Contents
Key Stage 3
Meaning
Pollution is the harmful chemicals that go into the environment usually made by humans.
About Pollution
- Pollution can be in the water or in the air.
- Factories often produce pollution that gets into the air, including soot that can affect our breathing as well as Sulphur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxides which cause acid rain.
- Plastic is currently considered a major pollution in the oceans and is responsible for the deaths of countless animals every year.
- Fertilisers used on crops is a major source of pollution for rivers and lakes and can cause eutrophication.
Pollution in a Food Chain
- When farmers grow crops, wild animals sometimes eat them, so the farmers spray the crops with poison.
- When the animals die from the poison, they are eaten by other animals which then also eat the poison.
- The poison builds up in the food chain, meaning the top carnivore often has a lot more poison than was originally sprayed on the crops. This can be very harmful to them and even kill them.
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| In this diagram the poison is shown by yellow X's. If each gazelle eats two bushes, then the gazelles will get twice as much poison as the bush. If a cheetah eats two gazelles, then the cheetah will get twice as much poison as the gazelle had. |
Key Stage 4
Meaning
Pollution is the harmful chemicals that go into the environment usually made by humans.
Pollution and Disease
- Air pollution is a risk factor in lung diseases including Lung Cancer.