6th Grade MP1 DBQ

COVER PAGEMP1 DBQ to be taught with Unit 2: Europe Geography

What is the Most Serious Environmental Issue in Europe Today?

SS6G9 The student will discuss environmental issues in Europe. a. Explain the major concerns of Europeans regarding the issues such as acid rain in Germany, air pollution in the United Kingdom, and the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine.

You will analyze documents by answering the document based questions provided. The questions will help guide you toward picking out the key information. Make sure you spend time on each source to truly understand the meaning behind the document.

While you are investigating the subject, keep the following writing prompt question in mind: What is the Most Serious Environmental Issue in Europe Today?

When you complete your document analysis, you will use specific examples from the sources provided to support your argument. The essay should be at least 5 paragraphs and fulfill the requirements in the scoring guide provided.

Document ListAir Pollution: Documents A-C

Acid Rain: Documents D-F

6th Grade MP1 DBQ

Nuclear Disaster: Documents G-I

Document A

Source: Twomey, D. (2013, March 13). Air pollution puts UK in dock, EU in the red. Eco News. Retrieved from http://econews.com.au/news-to-sustain-our-world/air-pollution-puts-uk-in-dock-eu-in-the-red/

Document A Analysis Questions

1. Describe what you see the picture?

2. What message do you think the photographer was trying to get across with this photograph?

3. Create a caption for this image.

4. How could this photo be used to record history? What information does it provide?

5. How could this document be used to support an answer to the DBQ question?

6th Grade MP1 DBQ

Document B

Source: Hudson-Smith, A. (2006). London air pollution in 3d [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-pWWj6szNs&feature=youtu.be

The video at the following link shows a brief period of time of London’s thermal sensors that track air pollution there. There is no sound on the video, so be sure to closely watch the locations where the sensors seem to show the most pollution. Watch the video using the following link: http://youtu.be/P-pWWj6szNs

Document B Analysis Questions

1. What do the yellow/red lines in the picture above and in the video represent?

2. What do you think is in the location where the largest and darkest red spots are shown?

3. How should the information in this video be used to improve air quality in London?

4. How could this document be used to support an answer to the DBQ question?

6th Grade MP1 DBQ

Document C: Political cartoonSource: Baldwin, M. (Photographer). Asthma Cartoon 3 [Web Drawing]. Retrieved from

http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/a/asthma.asp

Document C Analysis Questions:

1. What people and objects are shown? · 2. What's happening in the cartoon? · 3. What issue do you think this cartoon is about? · 4. What do you think the cartoonist's opinion on this issue is?5. How can this document be used to answer the DBQ question?

Document D

6th Grade MP1 DBQ

Source: National Geographic. (n.d.). acid rain effects felt through the food chain. Retrieved from http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/acid-rain-overview/

Acid rain describes any form of

precipitation with high levels of nitric and sulfuric acids. It can also occur in the form of snow, fog, and tiny bits of dry material that settle to Earth.

Rotting vegetation and erupting volcanoes release some chemicals that can cause acid rain, but most acid rain falls because of human activities. The biggest culprit is the burning of fossil fuels by coal-burning power plants, factories, and automobiles.

When humans burn fossil fuels, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) are released into the atmosphere. These chemical gases react with water, oxygen, and other substances to form mild solutions of sulfuric and nitric acid. Winds may spread these acidic solutions across the atmosphere and over hundreds of miles. When acid rain reaches Earth, it flows across the surface in runoff water, enters water systems, and sinks into the soil.

Acid rain has many ecological effects, but none is greater than its impact on lakes, streams, wetlands, and other aquatic environments. Acid rain makes waters acidic and causes them to absorb the aluminum that makes its way from soil into lakes and streams. This combination makes waters toxic to crayfish, clams, fish, and other aquatic animals.

Some species can tolerate acidic waters better than others. However, in an interconnected ecosystem, what impacts some species eventually impacts many more throughout the food

chain—including non-aquatic species such as birds.

Acid rain also damages forests, especially those at higher elevations. It robs the soil of essential nutrients and releases aluminum in the soil, which makes it hard for trees to take up water. Trees' leaves and needles are also harmed by acids.

The effects of acid rain, combined with other environmental stressors, leave trees and plants less able to withstand cold temperatures, insects, and disease. The pollutants may also inhibit trees' ability to reproduce. Some soils are better able to neutralize acids than others. In areas where the soil's "buffering capacity" is low, the harmful effects of acid rain are much greater.

The only way to fight acid rain is by curbing the release of the pollutants that cause it. This means burning fewer fossil fuels. Many governments have tried to curb emissions by cleaning up industry smokestacks and promoting alternative fuel sources. These efforts have met with mixed results. But even if acid rain could be stopped today, it would still take many years for its harmful effects to disappear.

Individuals can also help prevent acid rain by conserving energy. The less electricity people use in their homes, the fewer chemicals power plants will emit. Vehicles are also major fossil fuel users, so drivers can reduce emissions by using public transportation, carpooling, biking, or simply walking wherever possible.

Document D Analysis Questions:

1. According to the article, what is the biggest cause of acid rain?2. How does acid rain affect non-aquatic species? 3. How can acid rain be prevented?4. How can this document be used to support your answer to the DBQ question?

6th Grade MP1 DBQ

Document ESource: Sustainable Development and Much Much More. (2008, November 07). Eastern European countries are

plagued by coal. Retrieved from www.edouardstenger.com/2008/11/07/eastern-european-countries-are-plagued-by-coal/

Document E Analysis Questions:

1. How does this map show that acid rain is an environmental issue that crosses boundaries?

2. Which country is affected the most by acid rain? Which country causes the most acid rain?

3. How can this document be used to help answer the DBQ question?

6th Grade MP1 DBQ

Document FSource: McCracken, T. (Photographer). Singing in the Acid Rain [Web Drawing]. Retrieved from

http://www.mchumor.com/singing2_bframe.html

Document F Analysis Questions:

1. Describe what you see. ·

2. What's happening in the cartoon? ·

3. How does what is happening in the cartoon relate to environmental issues?

4. How can this document be used to answer the question of this DBQ?

6th Grade MP1 DBQ

Document G

Click and watch the video, http://abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/chernobyl-disaster-nuclear-plant-soviet-1986-9843882

Document G Analysis Questions:

1. Why do you think the Soviet Union waited to report the accident to the world for two whole days?

2. Should the death toll from the accident just include those who died in the explosion? Why or why not?

3. Besides direct human impact, what indirect impact did the explosion have on humans?

4. How can this document be used to support an answer to the question of this DBQ?

6th Grade MP1 DBQ

Document HSource: Health 'Chernobyl cancer might have been prevented' . (1999, July 01). BBC News. Retrieved from

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/382979.stm

Document H Analysis Questions:

1. What parts of Europe experienced the most radioactive fallout?

2. Why was the damage not just contained to the Ukraine?

3. How can this document be used to answer the DBQ question?

6th Grade MP1 DBQ

Document I: Experts find reduced effects of ChernobylSource: Rosenthal, E. (2005, September 7). Experts find reduced effects of Chernobyl. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20050907wednesday.html

ROME, Sept. 5 - Nearly 20 years after the huge accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, a new scientific report has found that its aftereffects on health and the environment have not proved as dire as scientists had predicted. The report was prepared by a panel of more than 100 experts convened by United Nations agencies.

The report, "Chernobyl's Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts," says 4,000 deaths will probably be attributable to the accident ultimately - compared with the tens of thousands predicted at the time of the accident.

Only 50 deaths - all among the reactor staff and emergency workers were directly caused by acute radiation exposure after Chernobyl's Reactor No. 4 exploded in April 1986, the panel found. The rest will be from cancer at a higher rate than would otherwise be expected in people exposed to radiation near Chernobyl in the wake of the accident. But for millions of people who were subjected to low levels of radioactive particles spread by the wind, health effects have proved generally minimal, the report found.

The powerful explosion that rocked Chernobyl sent chunks of the reactor core into the surrounding fields and clouds of radioactive particles into the air. The fire burned for 10 days and released radioactive particles that were carried by the wind to large rural swaths of what was then the Soviet Union. The particles settled in human bodies and homes and contaminated fields, forests and livestock. The report acknowledged that there was a core of people, probably 100,000 to 200,000, who continued to be severely affected by the disaster.

The panel found that contrary to previous forecasts, there had been no observed rise in the incidence of leukemia, a blood cancer widely associated with radiation exposure - except for a small increase among workers who were in the contaminated plant. Nor has there been the expected detectable decrease in fertility or increase in birth defects.

Indeed, the report concludes that "the largest public health problem unleashed by the accident" is "the mental health impact." Residents of the region, who view themselves as victims of a tragedy they poorly understand, are still haunted by anxiety that has prevented many from restarting their lives.

The only concrete health impact in the region has been thyroid cancer in people who were young at the time of the accident and drank contaminated milk from cows that ate grass contaminated with radioactive iodine dispersed during by the accident. Radioactive iodine, which is short-lived, concentrates in the thyroid gland. Because the disease is generally treatable, only 9 of the 2,000 who have come down with the disease have died.

Those who continue to be affected by the accident include poor rural dwellers who live in the few severely contaminated areas, those with thyroid cancer and those who were resettled after the disaster but who had never found a new life or employment in their new communities.

"A small but important minority, those caught in the downward spiral, need substantial material assistance to rebuild their lives," the report said. But for the millions of others designated as victims, it said, the priority should be to encourage self-reliance, providing them with realistic information about the minimal risks they face.

Document I Analysis Questions:

1. Approximately how many deaths, according to the report, were probably directly related to the Chernobyl disaster?

2. According to the report, how many people continue to be severely affected by the disaster?

6th Grade MP1 DBQ

3. How can this document be used to help you answer the question of the DBQ?