Olga Khazan published the article, Green Spaces Make Kids Smarter on June 16th of 2015. Khazan provides factual information to support her intriguing title statement and is also successful in empowering readers to make a green change for our youth. Khazan first begins the article by sharing with the readers her childhood experience growing up in the industrial city of Los Angeles. She reported that nine percent of the asthma cases at her school were due to the intensity of traffic fumes produced by the five-hundred trucks per hour passing her elementary school campus. She continues on to say that air pollution is not just a contributor to asthma, but to many other medical issues. Although these statistics are not directly correlated to affecting a child's intelligence, it can be assumed that constant inhalation of toxic fumes can not be good for brain development. In order to further understand the wrath of these fumes on school children, I continued to study the topic and …show more content…
The article sequences from a personal story, to a review of research, to a quick accumulation of some good old knowledge about nature. She starts with photosynthesis, a process that has been beaten into our brains since third grade; plants breath in carbon dioxide and breath out oxygen. This is increasingly crucial to humans in a time when carbon dioxide levels are skyrocketing. Khazan adds that carbon dioxide is not the only compound absorbed by the leafy green, but also noise. In the hectic ruckes which eneloops inner city-schools, plants may be utilized to absorb some of the obnoxious sound and therefor reduce stress on students attempting to focus on their timed algebra test. Bringing it around to after school time, the article finishes off with the importance of green space for a health living. Parks with beautiful forestry will bring the kids to put down their remotes and become healthy
“I like to play indoors better, ‘cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are.” [RL 10] This quote said from a fourth grader shows that children have become more attached to electrical technology then to be outdoors. Many are now suffering from what is called a “Nature Deficit Disorder.” “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv is based upon the disconnection that society has established with nature. He shows how that suspension made with nature has brought an escalating rate of depression, anxiety, ADHD, obesity, and much more. Throughout the story Louv expounds on how nature could be the cure to those symptoms. He even presents all the benefits that being connected to nature could bring. Furthermore into the book, Louv explains how
The two boys showed they were confidant and knowledgeable about gardening, for example they knew how to use a rake to mulch the garden and how to care for the plants (Elliott, 2014). As a future educator this example can be facilitated into a lesson by developing children’s knowledge on the environment, weather, and season pattern changes that cause the leaves to die and fall off trees (ACARA, 2015). Additionally, children also learn about composting and how these leaves provide essential nutrients to the soil for plants to grow and provide shelter and cover for animals and living things (ACARA, 2015). Children can also develop their science inquiry skills by questioning and predicting various trees and leaves and identify and analyse similarities and differences in the leaves by also using their senses to explore. Most importantly, by engaging children in the process of gardening, they begin to show respect for the environment and understand the importance of maintaining
“The most practical and the most feasible solution offered, and the one on which this paper will center, involves the schoolyard. The schoolyard habitat movement, which promotes the “greening” of school grounds, is quickly gaining international recognition and legitimacy.” This quote touches on the fact that currently our schools need to “greened” meaning nature needs to be implemented not on the sidelines of fields but rather right in the center for kids to explore. There are many studied showing how children’s connection with nature at a young age helps them have a strong connection with nature along with having better health and lesser chances of depression. There are many organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation, Council for Environmental Education, American Forest Foundation, Britain-based Learning through Landscapes, Canadian-based Evergreen, and Swedish-based Skolans Uterum, that have all expresses interest in helping out with this cause. A theory that is very interesting that relates to this issue is a theory by Edward Wilson from Harvard. He had a theory that he named biophilia. Basically what this theory was about was that all people are simply drawn to nature by their very instinct. This quote has a lot of truth to it. Almost all
Louis. When living in a hard up income area there is always a tightly packed space between older automobiles, busses, and trucks. This destroyed the ozone, which would bring about cardiovascular problems such as asthma attacks. In the article Gammon states that "In Southern California communities , exposure through air pollution and traffic emissions stunts children's lung growth ,according to USC research " This hints that if a child happens to live nearby or is nearby a polluted area he or she is unprotected and is exposed to having
According to Louv, the replacement of open meadows, woods and wetlands by manicured lawns, golf courses and housing developments has led children away from the natural world. What little time they spend outside is on designer playgrounds or fenced yards and is structured, safe and isolating. Such antiseptic spaces provide little opportunity for exploration, imagination or peaceful contemplation. Louv’s idea is not new. Theodore Roosevelt saw a prophylactic dose of nature as a counter to mounting urban malaise in the early 20th century, and others since have expanded on the theme.
Pollution continues to pose an enormous threat to residents of urban cities worldwide. In the August 2008 Monthly Update, it is stated that approximately 800,000 deaths each year can be attributed to outdoor air pollution, making pollution the single most harmful environmental hazard to human health in urban areas (Kallman). The fact that pollution kills hundreds of thousands of people each year alone portrays just how dangerous living in these conditions can be. Kallman writes about a study which proves an increase in upper respiratory diseases, cardiovascular mortality, respiratory mortality, and low birth weights when exposed to air pollutants (August 2008: Monthly Update). These can be very serious diseases and complications which, when contracted, can lead to death or very serious illnesses. There
Not only does it affect our agriculture, but it affects our health and way of living. Overconsumption has a profound effect on greenhouse gas emissions, the impact of society’s high standards and wants has created new childhood morbidities and health issues. Chronic childhood diseases are linked to toxic chemical exposures produced my production companies. Steingraber explains how one in eight children are born prematurely, which is costing $26 billion per year in medical cost (par. 20). Preterm birth is linked to air pollution and particles produced by power plants. Preterm birth is not the only health issues linked with pollution, but neurodevelopmental disorder and asthma is also linked to air pollution. These health issues now appear almost normal or inevitable. The issue at hand is that we do not identify, nor do we amend the issue that is causing cancer and other health
Both Hymas and Feldman believe that the kids are the major problem of the environmental issues. They claim that Americans, especially the kids, are more likely to make pollution than others. Further, they both show a research of a study from 2009 Oregon State University, which shows a fact that the climate impact of having one fewer kid in the U.S. is about 20 times greater than the eco-friendly acts of one’s entire lifetime. Knowing this fact have made them be more concerned about nature. Since they were concerned about it, they had to think back their life and make plans for their
"Heart: Air Pollution's Toll on the Young." New York Times, 1 Nov. 2016, p. D4(L). Student Resources in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A468531005/SUIC?u=pioneer&xid=4ed4ebf0. Accessed 27 Apr.
(claim of value) The United States’ educational system does little to promote “green” living or to enforce environmentally-friendly policies within the school system. Within the local educational system that I am part of, this fact is apparent. Glen Allen has prepared me to start living a “green lifestyle” only by means that I have
Air Pollution today has lead CDC's fight against environmental -related respiratory illness, including asthma.An estimated number of 6.5 million deaths are attributed each year to poor air quality, making this the world's largest threat to human health.According to the World Energy Outlook and the IEA estimate that death due to household air pollution in Africa may decrease by 110,00 to 2040.However, due to economic growth, urbanization and automobile emissions, outdoor air pollution may rise from 300,00 to 450,000 over the same period. Am going to be looking at the causes of air pollution. the problems emerging with air pollution and also how we as a community can help decrease the amount of death rate associated with air pollution.I remember growing up in Africa Air pollution was always a talk about a subject that always comes out because it is really contagious due to the fact that we are breathing bad air that is caused by our human contribution to the environment.Air pollution is considered to be a public health problem, it is responsible for most of our health problems after some research has been conducted in many different parts of the world and regions. According to the Geochemistry and Health paleopathological research suggests that air pollution is a form of smoke, plagued our oldest ancestors.Air pollution has emerged as one of the leading risk factors for stroke worldwide.
The Clean Air Act (CAA) has impacted every single person’s health in the United States—luckily for the good. Without the CAA, companies would have no restrictions on what they could or could not release into the air. If companies continued to do pollute the air without any concern, then there would be major impact on people’s health nationwide. For children, the risks of air pollution are much greater than adults. Children tend to spend more time outside which exposes them to more air pollution. Children also tend to breathe through their mouths, which allows air toxins to go directly to the lungs. If young children are exposed to major air pollution, they are prone to have undeveloped lungs and
The study was done to women that lived in suburban areas and encountered vehicle fumes every day. While being exposed to moderate, steady amounts of CO during pregnancy, a positive correlation was made between exposure and children with cancer at an odds ratio of 5.6 while 83% of the births occurred in urban areas (Heck, 2013). A test was done in South Korea to determine how exposure to PM and NO2 affected the development skills of the children at 6, 12, and 24 months of age. More specifically it measured effects on the central nervous system, cardiovascular, and pulmonary system. Air quality monitor stations measured the air pollution daily at where they lived and a neurodevelopment test was done to see how they were maturing. PM and NO2 had significant adverse effects on the children’s psychomotor developmental index and mental development index at 6 months of age (Kim, 2014). The cause of low birth weight, small for gestational age, and preterm birth are from the pollutants acting on the placenta functions and hormones. During the last trimester of pregnancy is when PM starts damaging the mitochondrial DNA. There was less measured mtDNA when the mother was exposed to PM late in pregnancy. Exposure during the first trimester leads to less DNA methylation. Another reason for these birth defects is the effect is has on blood transfer to the fetus. Preterm birth happens because particulate matter
Transportation, a system for moving people or goods from one place to another. Throughout the history there are many ways of transportation, such as road, boat, airplane that only appeared around last century, etc. People use these tools to transport goods or themselves from one destination to another. Even though different vehicles provide different speed and volume for transportation, the most common and beneficial route is the land route. The dominant way of transportation on land is always the train. The train not only can travel at a high speed it can also carry many things. The railroad played a huge role in the human history making it one of human’s best invention.
I conducted various types of research in finding out the connections between air pollution and the factors that contributes to it. Air is crucial for our survival