HS-ESS3-4
Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
- Environment
Unmasking the pandemic’s pollution problem
Discarding all the materials people use to protect themselves from COVID-19 has created a growing environmental problem.
- Ecosystems
Can people protect as much space as nature needs?
To save biodiversity, nations are drafting a plan to protect 30 percent of Earth by 2030. Up for debate is how best to do that.
- Chemistry
A soil-based ‘concrete’ could make buildings green, even on Mars
A new soil-based material offers an alternative to concrete for 3-D printing environmentally friendly buildings.
- Environment
Why today’s ‘fast fashions’ can be bad for the planet
The constant buy-wear-toss cycle of fast fashion isn’t sustainable. It hurts the environment and takes a toll on our wallets, too.
- Environment
Old clothes soon may be recycled, not trashed
One day, clothes may be recycled almost as much as plastics and glass are now. See how chemists are moving us in that direction.
- Chemistry
Here’s how to make flip-flops biodegradable
Innovative flip-flops made from an algae-based plastic decompose in soil or compost. The comfy shoes also avoid use of fossil fuels.
- Animals
Around the world, birds are in crisis
Human activities around the world are threatening bird species. Numbers of even some of the most common species are starting to fall.
- Environment
Polluting microplastics harm both animals and ecosystems
Researchers are beginning to uncover the real-world impacts of polluting microplastic bits on animals and the ecosystems they inhabit.
- Animals
Learning what stresses queen bees could save their hives
Beehives often die off after the queen gets too stressed to make enough babies. New tests could identify what stressed her — and point to solutions.
- Environment
Washing your jeans too much might pose risks to the environment
Jeans shed thousands of denim fibers in every wash. Those fibers, and the chemicals used to treat them, now are showing up in even the Arctic Ocean.
- Humans
Changing climates can take cooling tips from warm regions
When summer heat waves hit northern cities, people might look to keep cool using tropical building strategies — and forgotten architectural wisdom.
- Chemistry
How to recycle ‘nonrecyclable’ plastics
A new process can convert some nonrecyclable plastics into a type that now can be reused. That could greatly cut down on wastes sent to landfills.
