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Video - What Lies Upstream (2017)

6/22/2018

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The book Chemistry on a Budget contains chemistry labs that are useful with inexpensive, easy to obtain materials.
 
During the summer vacation, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful.  You can examine the labs and decide what you want to use next year.

There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report.  This way the teacher has the option!  Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout. 
 
A 5-Star Customer Review of Chemistry on a Budget at amazon.com states:
“[S]traight forward, to the point, using household chemicals…this is the lab book for you. 
I teach high school chemistry and this is exactly what [I] was looking for. Labs included simple household chemicals that could be easily found. Nice format, easy to follow along procedures, and touches on every topic of our chemistry curriculum.”
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you -- Order Now.  It’s a great resource!
 
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html
 
*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
The video What Lies Upstream (85 minutes, 2017) chronicles the issues of contaminated water in West Virginia since 2015 and investigates outcries for clean-up and subsequent changes in the response.
 
From pbs.org,
“In the unsetting exposé What Lies Upstream, investigative filmmaker Cullen Hoback travels to West Virginia to study the unprecedented loss of clean water for over 300,000 Americans in the 2014 Elk River chemical spill. He uncovers a shocking failure of regulation from both state and federal agencies and a damaged political system where chemical companies often write the laws that govern them.”
 
Another summary states:
“In the unsettling exposé What Lies Upstream, investigative filmmaker Cullen Hoback travels to West Virginia to study the unprecedented loss of clean water for over 300,000 Americans in the 2014 Elk River chemical spill. There he uncovers a shocking failure of regulation from both state and federal agencies and a damaged political system where chemical companies often write the laws that govern them. While he’s deep into his research in West Virginia, a similar water crisis strikes Flint, Michigan, revealing that the entire system that Americans assume is protecting their drinking water is fundamentally broken.

In January 2014, West Virginians noticed that their tap water had a peculiar smell. It was soon discovered that a mysterious chemical, MCHM, has leaked into the Elk River near Charleston from a damaged tank at a nearby Freedom Industries chemical plant, poisoning the drinking water supply for nine counties - nearly half of the state’s citizens. Hoback - whose interest was piqued by family ties to the state and a desire to understand why the contamination happened - embarks on an investigation that sends him down a rabbit hole of an unimaginable scale.”
 
I have not found a full version of this movie on the Internet that was free.  Here is a preview for your information and one clip: 
https://www.pbs.org/video/what-lies-upstream-trailer-d6luxb/
 
https://www.pbs.org/video/what-lies-upstream-contaminated-freakin-water-clip-tcs4es/
 
This movie could be purchased for view on line.  Check your local library to see if it is available there.
 
This movie may be too long for classroom use (85 minutes); and, it refers to government agencies and political administrations past and present, a topic I personally preferred to avoid in my classroom.  I share it with teachers to add to your knowledge of Water issues.
 
One idea for classroom use is to use the first 45 minutes of the movie focusing on the West Virginia water issue (before the Flint, Michigan water issues are mentioned).  This video might be good for an upper-level class that may be studying ecological issues or analytical chemistry methods.

Past American Water pollution blog posts include:
 
05/25/2018   Students Invent Filter for Water Purification
04/06/2018   Kentucky Water Crisis
03/09/2018   12-Year Old Invents Lead Detector
02/23/2018    Chemists Develop a New Method to Break
                          Down Pollutants in Water
11/10/2017   Video -- From Flint: Voices of a Poisoned
                                     City
11/03/2017    Lead Levels in Philadephia, PA Soil
08/11/2017    Database About U.S. Public Water Systems
01/20/2017    Contaminated Drinking Water at US Marine
                         Camp
12/23/2016​     Criminal Charges in Flint, Michigan
09/23/2016     Water Pollution in US Schools
12/17/2015     Current Event -- Lead Poisoning
11/13/2015     Sewage in Lake Champlain​
10/08/2015     Current Event - Contaminated Drinking
                         Water​
08/13/2015     Colorado Mine Accident
 
Also, past End of School Year blog posts include:
06/15/2014      End of Year Activity – Lab Clean-Up
06/11/2015      End of Year Reflection
06/19/2016      End of Year Reflection II
​
During the summer vacation, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful.  You can examine the labs and decide what you want to use next year.

*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 
Have a great weekend!

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    Marjorie R. Heesemann is a chemistry teacher with 15 years of experience who is now working to develop resources for the Chemistry classroom.

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