AS Science In Society 1.

Teacher Notes

Introduction
HowScienceWorks Fb The popular media play a part in providing information, setting the agenda and influencing opinion on issues involving science and technology. Ha Science-based technology provides people with many things that they value, and which enhance the quality of life or of the environment. Some technologies, however, have unintended and undesirable impacts. These need to be weighed against the benefits. Hb Decision makers aim to make evidence-based decisions, taking into account factors that include: technical feasibility, benefits expected, economic cost, risks to human health and wellbeing, risks to the environment. Hg Many decisions about new technologies involve economic considerations, and raise social and political issues.

This activity reviews the main evidence used in debates on air pollution regulation. It is one of several written to improve students argument skills. These skills are important for the longer answers in the Unit 1 exam paper and for Unit 2.

Resources
The sets of statements A and B should, ideally, be printed on card. They will need to be cut up.

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Teacher Notes

Theactivity
First spend a few minutes discussing the simple model of argument structure used here. This activity consists of two sets A and B of ten cards each. A contains reasons for opposing more restrictive regulations on emissions from cars. B contains reasons for supporting such restrictive regulation. They are all taken from published arguments. The sets can be used in several ways to develop argument skills. Below are some suggestions of how they might be used by students working in pairs. It will take between 20 and 40 minutes depending on which suggestion is used.

1. Constructionand Criticism
Each pair is given a complete A set or B set. They use up to six cards to construct an argument, laying the cards out in the order they think provides the strongest support for their conclusion.

2. Constructingan argumentwhichincludescounterargument.
Each pair is given 3 cards chosen at random from each of the A and B sets. They then decide whether they wish to use the information to argue for or against restriction. They use the appropriate cards to argue their case and must also select at least one of the opposing cards to develop a counter-argument. They then have to explain why they do not accept this counter-argument.

3. Debatingin small groups Pairs of students are given either a complete A set or a complete B set.

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Teacher Notes

Some students are observers. Two pairs, one A and one B, then use their cards to debate the issue with an observer watching the other four students debating. B starts with one of their cards giving reasons supporting the conclusion that it is essential to introduce tighter air quality standards for road vehicles. A must then choose a card which rebuts these reasons or provides a counter-argument. B responds to A in the same way. They will probably not use all their cards in doing this as the two sets of evidence cover different issues. The observer then comments on the quality of the arguments and tells us which side has convinced her.

4. Weighingup the reasonson bothsides

Each pair of students is given five cards from the A set and five cards from the B set. They rate how well the reasons on each card support the conclusion either for or against using a 1 - 5 scale and add up their scores for A and for B to decide which argument seems the stronger.

Terminology
The support for a conclusion goes by a variety of names. We have used the general term reasonshere in the text but the terms evidence , grounds , data are also used and are examples of the reasons which might be used to support a conclusion.

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Teacher Notes

April 2008

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Student Sheets

Introduction
This activity provides a summary of the main arguments used for and against regulation as a means of reducing air pollution. It should also improve your skills in presenting an argument. These skills are important for the longer answers in the Unit 1 exam paper and for Unit 2 .

Thestructureof an argument
In order to decide what we think about the question we have to develop an argument. The minimum requirement for an argument is that there should be a conclusion and some reason to support the conclusion. This activity gives you the opportunity to construct arguments and also to evaluate the quality of reasons used to support an argument.

Your overall argument is stronger if you also acknowledge that counter-arguments are possible and explain why you reject them. You can select information from the cards to create a counter-argument. You then need to explain why you reject the counter-argument and stick with the original conclusion. This is a rebuttal. One possible scheme for such an argument is shown below.

Reason

Reason

Reason

Conclusion Counter argument Rebuttal of counter-argument

Conclusion

Should the EU combat air pollution from motor vehicles by regulating to impose tighter controls on emissions?
The cards provide two sets of reasons, one set supporting and one set opposing further regulation. Not all the evidence is equally effective. You will use the cards to construct arguments about air pollution in the way described to you by your teacher.

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Student Sheets

Air pollution- shouldthe EU tightenregulationson emissionsfromnewcars?

Argumentcards A- 1 The levels of the 1980s-1990s are below the levels of the late sixteenth century. Smoke or particles are probably by far the most dangerous pollutant. Almost all of the modern period has been more polluted with smoke than it is today. Air pollution is not a new phenomenon that has got worse and worse - it is an old phenomenon, that has been getting better and better, leaving London cleaner than it has been since medieval times. A- 3 The UK is top of the list for asthma, but air pollution cannot be the sole reason for this. There are other very unpolluted countries, such as New Zealand, which are also very high on the list, and there are very polluted countries that have low asthma levels. There must, therefore, be other contributing factors. A- 2 The Western world has achieved dramatically decreasing concentrations of the major air pollutants. This is amazing by itself. But it is all the more impressive because the economy and the potential polluters have increased dramatically - in the USA, the total number of car miles travelled has more than doubled over the past 30 years. The economy has more than doubled, and the population has increased by more than a third. Over the same period emissions have decreased by a third and concentrations much more. A- 4 The overall problems are much less serious today than they were just 21 years ago. Average air pollution costs have dropped almost two-thirds, from $3,600 to $1,300. If we go even further back to the 1960s, using lead emissions to estimate the lead pollution load, the costs seem to have been around $4,000-$4,500, indicating an even more dramatic 70 per cent drop in air pollution over the past 39 years. A- 6 Our economy and our way of life both depend on comparatively unfettered road transport. A- 8 The industry insists reducing emissions to the suggested EU targets will be impossible. It estimates that it will add 2700 to the cost of every car, amounting to an extra 33.5 billion a year throughout the European Union (EU). Car buyers are not prepared to pay any extra for cleaner, more environmentally-friendly cars. Because of the decline in new car sales since 2001, car manufacturers were already suffering from thinner profit margins. A - 10 The fact (which the papers will not tell you) is that only a relatively small proportion of most pollutants (about 20%) comes from cars. For example: only 29% of all Volatile Organic Compounds and 26% of all Nitrogen Oxides (the two gases principally linked to the production of ground level ozone); and only 13% of all man made Carbon Dioxide emissions (one of the gases linked with global warming) emitted in the U.K. come from petrol-driven vehicles.

A- 5 The study found that the risks of living in such heavily polluted areas did not approach those caused by a person smoking cigarettes. A- 7 We must not allow concern for the environment to restrict growth. As emphasised by the World Bank, growth and environment are not opposites - they complement each other. Without adequate protection of the environment, growth is undermined; but without growth it is not possible to support environmental protection. A- 9 An over-ambitious carbon dioxide reduction policy that only focuses on cars would impose tremendous negative costs on the EU economy, and would threaten the competitiveness of the European car manufacturing industry,. Adverse impacts for the EU economy would include: a move of car production to non-EU countries, disappearance of large/premium cars, plant closures, sizeable job losses, decreased trade balance, reduced income tax and lowered economic growth.

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Student Sheets

B- 1 A huge scientific study has produced the clearest evidence yet that long-term exposure to air pollution causes lung cancer. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, involved hundreds of thousands of people in cities across the US - and looked at their health over two decades. The researchers found that the death rate from lung cancer increased by 8% for every increase of 10mcg of fine particulate matter per cubic metre. B- 3 The PM 2.5 pollution causes the body to produce oxidants which in turn trigger inflammatory reactions in both the respiratory tract and blood vessels, triggering artery damage. B- 5 Small particles are linked to reductions in lung function and respiratory problems. They are also thought to aggravate existing asthma in some people.

B- 2 In 1998, an influential UK government committee on the effects of air pollution suggested that 10,000 people a year might be dying as a result of particulate pollution. In addition to lung cancers and heart disease, it has been linked to asthma, and other lung and circulatory diseases.

B- 4 In the United States, traffic fatalities total just over 40,000 per year, while air pollution claims 70,000 lives annually. B- 6 Air pollution causes impacts on peoples health, and these impacts can be fatal as well as very unpleasant. With this conclusion in mind, achieving tighter air quality standards should not be a controversial policy aim. A range of technologies, tools and alternatives are available to help clean up our air, and companies and governments should regard this as a priority - especially for those areas and communities who remain most polluted and at most risk. B- 8 It is alarming that the present public discourse is so dominated by the rights of motorists in relation to speed cameras, rather than peoples right to breathe clean air.

B- 7 Governments go to great lengths to reduce traffic accidents by fining those who drive at dangerous speeds, arresting those who drive under the influence of alcohol, and even sometimes revoking drivers licenses. But they pay much less attention to the deaths people cause by simply driving the cars. While deaths from heart disease and respiratory illness from breathing polluted air may lack the drama of deaths from an automobile crash, with flashing lights and sirens, they are no less real. B- 9 Smaller particulates, especially those 10 micrometers in diameter (1/2,400 of an inch) or smaller, can become lodged in the alveolar sacs of the lungs. They are associated with higher admissions to hospital for respiratory problems and with increased mortality, particularly from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. As particulate concentrations in the air rise, so do death rates.

B - 10 30% of particulates and 54% of nitrogen oxides in the air come from road transport.

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