Mr. Sussin's APES: Pesticide Periodical Instructions

APES: PESTICIDE PERIODICAL

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines a pesticide as “any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest.”

A pesticide may be a chemical substance or biological agent (such as a virus or bacteria) used against pests including insects, plant pathogens, weeds, mollusks, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes, and microbes.  These organisms may compete with humans for food, invade lawns and gardens, destroy wood in houses, spread disease, or just be a general nuisance in our everyday lives.  Pesticides are usually, but not always, poisonous to humans.

There are 5 major types of pesticides you will encounter: insecticides (insect killers), herbidicides (weed killers), fungicides (fungus killers), nematocides (roundworm killers), and rodenticides (rat and mouse killers).  Be aware that although the 5 are listed here, there are many others (e.g. algicides, miticides).

Below is a small list of 48 pesticides either used at one time and is still currently being used or is now banned.

                                                                                                                                        

  See your teacher for the list of 48 pesticides either used at one time and is still currently being used or is banned now.

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After being assigned one pesticide, you (and up to 3 other partners if you would like) will be creating a newspaper.  You must answer at least the following information about your pesticide:

1.)    what type of pesticide? (see above)

2.)    how long does it persist in the environment?*

3.)    is it biologically magnified?*

4.)    what is history of the chemical? (who invented it? what company?)

5.)    what trade names does it go by?

6.)    where is it being applied? (golf course, park lawn, schools, etc.)

7.)    what good does this pesticide do? what harm?*

8.)    does this threaten human health? how so?*

9.)    is there an alternative to controlling the pest that you can think of? (be specific for that pest)

·       Appropriate newspaper name

·       Front page story (with headline)

·       Basic articles about your pesticide

·       Police Blotter

·       Obituaries

·       Op/Ed section

·       Comics

·       Interviews

·       Advertisements

·       Love or advice column

·       Sports

Be creative and have fun with it!

*NOTE: you will be getting primary source information (or in some cases secondary) for your specific pesticide by obtaining journal articles, abstracts, newspaper articles, magazine articles, books, etc. and citing this information (on last page of paper).  Use the many databases that our school subscribes to and the techniques that we learned in the library.  You must have a minimum of 3 primary sources.

DUE DATE: to be determined