Chemicals in the Environment
High School through College
This kit is a historical overview of American representations of chemicals from the three sisters to the Love Canal. It compares conflicting constructions about nuclear reactor safety, depleted uranium, Rachel Carson and DDT. Through analyzing diverse historic and contemporary media messages, students understand changing public knowledge, impressions and attitudes about chemicals in the environment.
All materials are classroom-ready, including: teacher guides, student handouts, overviews, and assessments.
- To order hard copy, click here.
- To download all print materials (192 pages), click here.
NOTE: To view the quicktime clips provided below, you may need to install the free media player Quicktime on your computer. Visit Apple for download instructions.
click a unit title to view/close list of downloads Units
Lesson 1: History of Chemicals in the Environment
Teacher's Guide
PowerPoint Slide Show
Supplemental Resources
X
Links to Supplemental Resources from Federal Archives Lesson 1
- PPT Doc.#2, Anasazi basket & Mimbres bowl
Resource: Library of Congress: Anasazi burial photo
- PPT Doc.#3, The Alchemist's Experiment Takes Fire
Resource: Smithsonian: "The Vain Pursuit" illustration
- PPT Doc.#4, The Village Chemist
Resource: Library of Congress: Portraits of 19th-century chemists
- PPT Doc.#5, Horsford's Acid Phosphate
Resource: Library of Congress: Horsford's Acid Phosphate advertisement
- PPT Doc.#6, Science in the Kitchen
Resource: Library of Congress: link to digital version of "Science in the Kitchen" text
- PPT Doc.#7, Black Death
Resource: Library of Congress: Black Death advertisement
- PPT Doc.#8, Ethyl Controls
Resource: Library of Congress: Text of law banning engines requiring leaded gasoline
- PPT Doc.#9, Which Face Will You Wear?
Resource: Library of Congress: Photo of World's Fair Dupont tower of chemistry
- PPT Doc.#10, DDT is good for me
Resource: Environmental Protection Agency:DDT Regulatory History to 1975
- PPT Doc.#11, Science Helps Build a New India
Resource: Smithsonian: Union Carbide magazine cover
- PPT Doc.#12, Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastic
Resource: Library of Congress: Archived web pages of Hudson Institute
- PPT Doc.#13, The Poisoning of America
Resource: Library of Congress: Image collection on water pollution
- PPT Doc.#14, Sun Mad Raisins
Resource: Library of Congress: American Memory exhibit on the United Farm Workers
- PPT Doc.#15, Ethyl War
Resource: Environmental Protection Agency: Report on Lead Poisoning in Detroit, Michigan
- PPT Doc.#16, Dead in the Water
Resource: Library of Congress: Text of law to control algal blooms and hypoxia
- PPT Doc.#17, Chemical Cuisine
Resource: Food & Drug Adminstration: Test of Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
- PPT Doc.#18, Lead Paint Danger
Resource: Library of Congress: Congressional committee report on lead in toys
- PPT Doc.#19, Drum Beat for Mother Earth
Resource: Library of Congress: Text of law prohibiting POPS (persistent organic pollutants)
- PPT Doc.#20, Essential
Resource: Library of Congress: Senate report on Chemical Security Act referencing American Chemical Council
[Scroll down to footnote #6]
- PPT Doc.#21, Greenwash
Resource: Library of Congress: Earth Day 2004 remarks on Bush administration greenwashing by Senator Leahy
- PPT Doc.#22, India's Disaster
Resource: Library of Congress: Text of bill recognizing 20th anniversary of Bhopal disaster
- PPT Doc.#23, $500 is plenty good for an Indian
Resource: Library of Congress: Global Monitor article on first convictions in Bhopal case
- PPT Doc.#24, Human Element
Resource: Federal Trade Commission: Dow Chemical Company's response to FTC’s Request for Comments on its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims
- PPT Doc.#25, One Can Make a Difference
Resource: Library of Congress: link to Rep James Talent honoring of Monsanto for winning National Watershed Award
[Select item #1]
- PPT Doc.#26, Monsantoland
Resource: Library of Congress: Environmental Working Group testimony to the Sentate on environmental harm cases
[Scroll down to July 7, 2004 letter, next to last paragraph]
- PPT Doc.#27, The Price of Research
Resource: Library of Congress: Text of bill banning atrazine
- PPT Doc.#28, Syngenta: Atrazine
Resource: Environmental Protection Agency: Atrazine evaluation process
NOTE: This doc is mistitled currently
- PPT Doc.#29, Dying from dioxin
Resource: Library of Congress: Editorial cartoon by Herblock in "Invasion of the Corporate Body Snatchers"
[Scroll down to first cartoon: "Mined Area"]
- PPT Doc.#30, The Great Louisiana Toxics March
Resource: Library of Congress: Collection of Sam Kittner's photos related to Louisiana toxics
- PPT Doc.#31, Toxic Waste and Race at Twenty
Resource: Smithsonian: Link to video of Robert Bullard speech on "Achieving Livable Communities and Environmental Justice"
- PPT Doc.#32, The American People
Resource: Library of Congress: America's Story exhibit on Rachel Carson's Silent Spring
- PPT Doc.#33, DDT! DDT!
Resource: Library of Congress: Science reference guide bibliography on West Nile virus
- PPT Doc.#34, Organic Food
Resource: US Dept of Agriculture: National Organic Program website
- PPT Doc. #35, The Truth About Organic Foods
Resource: National Institutes of Health: "Organic Diets and Children's Health" article by Alex Avery
- PPT Doc.#36, The Next Green Revolution
Resource: Library of Congress: House committee report on plant genome and biotechnology development
- PPT Doc.#37, Seeds of Deception
Resource: Library of Congress: Text of Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act
- PPT Doc.#38, Kellogg's Tiger Targeted
Resource: Library of Congress: Article on Genetic Modification and Freedom of Speech in Germany
- PPT Doc. #39, Enduring Seeds
Resource: Library of Congress: Article by Gary Paul Nabhan on "American Indians Managed the Earth with Care?"
[Select #2]
- PPT Doc.#40, Celebration of the Threre Sisters
Resource: National Park Service: Webpage on ancestral pueblo farming with the three sisters
- PPT Doc.#41, The Original Companion Planting
Resource: National Agricultural Library: Link to "Companion Planting" web page
Lesson 2: Case Study -- Rachel Carson (video)
- Teacher's Guide
The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson- Rachel Carson's Silent Spring
- DDT and Rachel Carson
- Rachel Carson Nature's Guardian
- Supplemental Resources
X
Links to Supplemental Resources from Federal Archives Lesson 2
- Vid Clip: Rachel Carson
Resource: Library of Congress: Science reference guide bibliography on Rachel Carson
Lesson 3: Case Study -- Rachel Carson (Print)
- Teacher's Guide
- 4 Student Readings for this unit
- Supplemental Resources
X
Links to Supplemental Resources from Federal Archives Lesson 3
- Text: Rachel Carson readings
Resource:Library of Congress: Exhibit on the consequences of Silent Spring
-
Lesson 4: Case Study -- Nuclear Reactor Safety
- Teacher's Guide
- The China Syndrome
- Energy for Today and Tomorrow
- Back to Chernobyl
- Nuclear Energy/Nuclear Waste
- Supplemental Resources
X
Links to Supplemental Resources from Federal Archives Lesson 4
- Vid Clip: Nuclear Reactor Safety
Resource: Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Backgrounder on the Three Mile Island Accident
Lesson 5: Case Study -- Depleted Uranium
- Teacher's Guide
- 4 Student Readings for this unit
- Supplemental Resources
X
Links to Supplemental Resources from Federal Archives Lesson 5
- Text: Depleted Uranium readings
Resource: Library of Congress: Text of Depleted Uranium Munitions Study Act
