Science Probe II Technology Activities

Chapter 21

Internet

1. Most state and local governments have agencies that monitor waste disposal type and amounts and offer programs or incentives to encourage reductions in the quantity of waste products and to encourage recycling. Conduct an Internet search to find out what your state and local agencies are doing about resource management. Prepare a multimedia report that shows the quantity of waste generated by your community and by your state, how much recycling is done for different resources, and what incentives there are for waste reduction and recycling. Give this presentation to your classmates to share what you have learned. Below is a web site to get you started:

California Integrated Waste Management Board
http://www.CIWMB.ca.gov/

2. Choose an object that you use daily and feel that you cannot live without it. Examine it closely; make a list of the components, what each component is made of, and what natural resource is used to make it. Don’t forget to list materials used to supply the energy for its manufacture as well. Conduct an Internet search to determine:

a. Where each of these resources is obtained?
b. What effects impact the mining of this resource has on the local environment?
c. What transporting this resource from its source to its destination has on the environment?
d. What packaging is used to prepare the final product for sale?
e. What effect will that have on our environment?

Prepare a multimedia presentation to inform your classmates of what you have learned.

Application Software

Activity 21D – Use a spreadsheet program to make your data table. Record the data in the spreadsheet data table as shown in Table 21.2 of the activity. Use the graphing feature of the spreadsheet program to plot the Quantity produced (in millions of tons) on the vertical axis and Year on the horizontal axis.

Set up another data table with two columns, one for years and the second for percentage increase. Use the mathematical functions of the spreadsheet to do the calculations for finding the percentage increased as directed in step 1 of the Discussion. Print the final spreadsheet data table and graphs, and secure them in your SCIENCE PROBE Logbook where you will answer the discussion questions.