Pollution drives evolution in the Hudson River

Engage

Engage students in a discussion of how we come to believe/ ‘know’ information.  Watch the following ATT commercial:  http://bit.ly/11JGGZM[b1]   Ask:  How did these kids make their decision?  What do they think/know?  How do they come to believe it?  What role did the adult have in guiding the kids’ thoughts?  Who thinks the little girl may be right, even if she doesn’t know it—i.e. that maybe it’s good for a turtle to be slow? (Millions of years of evolution guided them to be that way, after all.)

Ask students: Who thinks the sky is blue?  Ask them to explain their choice.  They may at first say yes, but then begin to question what at first appears to be such a simple fact statement.  Sometimes it’s red (sunset), greenish (tornado weather), etc.  You can also prompt them: Is it blue to someone who is colorblind?  How can we know if it is really blue?  Begin a discussion of how we can know/how we have come to believe that the sky is blue.  If a student responds along the lines of “because a lot of people agree that it is,” bring up the fact that for a very long time most people also believed the world was flat.  Sometimes even large groups of people are wrong.  Advanced students may reference spectral wavelengths, indicating that most of us perceive as ‘blue’ (or red, etc) the ‘blue’ portion of the light spectrum that reaches our eyes. 

Finally, ask them:  How do you know something is true?  After discussing whether the sky is blue, they should mention things like observation, scientific studies, or authorities saying it is so.

Explore

Tomcod evolution and PCB Readings 

1. Toxic Avengers: Pollution Drove Fish Evolution, by Christopher Joyce (NPR)
   http://n.pr/187riqW
2. Hudson River Fish Evolve Toxic PCB Immunity, by Anne Minard (National Geographic News)   https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/110217-hudson-river-…
3. Did Pollution Drive Fish’s Evolution? By Lee Dye (ABC News)
   http://abcn.ws/15Krc8y
4. Waters of change: An accidental experiment in America shows how evolution happens (The Economist)
   http://econ.st/14w0O5r
5. Mutant fish safely store toxins in fat, by Janet Raloff (Science News)
   http://bit.ly/16wYXLC
6. Toxic River Means Rapid Evolution of One Fish Species (UC Berkeley article):https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/news/110301_pcbresistantcod

Hand out the student critical reading worksheet and instruct the students that this will be a science reading and discussion exercise.  Students should be given the option to work on it independently or in pairs/small groups.  They should also have the option to move to read the story out loud to each other if they choose, as some students learn/remember better by listening to a story or reading out loud. 

Read the first-line prompts out loud from the PowerPoint.  The students/student groups should choose an article to read and complete Part A of the worksheet.  They should then be prompted to read a second article for comparison, after which they should complete Part B.

Next, distribute the article from UC Berkeley “Toxic river means rapid evolution for one fish species.”  Students should read this article and complete Part C.

Finally, discuss student responses as a group. Find out which articles they chose to read, which they liked best/least, and why.  Ask them what parts they still have questions about.  Have students answer each others’ questions when possible.  Discuss their thoughts about the story – what implications does the evolution of toxin resistance have for animals in other ecosystems? Can we depend on evolution as a solution to other human-caused environmental challenges, like climate change or species invasions?  What do they think are some of the challenges associated with writing about science?  How did these authors meet those challenges?

***These articles can be read as part of a group in one-two lessons, depending on the reading level of your students and the quality of the discussions that result.  Alternatively, you may choose to extend this activity over many days to give the students extra time to read the articles, if necessary, and to help break up the day’s activities.

Explain

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1980.  A national priorities list of abandoned hazardous waste sites that required long-term cleanup was established. 

Foundry Cove was designated as a Superfund site due to the severe cadmium contamination.  Yet the current PCB Superfund project currently taking place in the Hudson River near Albany is vastly more complex than the Superfund project in Foundry Cove. PCBs are entering the river from many sources, rather than one source as in Foundry Cove.  The Superfund site at Foundry Cove was confined to that area, in contrast to the enormous span of the PCB Superfund project.  Today, 200 miles of the Hudson River is classified by the EPA as a Superfund site – one of the largest in the country.

We spend a lot of money on environmental programs like EPA Superfund sites, yet many would argue that we should be spending much more if we hope to maintain ecosystem and wildlife health.  While it may seem obvious that there is a need to clean up areas where all or nearly all of the wildlife suffers, it is often harder to see the effects on wildlife of other human impacts, such as lower pollutant levels, climate change, or invasive species.  Most often, people only hear about some of these impacts through public news outlets.  Yet, there are inherent challenges in effectively communicating difficult topics to a general audience.  This exercise should help students understand some of these difficulties and think about how they may be able to overcome them. 

Extend

Students should find another evolution story, where a plant or animal has been shown to evolve in response to some human-induced change (climate, invasive species, pollutants, habitat alteration, novel chemicals in the environment, etc).  They should read, compare, and contrast three popular science articles that tell the story.  They should be sure to address the following:

• • What is the author’s main point in writing the article?
  • What information differs among the three articles?
  • Which article do you think provides the most accurate information, and why?
  • From where do each of the authors get their information?

To learn more about the Superfund program:

• Basic Information www.epa.gov/superfund/about.htm 1.usa.gov/nEVX8F
• Superfund sites across the USA http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/index.htm 1.usa.gov/aj4E6A
   

To learn about Love Canal, NY, one of the first well-publicized cases of toxic wastes harming a community:

• The Love Canal Tragedy 1.usa.gov/rbfeCf
• EPA removes Love Canal from Superfund List 1.usa.gov/RHBmQe

Evaluate

Assess student participation by markings on their articles.  Assess their understanding by their answers to the worksheet and quality of class discussions.