DAY 5: Here to Stay
Activity 1: Persistent Pollution [4 points]
In 2016, the World Health Organisation announced that Timaru, a small town in the South Island of New Zealand, had the highest recorded levels of air pollution in New Zealand. Some of this pollution was caused by natural events (eg. fires) but most of it was produced (made) by humans.
Watch this short video on air pollution. It will tell you more about natural and human causes of pollution.
On your blog, share three new things that you learned about air pollution from this video.
- Climate change increases smog, rises in mould, more in pollen.
- Smog is one type of air pollution which makes visibility less. Smog is divided into two parts, Sulfurous and Photochemical.
- One type of air pollution is toxic pollutants, which makes health problems and environmental effects.
Activity 2: Changing Climates [4 points]
Over the past decade, the climate in New Zealand (and around the world) has been changing. In fact, the climate has been getting warmer and warmer. While many of us like warm weather, climate change is not good news. Higher temperatures can cause glaciers to melt (leading to flooding) and increase the amount of rain that falls.
Here in New Zealand, we have noticed the change. In fact, we sometimes have torrential (huge) rain storms causing flooding, landslides and road closures. When it starts to rain really hard, Aronui and I usually hide out in our lounge and play games like Yahtzee, Monopoly and Uno. If it rains all day, we will also spend some time reading, watching movies and baking.
What about you? What do you like to do on a rainy day?
On your blog, tell us about five things that you like to do when it is too rainy to go outside.
- Play board games
- Watch TV
- Play games
- Watch some videos
- Do some of my badges - Maths and Science
Activity 3: Let It Rain [10 points]
Over the past few decades, we have seen an increase in the amount of rain that falls here in New Zealand. We are lucky, however, that most of the rain that falls is regular rainwater and not polluted acid rain. Acid rain is rain that has bad chemicals (pollutants) in it. When acid rain hits the ground it can enter the water system, killing plants and animals. Click here to learn more about acid rain.
Let’s imagine that New Zealand was hit by a massive acid rain storm. Acidic rain fell for three days and three nights. When the rain fell, you stayed inside with your friends and family. When it stopped, however, you and your family decided to go for a walk outside. You opened the door and...
On your blog, write a short story about what happened when you opened the door and walked outside after the acid rain storm. To earn full points, you must write a story that is 8 – 10 sentences long.
Finally, the acid rainstorm had ended, I was happy, but sad at the same time because it harms the animals and plants. We had decided to go outside for a walk with our family and friends. I had opened the door and there were some drops falling just one step ahead of me. I decided not to go outside. I just wanted a nice warm sunny day, rather than a bad stormy day. We played board games, watched TV and did more fun indoor activities. We hoped that it would be a sunny day as soon as possible.
For the rest of the week, the sun wasn't coming up, we wanted the sun to come and go outside for a walk. After a few days later, the sun had come out, we were celebrating and wanted to go outside for a walk at the park. It was a fun time, and we hoped that the acid rainstorm will never come again.
Finally, the acid rainstorm had ended, I was happy, but sad at the same time because it harms the animals and plants. We had decided to go outside for a walk with our family and friends. I had opened the door and there were some drops falling just one step ahead of me. I decided not to go outside. I just wanted a nice warm sunny day, rather than a bad stormy day. We played board games, watched TV and did more fun indoor activities. We hoped that it would be a sunny day as soon as possible.
For the rest of the week, the sun wasn't coming up, we wanted the sun to come and go outside for a walk. After a few days later, the sun had come out, we were celebrating and wanted to go outside for a walk at the park. It was a fun time, and we hoped that the acid rainstorm will never come again.
