Year 10 Science · Unit 4 · Lesson 12

Pollution, Microplastics and Caring for Country

Foundation Worksheet

Name

Date

Class

Learning Goals

Distinguish point and diffuse sources of pollution.
Define eutrophication, biomagnification and microplastic.
Name an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander sustainable harvesting system and the people it belongs to.

Warm Up

Fill the gap

Choose the correct word from the word bank to complete each sentence. Use each word once. Two words will not be used.

diffuse oxygen microplastic point biomagnification protocols reduce nitrogen recycle

1. A factory outlet pipe that releases waste into a river is a source of pollution.

2. Fertiliser washing off hundreds of farms is a source of pollution, because it has no single outlet.

3. In eutrophication, bacteria decomposing dead algae use up the dissolved in the water.

4. A persistent pollutant becoming more concentrated at each step up a food chain is called .

5. A piece of plastic smaller than 5 mm is a .

6. Cultural set out who may harvest a resource, where, when and how much.

7. Not using a resource in the first place is the strategy, which avoids every stage of impact.

Your Turn

Sort it!

Write each source of pollution into the correct column of the table below.

A lead smelter chimney Tyre dust washed off city roads A sewage treatment plant's ocean outfall Pesticide spray drifting from many orchards Exhaust from millions of cars A paper mill's outlet pipe

Point source

Diffuse source

Show What You Know

1. Name two human activities that release microplastics into the environment.

Recall 2 marks

2. Name one Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander harvesting system from the lesson, and the people whose Country it is on.

Recall 2 marks

3. Give one example each of reduce, reuse and recycle for a plastic drink bottle.

Recall 3 marks

Wrap Up

In one sentence, what was the main idea of this lesson?

Answer Key (for teachers)

Fill the gap: 1. point; 2. diffuse; 3. oxygen; 4. biomagnification; 5. microplastic; 6. protocols; 7. reduce. Unused: nitrogen and recycle.

Sort it!: Point: lead-smelter chimney, sewage-plant outfall and paper-mill outlet pipe. Diffuse: tyre dust washed from city roads, pesticide drift from many orchards and exhaust from millions of cars. A point source has an identifiable outlet; diffuse pollution comes from many scattered sources.

Q1 · 2 marks: For example, washing synthetic clothing releases fibres and driving wears particles from tyres. Award 1 mark for each valid human activity linked to microplastic release; do not award a second mark for repeating the same source.

Q2 · 2 marks: Baiame’s Ngunnhu, the Brewarrina fish traps, on Ngemba Country. Award 1 mark for the named harvesting system and 1 for the associated people/Country. Accept another correctly named system taught in the lesson with its corresponding people.

Q3 · 3 marks: Reduce: avoid buying another single-use bottle by using a refillable container. Reuse: use the existing bottle again for a suitable purpose, such as watering seedlings. Recycle: send it to a collection service that accepts that plastic, for processing into new material. Award 1 mark for each distinct, correctly matched example.

Source checks: Brewarrina National Heritage listing; CSIRO microplastics research.