How Polluted?

This field study resource pack encourages students to act as environmental scientists to assess the ‘health’ of a heathland habitat. The resource contains three separate activities that students can complete, depending on the time available and suitability of the site:
• Measuring nitrogen pollution in the soil using chemistry tests.
• Measuring nitrogen pollution in the air using lichens as bio-indicators.
• Investigating heathland vegetation using quadrats to compare the relative abundance of heather and grass species.

A PowerPoint is provided to introduce students to heathlands, explain why they are important and discuss what nitrogen pollution is, where it comes from and how it threatens heathlands. Students can then follow the instructions in the workbooks and answer the questions.
There is also a plant ID guide to help students identify common heathland plants. The example risk assessment gives ideas for formulating teachers' own, site specific risk assessment.

Curriculum links include:
[b]Science:[/b] ecology, interdependence, pollution, bio indicators, nitrogen cycle, soil chemistry, abiotic/biotic factors, quadrats/sampling, human impact on the environment, how science works.
[b]Geography:[/b] ecosystems, human use of the environment, sustainable use of environment.

These resources were written by Dr Amy Rogers and Dr Lauren Gough (OPAL East Midlands, University of Nottingham).