Danielle Ruff Cartersville Elementary School 3 rd Grade

 The land people live on is a very important resource.  People use land in different ways. ◦ Build on it ◦ Make a building from it (rocks and wood are building materials from the land)

 Other resources come from the land. ◦ Metals ◦ Gemstones ◦ Coal  These are all mined, or dug up, from the land.  Land can also be used for farming.  When people use the land, they change it in some way.  Building, mining, and farming all change the land.

 Sometimes the effects are good. ◦ Example: planting trees helps keep the soil in place.  Sometime the effects are bad. ◦ Example: mining can tear up the land. This harms the plants and animals that live in the area.

 POLLUTION is any harmful material in the environment.  There are many types of harmful materials, or POLLUTANTS. ◦ Solid waste, chemicals, noise, light

 LAND POLLUTION can happen when people throw trash away in the wrong places.  The trash can harm plants and animals.  It can also pollute the water under the ground.

 Smoke, mostly from trucks, cars, and factories, is one cause of air pollution.  Air pollution can make it hard to breathe.  Air pollution can also change the weather.  Air polluted by car and factory gases traps heat from sunlight. This makes Earth warmer. Scientist call this GLOBAL WARMING.

 Pollution in the air and on the land can get into water when there is rain.  Rain washes pollutants from the air and land into the water.  People who dump trash, oil, and other pollutants into the water also cause water pollution.

 Drinking polluted water can make people sick.  Animals that live in polluted water can also get sick.  Some kinds of water pollution can be cleaned up.  Water treatment plants can take pollutants out of water to make it clean again.