Florida State College Wk 5 Role in Regional and Global Nitrogen Pollution

Overview: In this assignment, you will complete a Nitrogen Footprint online activity (http://www.n-print.org) to learn about the nitrogen cascade and human effects of nitrogen pollution. Then, you will answer a set of questions (link located in Week 5) based on what you learned. You must complete the online activity in order to answer the questions. Learning Objectives: 1. Describe the ways in which human activity affects the nitrogen cascade. 2. Explain how reactive nitrogen separately affects climate, air quality (smog), and water quality. 3. Discover your contribution to nitrogen pollution. 4. Evaluate the importance of diet and food choices on nitrogen pollution. 5. Describe ways you could reduce your nitrogen footprint. Grading Rubric: You will have the opportunity to earn a total of 60 points on this assignment. There are a total of 25 questions, but you are required to answer only the appropriate 19 of them, depending on whether you are currently an omnivore, vegan, or vegetarian. These questions are under the Week 5 link in Canvas as a “quiz” titled “Assignment #4: Discover Your Contribution to Regional and Global Nitrogen Pollution”. Please be sure to complete these questions to receive credit for this assignment. These 19 questions are worth a total of 60 points, which is the maximum score you can earn on this assignment. Canvas may tell you that “you didn’t answer some questions” for the questions we will ask you to skip. Just know that you are required to answer the appropriate 19 questions (including the required three at the end) for the opportunity to earn full credit. NOTE: To receive full credit, you must correctly complete the arithmetic on this assignment, and show your work in a separate document you will upload to the appropriate place in Canvas. Before completing the Canvas test, you must first determine your personal nitrogen footprint by following the steps below. 2 Instructions: There are two parts to this assignment. Please make sure to complete both Part 1 and Part 2 • Part 1 requires you to calculate your nitrogen footprint using the following website: http://www.n-print.org. • Part 2 requires you to complete a “quiz” in Canvas AND separately upload your work so we can grade your assignment. A. Calculating your Nitrogen Footprint 1. You may use a calculator, Excel or equivalent for this assignment. However, you must show your arithmetic calculations to have the opportunity to earn full credit. You can either show your calculations in the text box, or you can upload it as an image of your calculation sheet. 2. Go to the Nitrogen Footprint calculator website: http://www.n-print.org 3. On this website, go to About à Background on Nitrogen. Read this page from top to bottom. Skip the UVA Earth Week Expo video but make sure to watch the Nitrogen Cascade video (8:41) and read the table below it. 4. Then, go back over to the Home link (in the top menu), and click on the green box labeled “Calculate your N footprint using the original N-Calculator in Flash”. Your Flash player must be up-to-date. 5. Go through the first few menus i. Select the language you want ii. Read the introduction iii. Choose units as US Customary (pounds, miles, feet) iv. Choose United States as your country 6. On the right side of the page, you’ll see a graph of the average nitrogen footprint of a person from the US. Note that below the bars is the percent contribution of each category. You can select the small circle icon above the bar graph to see this footprint as a pie chart, which shows you the overall contribution (in percent) of each category. From the pie chart, you can go back to the bar graph by clicking the little bar icon above the pie chart. 7. Next, we are going to explore the absolute size of your annual nitrogen footprint in addition to the contributions to nitrogen pollution from each sector of your life. Click on the “Continue” button beneath the place where you chose your country. 8. Starting with Food consumption (then Housing, Transportation, and Goods/Services), read the information in the introduction to each section. 9. Then, slide the bars to input data for each of the different activities in your life. After each section, click Continue to go to the next section. 10. The default values on the bars that you see are for the average American. If you don’t know the answer to one of the questions, use the average value (i.e. do not move the bars). If you move the bars accidentally and want to move them back to the average value, consult the tables at the end of this handout that list the average values for a typical American in each of the categories. 11. Make sure to read the info paragraph and input values for the rest of the categories, Housing, Transportation, and Goods/Services. 3 12. When you have completed all the sections (Food, Housing, Transportation, and Goods/Services), go to the Result menu and select United States again from the drop down menu. You do not have to enter your email or click on the box that asks if you want to stay informed, but you can if you want to (this is not required). 13. Then click on the Compare and Modify Your Footprint button to see your annual N footprint compared to the national average. 14. Write down your total annual N use (in lbs), as well as your N use for each of the Food, Housing, Transportation, and Goods/Services categories (record these in both lbs and percent of total). You will use these values later when answering the questions. 15. Then write down the total annual N use for an average American (in lbs), as well as an average American’s N use for each of the categories (record these in both lbs and percent of total). You will use these values later when answering the questions. B. Exploring other food choices If you are an omnivore (you eat animal products, i.e. not vegetarian or vegan), answer questions 1-4 below, then skip to questions 9 and 10. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, skip to questions 5-8, then continue on with questions 9 and 10. 1. Imagine if you were to become a vegetarian, meaning you eat no meat or seafood, but you do eat milk, cheese, and eggs. To do this on the Nitrogen Footprint Calculator, click the Go Back button from the Results section and go back up to the Food Consumption area. Slide all of the meat (poultry, pork, beef, and seafood) slider bars to zero. Note that when you slide the bar to a new value, wait a few seconds — it takes a few seconds for the N footprint bar graph on the right to rescale. 2. Write down (manually or electronically) the new value for your Food Consumption nitrogen use and Total nitrogen use as a vegetarian (in lbs; you can add them up from the individual food, housing, transportation, and goods/services bars). You’ll use these numbers later. 3. Do the same thought experiment but this time become a vegan, meaning you eat no animal products at all (no meat, milk, cheese, or eggs). Slide all the meat, milk, cheese, and eggs bars to zero. Note that when you slide the bar to a new value, it takes a few seconds for the N footprint bar graph on the right to rescale. 4. Write down the new value for your Food Consumption nitrogen use and Total nitrogen use as a vegan (in lbs). 5. If you are an omnivore, skip to Question 9 and 10. For vegetarians and vegans: Imagine if someday you became an omnivore, meaning you eat meat and milk/cheese/eggs. To do this on the Nitrogen Footprint Calculator, slide all of the meat (poultry, pork, beef, and seafood), dairy, and eggs slider bars to the American average values that are in the tables at the end of this handout). Note that when you slide the bar to a new value, it takes a few seconds for the N footprint bar graph on the right to rescale. 6. Write down (manually or electronically) the new value for your Food Consumption and Total nitrogen use as an omnivore (in lbs). You’ll use these numbers later. 4 7. If you are a vegan, do the same thought experiment by becoming a vegetarian (eliminate all meat, but keep cheese, dairy, and eggs in your hypothetical diet). If you are a vegetarian, do the same thought experiment by becoming a vegan (eliminate all meat, cheese, dairy, and eggs in your hypothetical diet). Note that when you slide the bar to a new value, it takes a few seconds for the N footprint bar graph on the right to rescale. 8. Write down the new value for your Food Consumption nitrogen use and Total nitrogen use as a vegetarian or vegan (whichever one you are not in real life) (in lbs). 9. All students resume here: Now go back to the main N Footprint website by pasting the URL into your browser (http://www.n-print.org). Click on the “Your N Footprint” tab, then click on the Reducing Your N Footprint link to read about some ideas on what you can do to make a difference. 10. Now, go back over to Canvas, complete the quiz under Week 5, and answer the 19 required questions associated with this assignment. 11. Make sure you calculate the arithmetic correctly for full credit. For reference, the N footprint of the average American (per capita) is on the follow

 
"Looking for a Similar Assignment? Order now and Get 10% Discount! Use Code "Newclient"