JC Excellente Christian Academy Inc.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE.LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL. CHRISTIAN VALUES

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Earth Science

Module 2
Lesson 5

TOPIC: Human Activity and the Environment

INTRODUCTION:

 Describe the type of waste generated by a typical household.

 Enumerate and describe the environmental and health impact of the improper disposal of household
waste.
 Appreciate the enormity of the problem of waste disposal in the Philippines.
 Propose ways to reduce the volume of municipal waste.
 Describe the wastes produced from different sources and their effect on human health and the
environment.

MOTIVATION:

Payatas is one of the many garbage dumpsite in Metro Manila. On the 10th of July 2000, a landslide of garbage
killed 218 people living on the dumpsite with 300 people still missing. The dumpsite covers an area of about 13
hectares.

Why is there a need for dumpsites, such as the Payatas dumpsite?

Table 1: Regional waste generation estimates (in million tons) in 2007 and 2010 in the Philippines (Environmental
Management Bureau, n.d.).

 Table 1 shows the estimated waste generated per region in the Philippines. Determine the amount of
waste (in million tons/year) being generated by your region. Emphasize that there is a huge volume of
waste being generated per year. Waste disposal has always been a big problem for the Philippines.
 It is estimated that, in the next 30 years, Metro Manila alone will generate approximately 230 million
cubic meters of solid waste– enough to fill the country’s largest shopping mall over 175 times (Asian
Development Bank, 2004). This then leaves us with this important question: ‘what are we going to do
with this situation?’

INSTRUCTION:

Table 2: Weekly record of the type and amount of garbage in the household.

Pre-Class Assignment
  Using Table 2, monitor the type and amount of garbage their respective household generates for a period of one
week.

Lecture Proper
1. Call on one or more learners to present their data to the class. Ask the learners if they are able to recycle
some of these items.
2. Ask each learner to imagine how much waste their household generates in a year. Inquire if they know
how often the city government is able to collect their garbage, and where all of their garbage end up in.
3. Present the chart below:

4. Ask the learners if this is comparable to the data they generated from their household waste.

Activity:
Break up the class into suitable number of groups. Ask each group to brainstorm on the following questions:
1. How much of the waste in the figure above is considered biodegradable?
2. How do nations normally dispose of dispose of large volume of waste?
3. Given the composition of the garbage, propose how we can reduce the volume of waste.
4. What possible hazards are associated with improper waste disposal? Are there government regulations
to control this?
5. Can landfills cause pollution to the local environment?

Other Sources of Wastes and their Environmental Impact

1. Industrial waste
 Waste released from manufacturing plants, such as chemical plants, cement production, textile
industries, metallurgical plants, textile, food processing, power plants, etc.
2. Agricultural waste
 Excess use of fertilizers and pesticides can cause land and water pollution.
 Rice paddies release methane to the atmosphere.
 Excess excrement from poultry and other livestock can cause eutrophication of bodies of water.

3. Mining waste
 Waste generated from the exploitation of mineral resources.
 Overburden material - ground (soil and rock) that is removed to extract the mineral deposit. Release of
overburden material to the environment as a result of improper management can cause siltation of
bodies of water.
 Acid mine drainage - water that has come to contact with oxidized rock or overburden that contains
sulphide material (coal, zinc, copper, and lead). When acid mine drainage is not properly managed, it
can find its way into waterways and the ground water. High pH waters can be detrimental to plant and
animal life. Acid mine drainage is also associated with the release of heavy metals to the environment.

4. Biomedical Waste
 Waste generated by hospitals and other health care institutions.
 This type of hazardous waste includes infectious waste and chemical waste dangerous to people and the
environment.

ENRICHMENT:
 Republic Act (RA) 9003 provides for the establishment of the Provincial Solid Management Board.
Among the functions of the board is the development of a provincial solid management plan. As an
individual or group assignment, ask the learners to interview or find out from the municipal officers the
province’s or municipality’s solid waste management plan and how it is being implemented. Ask the
learners to submit a short report on their research.

EVALUATION:
 Divide the class into an appropriate number of groups. Ask each group to develop materials (e.g.
posters, video presentation, etc.) that can be used to promote recycling in their community. If not yet
implemented in the school, ask the learners or group of learners to study and implement the use of
compost bins. The activity should include executable plans to promote the use of compost bins by the
school community.

REFERENCES:
 Environmental Management Bureau. (n.d.). State of the Philippine Environment: Solid Wastes.
Retrieved from Department of Environment and Natural Resources website:
http://pcw.gov.ph/sites/default/files/documents/efiles/webmaster/gwpf_sofe_solid_wastes.pdf
 Junine, J. I. (n.d.). Earth Evolution of a Habitable World (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
 Kirkland, K. (2010). Earth sciences: Notable research and discoveries. New York, NY: Facts on File.
 Lutgens, F. K., Tarbuck, E. J., & Tassa, D. (2013). Essentials of geology (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall.
 McCarthy, James E. (2005). Clean Air Act: A summary of the act and its major requirements. Retrieved
from Library of Congress website: http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/47810.pdf
 Republic of the Philippines. (2001). Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000. Retrieved from
National Solid Waste Management Commission website: http://www.gov.ph/2001/01/26/republic-act-
no-9003-s-2001/
 Soriano, R. (n.d.). How to Compost in the Philippines | eHow. Retrieved from
http://www.ehow.com/how_7798538_compost-philippines.html
 Tarbuck, E. J., & Lutgens, F. K. (2008). Earth: An introduction to physical geology (9th ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.