Page 241 - THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 11 AND 12 | Canadian and World Studies

D. ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS: INTERCONNECTIONS AND INTERDEPENDENCE
OVERALL EXPECTATIONS
By the end of this course, students will:
D1. Reducing Pollution: analyse challenges involved in reducing pollution from human activities, and assess the effectiveness of various methods of pollution reduction (FOCUS ON: Interrelationships; Geographic Perspective)
D2. Impacts of Pollution: evaluate impacts of various types of pollution on the natural environment and on human health (FOCUS ON: Patterns and Trends; Interrelationships)
D3. Ecological Processes: describe key ecological and biological processes, and explain how they are affected by human activities (FOCUS ON: Spatial Significance; Interrelationships)
SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS
D1. Reducing Pollution
FOCUS ON: Interrelationships; Geographic Perspective
By the end of this course, students will:
D1.1 evaluate the effectiveness of selected strategies that have been used to reduce pollution from human activities (e.g., bans on the use of polluting chemicals, such as DDT or CFCs; reformulation of products to eliminate harmful ingredients, such as phosphates in detergents; use of filtration devices, such as stack scrubbers or catalytic converters, to reduce pollutants in emissions; use of non-chemical alternatives to aerosol sprays, pesticides, and other products containing harmful chemicals)
Sample questions: “What are some ways of protecting rivers and lakes from pollutants in urban and agricultural runoff? What promotional strategies have urban centres used to reduce the pollution of local water systems?” “Why should industrial companies include environmental factors in their research activities?” “How can we as individuals do our part to reduce pollution?” “How are environmental laws enforced?”
D1.2 analyse some of the challenges associated with reducing various types of pollution
Sample questions: “Which is more difficult to treat, point source pollution or non-point source pollution, and why?” “Who pays for the cost of decontaminating a disused industrial site, such
as the Sydney Tar Ponds, when the company that owned the facility no longer exists?” “How can we end our dependence on fossil fuels, when they are crucial to the economy and a major source of jobs? How can we encourage a transition from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar, when the alternatives are more expensive?” “Why might it be difficult to persuade some members of the public to reduce their ecological footprints?”
D1.3 assess the economic implications of pollution reduction and other environmental protection policies (e.g., job creation or reduction; savings in health costs; reduction of losses from damage to crops, building materials, forests; costs of research, monitoring, enforcement, infrastructure changes)
Sample questions: “Does protection of the environment always come at a cost to the economy, and vice versa? What suggestions do you have for making environmental protection and economic development mutually beneficial?”
D2. Impacts of Pollution
FOCUS ON: Patterns and Trends; Interrelationships
By the end of this course, students will:
D2.1 explain how changes affecting the natural environment in one location (e.g., nuclear accidents, acid precipitation, destruction of tropical
ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS: INTERCONNECTIONS AND INTERDEPENDENCE
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The Environment and Resource Management
CGR4M