1	The Ozone Layer Shield of Life By Adolina and Edward Gawne Next Project Info
2	Table Of Contents Project Information What is Ozone? Picture of Atmosphere The Ozone Problem The Destroying Process Experiment 1 Experiment 2 Experiment 2 Photos More Photos From Experiment2 The Good News You Can: We can save the Ozone Bibliography Acknowledgements Back Next
3	Project Information Page
4	What Is Ozone? Ozone is the shield that protects us from harmful Ultra Violet rays from the sun. Ozone is a layer of gas surrounding the earth in a belt of O3 molecules. The ozone atom is called an O3. Ozone is made when radiation hits an oxygen molecule and separates it. The free oxygen atom then goes and combines with another oxygen molecule creating an O3 atom. Ozone is located in the Stratosphere which is 50 km above sea level. Ozone is being destructed by the chemicals and gases used today. Some of the gases are more powerful than others. CFCs, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are all greenhouse gases. CFCs are 10000 times stronger as green house gases than carbon dioxide, methane is 30 times stronger then carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide is 150 times stronger then carbon dioxide.When found in lower atmosphere, called the Troposphere, ozone is a pollutant and damages lungs, harming plants and animals. UV rays are dangerous to Earth because they damage life on Earth. On the next slide we have pasted a picture of the Atmosphere that Adolina drew. We have included this image because we thought you would like to see where the ozone is. The ozone is not the entire stratosphere, but only the middle part of it. Back Next Back to Table Of Contents
5	Picture of the Atmosphere Back Next
6	The Ozone Problem The problem with ozone is that we are destroying it. It all began with the industrial revolution when humans started to pollute more. Then in 1982 scientists discovered that there was a hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica. They tried to warn other people but the problem was industry. The scientists finally discovered what was causing the hole in 1985. The major culprit for the ozone destruction was a chemical called chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs for short). By then, the hole in the ozone was as big as the USA. CFCs were made in the 1930s as cleaning fluids for electronic equipment, used in foam packaging, as propellants in spray cans, and cooling in refrigerators and air-conditioning. CFCs were designed to not be chemically active and unable to be broken down. The only problem with this wonderful new chemical was that it would brake down under certain conditions. Back to Table Of Contents Back Next
7	The Destroying Process The CFCs are released into the air and then drift around for awhile on the global winds and eventually end up over the south or north pole. The CFCs were made to not be chemically active and they are not, but they become chemically active once the conditions are appropriate. The conditions are that there is sunlight and that it is below -80 degrees Centigrade. These conditions are met above the poles. CFCs rise into the ozone layer and split apart releasing some of the chlorine. The chlorine atom collides with the ozone molecule and forces the molecule apart. The free oxygen atom bonds with the chlorine. After awhile the chlorine separates from the oxygen and goes on to destroy another ozone molecule. The free oxygen atom bonds with another free oxygen atom to make oxygen. One chlorine atom can destroy thousands of ozone before it becomes chemically bonded with a hydrogen atom to make Hydrochloric Acid (HCL). Scientists think that CFCs can stay in sky 160 years or more. On the next page we have a picture of the destroying process that Edward drew. Back to Table Of Contents Back Next
8	Picture of destruction
9	Experiment 1 Oh, Ozone Materials: Stick of chewing gum, Short soda bottle, Very hot tap water, Magnifying glass What to do: Chew the stick of gum thoroughly. When it’s soft, take it out of your mouth. Flatten it into a small disk between your fingers because you need a thin flat cap to seal the top of the bottle. Now, fill the bottle right to the top with very hot water. Take the flat piece of gum and place it over the top of the bottle to seal it. Try to avoid making any holes and make sure that the water slightly touches the gum cap. Observe what happens closely with the magnifying glass. We think that the gum will do nothing a all. What happens: The gum cap, as it touches the hot water, loses its elasticity and holes begin to form. Eventually the gum cap on the bottle breaks apart. We were very surprised when the gum disappeared after getting holes in it. Why? In the experiment, the bottle represents the earth while the gum cap the Ozone layer. The hot water touching the gum cap stands for the CFCs that are destroying the Ozone layer. Now repeat the experiment except fill the bottle only half way with hot water. Now you can see how releasing fewer or no CFCs into the air can make a big difference to the earths ozone layer. Conclusion We decided that from this experiment, that by protecting the ozone, we would be able to reduce ozone destruction if we can reduce the amount of CFCs in the air.This would stop or slow down ozone destruction allowing it time to repair itself. Back to Table Of Contents Back Next
10	Experiment 2 Materials three lemons three limes two plums two kiwis toothpicks one red coloured pencil one purple coloured pencil What to do: 1. Label fruit: 1 carbon, 3 chlorine, 1 fluorine, and 5 oxygen. It doesn’t matter what fruit is what, you get to eat it, in the end. 2. Take 4 oxygen and put a toothpick through two oxygen. do the same to the other two. you now have two oxygen molecules. 3. Take the red pencil and point it at one of the two molecules. the red pencil is high energy radiation. The molecule that was struck should be broken in half. So you have two oxygen atoms. One of these atoms is attached to the other molecule to make an ozone molecule. 4. Take the purple pencil (this represents Ultraviolet radiation) and point it at the ozone molecule model. This is radiation, when absorbed, it will cause an oxygen atom to break away(remove one atom). The free atom then can form an oxygen molecule with another atom. 5. Build an CFC molecule by connecting 3 chlorine, 1flourine and 1 carbon. Use the “ultraviolet radiation pencil” to break the bond. The free chorine will now break a ozone molecule, changing it into chlorine monoxide. If a free oxygen atom hits a chlorine monoxide, the chlorine will break away and a oxygen molecule will be formed. then the chlorine atom can hit another ozone molecule continuing to destroy the Ozone Layer. We had lots of fun with this experiment. We were able to eat the fruit after. Back to Table Of Contents Back Next
11	Photos From Experiment 2
12	More Photos from Experiment 2
13	The Good News The good news is that steps are being taken to stop ozone destruction. In the Montreal protocol in 1987 most countries agreed to phase out ozone destroying chemicals. In resent years we have learned that the level of CFCs in the atmosphere has been decreasing. The ozone layer is starting to repair itself. But we still face the problem of eliminating the chemicals that destroy ozone. Some of the other gases that destroy ozone are called greenhouse gases. They are mostly found in the exhaust of cars and from the natural gas that boils naturally out of the Earth. But the negative effects of ozone destruction allows the sun’s UV rays to reach earth causing skin cancer rates to rise. We can stop this. You can help stop this as well. If you follow the ideas on the next page and maybe think of some that I have missed, then we would be able to help save the ozone. Of course, you can’t do it all alone, but you can do your part. By buying fewer products with CFCs in them, using less air conditioning, and reminding others of our responsibility to Mother Nature are just some ways you can help. Working together is the way to help save our home planet, Earth. Back to Table Of Contents Back Next
14	To Encourage Conservation You Can: Encourage people to walk or bike instead of driving. Prevent people from burning stuff like garbage, foam,plastic and other things that pollute the atmosphere. Avoid the cooking spray cans and aerosol cans that use CFCs. Write a story of what would happen if the ozone layer disappeared and turn it into a book. Saving electricity helps conserve combusting natural gas that pollutes the atmosphere. Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling can help not only the atmosphere, but the environment too. Back to Table Of Contents Draw posters about the sky and ozone layer and hang them around your school or community. Present a play on life without ozone. Send a letter to your government to tell them how you feel about the ozone layer and what you want them to do about it. Avoid exposure to UV rays by staying out of the sun,wearing a hat,long sleeve shirts and using sunscreen. Back Next
15	We can save the Ozone By doing all these things, we would be able to preserve our home planet for our children. We would be able to make a better place for us all. But if we simply ignore the facts and continue to pollute and damage the environment, then society and some of the large mammals will become extinct. If all the countries in the world were to stop using CFCs while you are reading this, then the ozone layer will naturally repair itself. We have decided to help the ozone by not going to fast-food restaurants. We will also not allow our mother to buy aerosol cans. Back to Table Of Contents Back Next
16	Bibliography Books Peckham, Alexander. Global Warming. New York, New York:Gloucester Press, 1991 Blashfield, Jean F. Sparks of Life: Hydrogen. Austin, Texas: Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers 1999 Kahl, Jonathan D.W. Hazy Skies: Weather and the Environment. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Lerner Publications Company, 1998 Blashfield, Jean F. Sparks of Life: Nitrogen. Austin, Texas: Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers 1999 Pringle, Laurence. Vanishing Ozone: Protecting the Earth from Ultraviolet Radiation. New York, New York: Morrow Junior Books, 1995 Farndon, John. The Elements: Nitrogen. New York, New York: Benchmark Books, 1999 Videos The Ozone Layer. Schlessinger Video 1993 Websites NASA. Teachers Guide Ozone. [Online] Available http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/education/teach_guide/ozone.html, April 6, 2005 IRW Inc. Ozone. [Online] Available http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/exhibits/ozone/Ozone1.html, April 17, 2005 NASA. Earth Observatory. [Online] Available, http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Ozone/ozone.html, April 8, 2005 University of Cambridge. The Ozone Hole Tour [Online] Available http://www.atm.ch.cam.ac.uk/tour/index.html, April 2, 2005 NASA For Kids Only. [Online] Available http://teachearth.com/database.asp, April 15, 2005 Environmental Media Services. Ozone ant the Air Quality Index(AQI). [Online] Available http://www.ems.org/air_pollution/air_quality.html, April 12, 2005 Back to Table Of Contents
17	Acknowledgements Our Mom, She spell checked it Edward’s teacher, Mrs.Breckon Adolina’s teacher, Mrs. Lupton Our other teacher, Miss Michelle And last but not least, Our little brother Mathew who helped us eat all the fruit from the experiments Back to Table Of Contents Back