I am NOT drinking that!

How We Got to Now - CLEAN - Full episode

Review ideas from previous lesson:

1. Think about what you know about watersheds. Without a sewer system, where would all the waste eventually end up? 

2. In regards to your previous answer, explain how the waste would get there.

So the waste is eventually going to end up in the drinking water supply .. Today, we  will take a look at how that actually happened in Chicago and how it played out. 

Watch How We Got to Now - CLEAN (next segment) from 9:53-14:37 (link above)

Other than grossness, what are the problems with sewage coming out of your pipes into your house?

Continue watching video up to 19:58

Discussion Questions:

Back to watersheds. Before Chicago developed their giant storm water collection system, all the water from the sewer system ended up right back in the watershed that people relied on for their daily source of water. 

1. If we go out into our natural environment and see that populations of wildlife, for instance native fish populations, are in decline, what is that a bad sign for us humans?

2. Fish populations are not the only indicators of problems. You have probably learned all the organisms in an environment create an energy web, which is an system of interrelated food chains.  Give some example of some food chains you know of.

Why Save the Delta Smelt? - It's a boring little fish.

Humans are part of the entire ecosystem and we rely on a clean, healthy, balanced environment just as much as all the other organisms in it. We often hear of efforts to save a specific species. Sometimes people hear about campaigns such as that to “save the Delta Smelt” and think that it is ridiculous to put so much effort into saving a single species of a tiny fish. The Delta Smelt only gets to be about 2-3 inches long. After all, people don’t eat Delta Smelt. However, The tiny delta smelt is one of the best indicators of environmental conditions in the San Francisco Bay-Delta, an ecologically important estuary that is a major hub for California's water system. So, we don’t need to have a special love for tiny fish to want to save the Delta Smelt - or any species, for that matter - we need to see (or “save”) healthy populations of Delta Smelt because we know if the Delta Smelt population is healthy, then we have a healthy water system. Additionally, they provide a food source for many other organisms in the ecosystem.

Google Classroom Question:

Use clear, thoughtful sentences to explain why environmental scientists believe it is important for us to “save” the Delta Smelt - a tiny fish that humans don’t eat.

(answer in Google Classroom)