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Activity 1 Overview:
Activity 1 Overview:
In this activity, you will be introduced to common environmental factors that can affect human health, such as smog, ultraviolet radiation, soil and water pollution and noise. You will also research one specific environmental factor to examine its potential effects on human health, and examine how personal lifestyle choices can influence the overall effect an environmental factor can have on human health.
Content:
Content:
COMMON ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
AIR QUALITY:
AIR QUALITY:
Emissions from vehicles and industries put a variety of pollutants into the air, including particulate matter, ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and lead. These pollutants decrease the quality of our air and produce smog, which is a mixture of air pollutants in both gas and particle form that are too small to see.
A variety of environmental factors can affect people's heath and their ability to go about their daily activities. Air quality, noise, soil and water pollution, climate change and the sun's radiation can all impact your health.
Smog can make activities, such as playing sports difficult and in the long term, may cause permanent damage to your heart and lungs.
Take a look at some of these air pollution images. Is it too late to stop the issue? (don't mind the spelling mistake at the end of the video):
NOISE:
NOISE:
If you've ever watched an airplane takeoff, or walked past a construction site, you would probably agree that those are two very noisy workplace environments.
A noisy environment can have a variety of effects on your health. Working daily in a noisy environment, even with hearing protection, poses the risk of long term hearing impairment. It can also lead to the development of tinnitus, ringing in the ears.
Noise may disrupt your sleep and cause stress, which will negatively affect your health and your ability to function.
SOIL AND WATER POLLUTION:
SOIL AND WATER POLLUTION:
In May 2000, the small town of Walkerton, Ontario was hit with a tragedy. The town's drinking water was contaminated when heavy rains washed E. Coli bacteria from cattle manure into the town's drinking water. As a result of being exposed to the bacteria, 7 people died and over 2 300 become ill.
Clean water and soil is essential for human life. We use it for drinking, bathing and also to produce the food we eat. Unfortunately, water and soil can become contaminated through a variety of sources: animal and human waste, industrial, farm and household chemicals, and air pollution. These all pose a threat to our water and soil and in turn, to our health.
CLIMATE CHANGE:
CLIMATE CHANGE:
There is lots of talk today in the news about the Greenhouse Effect and climate change. Most scientists believe our climate is getting warmer, due to warm air being trapped near the Earth's surface by increased amounts of carbon dioxide gas in the air.
As our climate becomes warmer, it puts us at risk for numerous health problems. For instance, the change in climate might cause an increase in extreme weather, such as hurricanes, which pose numerous health risks to people. Warmer temperatures will cause droughts in certain areas, making crop production difficult, as well as allowing disease-carrying organisms to migrate from warmer climates.
RADIATION FROM THE SUN
RADIATION FROM THE SUN
Most of us have been out in the sun too long at some point and received a sunburn. Your sunburn is caused by ultraviolet radiation that damages your skin cells. Ultraviolet radiation (UV) is a type of invisible light produced by the sun. Protection from overexposure to the sun's UV radiation is very important because long term exposure can lead to premature skin aging, cataracts, and potentially deadly skin cancer.
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
Using the word list below fill in the blanks in the following sentences.
tinnitus
ozone
bacteria
chemical
smog
ultraviolet
____________ is a mixture of air pollutants in gas and particle form
A ringing sound in your ears caused by extremely loud environments is called ______________ .
The town of Walkerton's water supply was contaminated by a type of ______________ found in cattle manure.
Your skin can be damaged by __________________ radiation from the sun.
Classwork:
Classwork:
Work to be completed in Google Classroom
PERSONAL LIFESTYLE CHOICES AND YOUR HEALTH
In this activity, you looked at a variety of environmental factors that can have an impact on human health such as smog, UV radiation, and noise pollution.
The impact that these environmental factors have on human health can often be minimized, or increased, based on the lifestyle choices you make. For example, working at a noisy construction site without wearing hearing protection increases your risk of hearing impairment.
For this assignment, you will research one environmental factor from those discussed above and answer the two questions below:
Describe the environmental factor you have selected, including its cause and potential health impacts.
Explain how personal lifestyle choices impact your environmental factor. A lifestyle choice are the things you do in your life, such as driving a car versus taking public transport or wearing sunscreen versus not wearing sunscreen.
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