Patricia Levy

August 9, 2000

Topic – Acid Rain

Context – I teach in Seward Park High School. It is a traditional neighborhood feeder high school with a population of about 2500 students. It is located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and its student body consists mostly of Asian, Latino, Bengali and African-American students. The classrooms are set up with tables and chairs all facing the front of the room. The middle row is bolted to the floor, but the outside two rows of tables can be moved to accommodate group work.

I chose this lesson about acid rain because our school is currently encased in what looks like black pantyhose because the bricks are loose and in danger of falling onto the street below. There is also scaffolding all around the school. Extensive work is being done so we do not end up with holes through the walls.

Key Idea: 7 – Human decisions and activities have had a profound impact on the physical and living environment.

Performance Indicator: 7.2

Major Understanding: 7.2a

Classroom Environment: The students will work in groups of 3 – 4 to do this activity.

Assessing Students’ Prior Knowledge: As a "Do Now" question, I will ask the students to write why they think the school is wearing black pantyhose. I will have them read their answers out loud and we will discuss them.

Motivation: I will distribute the "Acidic Precipitation" Article and have them explain the differences between the two statues drawn at the bottom of the article.

Introduction of Understanding: I will have some students read parts of the article out loud. We will review the concept of pH.

Development of Understanding:

1. The students will do the attached laboratory exercise to see how acid affects various different building materials. Each group will have a test tube rack with 5 test tubes, forceps and bottles of dilute acid to simulate acid rain. Possible building material to use would be chips of calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, bricks, etc.

2. The students will e-mail the Board of Education to find out how the school is being repaired and what materials they are using.

3. A library trip will be planned so my students can research acid rain and its effects on buildings and monuments. It will be interesting to discuss Cleopatra’s Needle since most of its design has been worn away by acid rain. It would also be interesting to look at the tombstones in old cemeteries such as those on lower Broadway. Almost nothing can be deciphered on these stones. My students’ research can also include how monuments and buildings are being preserved today so no further damage occurs.

4. Soil can be soaked in distilled water. When the water is then tested, it can be determined if it has become acidic as a result of acid rain.

5. Rainwater can be collected and tested to see if it is acidic. Water can be taken from the East River to see if it is acidic.

6. Seeds can be germinated in distilled water, tap water and rainwater to see which one germinates the fastest.

1. We will write the results of the different groups on the board and discuss which rock or rocks would be the best material for use in buildings and statues.

2. We will discuss the results of their e-mails to the Board of Education.

3. We can use the computer lab to log onto acid rain websites.

4. We can chart and graph the results of our germination experiment.

Further Development of Understanding: We will discuss how they can fix our school and keep it in good condition from now on. We can also discuss the Washington Monument and other statues and monuments. A trip to the Hall of Biodiversity would also reinforce what has been learned. The students will examine the wall of Human Impacts and their solutions so that they will realize that everything is not doom and gloom.

Environmental Science Activity Kit, Michael Roa, Simon and Schuster

Environmental Science, Bernstein and Winkler, Addison-Wesley

Go To Lesson 2-A Food Web2

Go To Lesson 3-Fossils