Activity 2
Learn About Pollution
INTRODUCTION
Learn about pollution and the impacts it has on our planet.
POLLUTION
Pollution is when something is added to the environment that is harmful or poisonous to living things. Pollutants damage the quality of air, water, and land.
Pollution is happening to our environment currently, more pollution than the planet can naturally process, which means long term damage to our planet – that we may not be able to repair. Humans are the biggest polluters of the planet, so it is our responsibility to always try and reduce pollution wherever we can.
Pick the Pollution Game
Pick the phrases that best match the images
Pollution over time
Watch this video to see how pollution affects the planet over time.
Pollution Quick Facts
Pollution has very real consequences that affect people, animals and plants located all over the world. Even remote areas such as the Arctic Circle are impacted by manmade pollution. There isn’t a single location on Earth that’s untouched by pollution — not even the bottom of the deepest ocean nor the highest point in the sky.
Here are some pollution facts for kids that clearly demonstrate the harmful effects pollution has on the Earth and every living thing that inhabits the planet:
- 40% of rivers & 46% of lakes in the US have too much pollution for fishing or swimming.
- Approximately 50% of the worlds' population has polluted drinking water.
- Around 250 million cases of diseases caused by polluted drinking water are reported every year, leading from 5-10 million deaths.
- About 70% of industrial waste in developing countries is dumped into the water untreated.
- Pollution is responsible for global warming. This elads to changes our weather patterns including natural disasters such as cyclones, earthquakes and the premature melting of the world’s glaciers.
Congratulations!
You've completed the second set of activities and learned about pollution.
educator resources
Click each of the items to download them for use in the classroom.
