Environmental Magazine Project

Program Area

This assignment can be presented as soon as the keyboard has been mastered and student have typed a simple one-page essay. Background This introductory keyboarding activity provides students with communication-enhancing skills, increasingly recognized as a tool of literacy. In addition to regular assignments, students should have opportunities to develop communication-related skills at the keyboard. They should be encouraged to create, revise, format, proofread, edit and correct their communications.

Learning Outcomes

Teaching, learning and evaluation will focus on the student's ability to:

• Increase keyboarding skills;
• Work in groups to produce a magazine.

Nature and Scope of the Project

Working in groups of four, students prepare a section in an environmental magazine. Students will be copying-typing from partially-arranged information. Each assignment is less than one page in length. Each section of the magazine will require the following skills:

1. A title page (using centering)
2. A one-page essay (using correct essay format)
3. A block enumerated list
4. Use of the photocopier.

Students will key in the assignments, assemble the articles, photocopy sufficient copies for the class and collate the materials. Topics can be chosen from the following:

• Improving the Environment
• The High Pollution Driver
• Reducing Your Household Garbage
• Localizing the Food Industry
• Making the Most of Your Bicycle
• Indoor Air Pollutants
• Keeping Clean Without Using Chemicals
• The Garbageless Lunch *
• What Did Your Lunch Cost Wildlife? *
• Who to Cut Down on Waste Plastic
• Should the Tobacco Industry Be Restricted Phillip Morris? *

* These projects require skills in reading and synthesizing information from a variety of articles as well as composing new text using the keyboard.

Timing

Three periods are required for the completion of this activity. The first is for the completion of the following activities:

• develop background information;
• select work group;
• choose topics;
• outline expectations;
• timelines;
• evaluation;
• locate materials;
• review format of documents.

The second period is for the keying in of documents, and the fourth is for photocopying and collating.

Classroom Development

Students may be familiar with the environmental issues either through other classroom experiences or from general knowledge. Some time will be needed to explain the details of the issues and draw on students knowledge.

Since all aspects of the project cannot be completed simultaneously, it may be necessary to have independent keyboarding assignments for students to work on at their own pace.

Resources

Seymour J. and H. Giradet. Blueprint for a Green Planet. New York, 1987.

The format for this module is based on an article by Sheila Culliford of Sir Oliver Mowatt Collegiate Institute which appeared in the OBEA Newsletter, Volume 11, Number 2, Summer 1991, page 11.

The Green Teacher. August 1990, Number 19.

What Did your Lunch Cost Wildlife? Canadian Wildlife Federation. Project Wild. 1986

What You Wear Is What They Were. Canadian Wildlife Federation. Project Wild. 1986.

Lewton, L.H. and M.M. Ford. Taking Sides. The DPG Group Inc., Sluice Doeh, 1990.

Co-operative Learning Strategies

Group membership may be determined on the basis of student's individual interest in the various topics, by numbering off the class (1... 2... 3... 4...) according to the seating plan, or by teacher selection to ensure that all groups have members with certain key skills.

• Each group will need to complete the following tasks:
• Determine the topic and locate the resources;
• Assign keying, photocopying and collating tasks to members;
• Editing and proofreading of the group's project.
• One additional group of four students will be needed to collate, bind and distribute the final product. This group will also prepare an editorial for the front of the magazine.

The teacher may choose to give individual instruction to small groups of students completing specialized tasks. For example, one member of each groups will need to know the formatting rules for essays; a second member of each group will need to know how to format a blocked enumeration; a third member will need to know how to key in attractive cover pages; and a fourth member will need to know how to photocopy efficiently. With this method, students can bring their specialized talents back to their home groups.

Improving the Environment

A four-point plan for improving the environment.

• Assess the Consequences Most everyday activities either improve or make the environment worse.
• Encourage Positive Changes Throwing away excessive amounts of garbage, wasting water, or using pesticides, fall into the category of avoidable damage to the environment.
• Cut Down What Cannot Be Cut Out Some actions, like driving a car, are almost impossible to avoid, in North America due to our poor public transit system. Take steps to reduce the damage caused by cars.
  

The High Pollution Driver

How to Avoid Being a High Pollution Driver:

• Leave Your Car at Home Walk and cycle more often, since this is better for both you and the environment. Using public transportation is generally faster and always cheaper.
• Avoid the Car Change Habit Looking after a car is far better for the environment than buying a new one.
• Check Your Driving Techniques Avoid sudden acceleration which increases the emission of pollutants. Frequent hard braking wastes energy.
• Keep Your Car Properly Maintained Preventing rust is better than using toxic rust removers. Wash your car frequently to remove road dust and salt (using cold, recycled water).
• Have the Engine Tuned Regularly Regular tune-ups ensure that your car burns fuel efficiently.
• Choose Your Car Carefully When buying a car, put pollution control high on your list of criteria.

Help Localize the Food Industry

• Buy Locally Buy food that has been produced near where you live. This saves on transportation costs and saves energy.
• Ask Questions Find out where the meat you buy has come from and what methods of farming are used there.
• Read Labels Notice where the food you are buying has come from. Avoid produce that has been imported from abroad where home brands are available. Watch for chemicals in your food.
• Encourage Change Ask food retailers to provide food that has been produced locally or without causing environmental damage. Buy from Farmer's Markets where possible.

Reduce Your Household Garbage

• Do Not Mix-up Your Garbage Collect glass, paper, metal and organic garbage in separate containers. Compost kitchen waste in your garden, and recycle toxic cleaners and batteries where possible.
• Apply the Over-packaging Test Choose products that are contained in the least amount of packaging. Never buy those that fail the over-packaging test.
• Buy in Bulk Whenever possible, buy the largest size. Six small cans of pop produce far more waste than a single bottle containing the same amount of liquid.
• Choose Returnable Containers Choose returnable bottles over cans and return them whenever possible.
• Choose Natural Packaging Packaging made of paper or cardboard is often preferable to plastic because it can be recycled. Class bottles are usually better than plastic ones especially if they are returnable.

Make the Most of Your Bicycle

• Cycle to School and Work If you drive, ask yourself if you could make the journey by bicycle. Cycling is considerably more invigorating than sitting in a car.
• Use Cars for Long Distance Only Think of your bicycle as the vehicle for local travel. Cars should only be used if other forms of transportation are inappropriate.
• Press for Cycling Facilities If you live in a built-up area without cycleways, suggest to your local traffic planners that some should be created.

Reduce Indoor Pollutants

• Cigarettes These produce a range of poisonous gases including carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. Action: stop smoking
• Gas Stoves These stoves can produce carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, both of which cause respiratory problems. Action: ensure proper ventilation
• Aerosols These contain propellants which can be a health hazard. Action: maintain adequate ventilation

Keep Clean Without Chemicals

• Look for Natural Ingredients Disregard all reckless claims about revolutionary human-made ingredients. Stick to products that are made from natural ingredients.
• The More Simple the Better Plain soap and plain shampoo are just as effective as most other products. Useless additional ingredients create more pollution going down the drain and in chemical factories.
• Apply the Over-packaging Test Buy whatever is contained in the minimum amount of packaging. Cosmetics, in particular, are ridiculously over-packaged. Apply the test.
• Cut Down Quantity We are not as smelly or as dirty as advertisers would have us believe.

Cut Down on Waste Plastic

• Refuse Plastic Containers for Fast Food You do not need them. Most of these containers are thrown away within minutes. Paper bags are all that are usually required.
• Do not Buy Food Prepackaged in Plastic Excess packaging of small amounts of food creates unnecessary plastic pollution. Whenever possible, avoid prepackaged foods.
• Choose Natural Materials in Clothing Avoid human-made fibers in clothing. Avoid the plastic that is disguised as leather in shoes.
• Avoid Disposable Plastic in the Kitchen Plastic is long-lasting, so it makes no sense to use plastic in disposable objects. Use plastic food boxes instead of throwing film and bags.
• Ask for Biodegradable Packaging Try using paper or cloth bags when shopping, or recycle your plastic bags by taking your own bag when shopping. Avoid biodegradable plastic bags, as they may cause more environmental problems than regular plastics.

Dismantling the Garbage Mountain

Anyone who has ever excavated an old country garbage dump in order to turn the site into a garden will probably have been interested in what was in it. All you will usually find in such dumps are heel irons, the occasional old decayed boot, an old enameled saucepan, and bits of pottery and broken bottles.

When people of the future dig down into our garbage dumps, they will get a fascinating and voluminous insight into our consumption habits. Although the paper, cardboard, and kitchen leftovers which make up over half of our household waste may have rotted down, vast amounts of plastic, glass, and metal will still remain as evidence of our day-to-day lives.

Plastic will be more abundant that any other material. Much of it will be broken and torn. It will not have disintegrated. The name of shops will still be visible on plastic bags. Toy cars, razors, yogurt containers and plastic plates will still be identifiable.

The High Pollution Driver

No one knows exactly how much guilt the car bears for acid rain, and how much is due to power production, but the precise figures are irrelevant. Car exhausts kill trees, and that much is certain.

The destruction of the forests is not just a matter of picturesque views being spoiled, or wildlife losing its home. In many places, trees hold together the very land itself so that we can drive thousands of polluting cars and trucks across it.

All gasoline-powered cars harm the environment, but the polluting effects of driving can be minimized by taking care in the way a car is used. Those who do not take care simply aggravate pollution and, further, reduce the lives of their cars, and sometimes their own lives as well. Although high pollution drivers are often seen in old vehicles, the speed-obsessed owners of high performance cars are equally guilty of environmental thoughtlessness.

Localizing the Food Industry

As the demand for beef in North America goes up, the pressure on the countries of Central and South America to produce more beef increases. These counties have all established pastures by logging or burning their forests. By 1985, two-thirds of Central America's accessible tropical forests had been cleared or depleted to feed cattle for wealthy Westerners.

Tropical forests are being cleared at a rate of countless thousands of square kilometers every year to make a short-term profit before the land is ruined. This is an act of extreme foolishness because tropical forests contain thousands of species of plants and animals which are of critical importance for a wide range of scientific research and the well-being of local people.

The soil of these countries is useless without the tropical forests. Once the canopy of trees is removed, the soil is destroyed by rain and sun, and erosion quickly sweeps it away.

Poisons of the Indoor Air

The dangers of synthetic materials in the home are never more apparent than when a fire breaks out. Today, more people are killed by toxic fumes in house fires than succumb to the direct effects of fire itself. But your home does not have to catch fire for you to be affected by fumes from synthetic products. Indoor air is polluted by them all the time. And of these air poisoners, one has become especially notorious.

Many household materials contain formaldehyde. It is found in insulating foams, synthetic resins, disinfectants, medicines, glues in plywood, chipboard and hardboard, laundry detergents, and even in some cosmetics. Formaldehyde is now recognized as a dangerous pollutant.

Making the Most of Your Bicycle

Bicycles are the most economical and pollution-free form of transportation yet invented. They run on nothing more than human energy derived from a good meal. Instead of ruining the health of the owner, as cars do, they actually improve it.

It is a myth that cycling can only be popular where the land is flat. What would happen if planners put as much work into cycle-ways as they do into roads? Why should cars which, after all, cause so many problems enjoy all the investment?

Constructing permanent cycle-ways through cities is a cheap way of reducing pollution and congestion. With good planning, many of the problems cited against bicycles, the risk of accidents, pollution and theft, can be solved. Why can't employers provide bicycle parking space for employees as they often do for cars? Why can't weatherproof paths be provided for cycling in winter?

Curing the Cleanliness Obsession

The average home is the scene of a seemingly endless battle to eliminate germs, but the germs simply will not be eliminated. Our houses are cleaner, tidier, shinier than ever before, but this is thanks to the use of substances that make the world outside a worse place. Not only that, but we have become convinced that our bodies, too, have to be germ-free.

Of course there is no such thing as a germ-free, odourless body, nor will there be, but the advertisers persuade many of us that if we strive to develop one, then we will have no shortage of friends, fame and fortune in life.

People of 16th century Europe covered everything with perfume to mask the odours of daily life they considered bathing to be a source of disease. Today the pendulum has swung in the other direction. We are not just more hygienic, we are compulsive cleaners.