Unit 5 – Pollution – Free Response Questions 1. Read the following article from the Fremont Gazette and answer the
questions that follow.
(a) Choose any ONE of the three pollutants mentioned above and respond to each of
the following.
(i) Describe one specific source, other than the local chemical plants, for the
toxic pollutant you chose.
(ii) Describe how the pollutant you chose enters the human body and one
specific effect it can have on human health.
(iii) Describe TWO specific steps, other than an outright ban, that a city or
nation can take to reduce the threat posed by this pollutant.
(b) Give one reason why Dr. Egguen is correct in asserting that children are
particularly susceptible to toxic pollutants.
(c) Coal-burning power plants also release other pollutants, including nitrogen
oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and particulates. Select one of these pollutants
and identify one technology that can be used to remove it from the waste stream of
coal-burning power plants.
(d) Discuss TWO reasons why a multinational company would choose to build a
manufacturing facility in India and/or China rather than in the United States or
Europe.
Unit 5 – Pollution – Free Response Questions 2. Read the article below from the Fremont Free Press and answer the questions
that follow.
(a) Support Councilwoman Smith’s statement that nitrogen-based fertilizers cause
other environmental problems by describing one such problem.
(b) Identify a nitrogen-containing primary pollutant that contributes to the
formation of photochemical smog. Describe how that primary pollutant forms and
explain why Councilman Budd was wrong.
(c) Identify one secondary pollutant that is a component of photochemical smog and
describe the following.
(i) How the secondary pollutant forms
(ii) ONE human health effect of the pollutant
(iii) ONE environmental effect of the pollutant
(d) Earth’s natural nitrogen cycle occurs in several steps. Describe one chemical
transformation that occurs in the natural nitrogen cycle and discuss the importance
of that transformation to an ecosystem.
Unit 5 – Pollution – Free Response Questions 3. Photochemical Smog is one of the most common forms of air pollution today.
(a) Identify two primary pollutants that cause photochemical smog. Describe
how they are produced.
(b) Identify two secondary pollutants that make up photochemical smog.
Describe how they are produced.
(c) Give one reason why photochemical smog is more likely to be found in
industrialized nations and gray-air smog is more likely to be found in nonindustrialized nations.
(d) Give one component of photochemical smog that affects human health.
Explain its consequences.