Prentice Hall School




You will use information on the World Wide Web to answer a series of questions.

EXERCISE 1:
ACID RAIN IN AMERICA

This exercise explores the causes and effects of acid rain, as well as its occurrence in the United States of America. Among the sites that you will be using to answer these questions are the Acid Rain page from the Environmental Protection Agency and the USGS Acid Rain Fact Sheet from the U.S. Geological Service.

Print out the worksheet below and use the links to answer the following questions.

Name _____________________________________________________

Link and Think: Acid Rain in America

You will be directed to specific pages to find the information needed to complete this worksheet. This exercise assumes a basic understanding of acidity; if you are unfamiliar with pH and acidity, see What is pH?

Basics of Acid Rain

  1. What is acid rain? What pH does it have? What is the pH of normal rain? Search both the USGS Acid Rain Fact Sheet and the Acid Rain page, and find out how the U.S. Geological Service and the EPA define normal and acid rain.

  2. Why is rain normally acidic when pure water is supposedly neutral (pH=7)? See How is Acid Rain Formed?

  3. What two gases make rain even more acidic? Where do these gases come from? Check out this page from the EPA on Acid Rain.

Effects of Acid Rain

  1. According to the EPA, almost 70% of sulfur dioxide emissions were from electric utilities. Which three states have the highest emissions of sulfur dioxide? See 1980–1999 Total Sulfur Dioxide Emission from Utilities.

  2. See Effects of Acid Rain: Forests to find out what part of the U.S. has soils most able to resist the effects of acid rain.

  3. Are you likely to find frogs in a pond with a pH of 4.5? Read the page on Effects of Acid Rain: Lakes & Streams and explain your reasoning.

Check your answers here.

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Unit 9 Index

Learning Links
Chapter 35 || Chapter 36 || Chapter 37 || Chapter 38

In the News || Link and Think
Spotlight on Careers || Teachers' Lounge

In the Community
Chapter 35 || Chapter 36 || Chapter 37 || Chapter 38

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