange trash.
- You may decide to apply one of the suggestions around school – discuss it with your teacher.
- Find videos of kids who are making a difference through projects they’ve established to help save the planet, and show the students, to open the discussion. Here are a couple you might want to use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhH2P1ZVx50
(There are 10 kids profiled in this video. Those connected to this topic are #2, #4, #8 and #9.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-SerGZzV78
(A short video with 5 basic behaviors students can do to help the environment.)