Patricia A. Lenning Downers Grove South High School Downers Grove, Illinois

Scenario:

"Hey, Chris, you look pretty depressed…what's up?"

"It's just that we're starting this Chemistry unit on how we're overusing our country's resources and I know I'm going to get all angry about how we're screwing up our Earth because we're such techie-energy pigs in the United States. I just wish I could hear about something we're doing right, instead of just hearing the negative stuff."

"Never fear, Dude. I've heard about lots of things people are doing to help the Earth survive, and some stuff is even helping the Earth be healthier than it was!"

"Oh yeah, what stuff exactly?"

"Well, lets go do a Webquest and find out what's going on out there, OK? Ya got some time right now?"

"Sure, let's do something interesting we want to do for a change!"

Resources and Tasks:

Step 1:

Go to "WorldView FAQ's and Facts" (http://www.nrdc.org/nrdc/worldview/fwfaqs.html)

Read the menu to the far right and click on "Green Power"; answer the following questions:

1.	What is "green power"?
2.	Why would a person elect to have "green electrons" powering the electricity in their home?

Step 2:

Go BACK to "WorldView FAQ's and Facts"

Read the menu to the far right and click on "Forest Certification"; answer the following questions:

1.	In your own words, tell me what "forest certification" is and why it helps protect our forests?
2.	If a forest is FSC certified, what does that say about how the forest is managed?
3.	Why would anyone buy FSC certified wood?

Step 3:

Go BACK to "WorldView FAQ's and Facts"

Read the menu to the far right and click on "Stormwater Pollution";

Explain 3 (out of 7) of your most favorite methods that progressive cities and counties are doing across the country to prevent and control stormwater pollution?

Step 4:

Go to "Pollution Prevention Through Innovative Technologies" (http://cct.seas.ucla.edu/cct.pp.html#Overview)

Scroll to the "Overview" section and answer the following question:

1.	What is better than "retrofitting and disposal strategies", and why is it better?
2.	CCT projects help to identify "materials currently regarded as wastes in one industrial sector [which] can be viewed as raw materials in another." What does this statement mean to you? Why is this important?

Product:

To show that you understand some of the basic ideas behind resource conservation and reclamation after completing the tasks above, choose one of the projects below to do:

1. Draw an illustration for "The Green Gazette" front page article about positive projects going on in America to use our resources more wisely.

2. Write a song for your favorite band, like the Grateful Dead, about positive projects going on in America that use our resources more wisely than we have in the past.

Teachers: Download a copy of the student Answer Sheet that accompanies this EnviroQuest. You will need Adobe Acrobat to view this file.