Light and Noise Pollution Activity Guide
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Light and Noise Pollution Activity Guide
Environmental Science Camp
What you need
• Activity Guide Worksheet, included in the final pages of this Activity Guide
• Pencil, pen, or other writing utensil
Preparation
Pollution is any harmful substance that is released into the environment
that can cause health issues and have other negative consequences on
the well-being of living things like plants and animals, including humans.
Pollution can occur in the air and water. Pollution can also be caused by
bright lights and loud noises. Light pollution is caused by bright lights.
Noise pollution is caused by loud noises and other sounds.
What to do
Use the Activity Guide Worksheet to explore light and noise pollution.
What is happening?
Light pollution occurs as a negative consequence of too much artificial light. Artificial light
includes human-made light bulbs that produce visible light with the use of electrical energy.
Light pollution can cause brightness in areas that are not meant to be illuminated by artificial
light. Too much artificial light in an area can illuminate the night sky. This is known as skyglow.
Noise pollution is caused by loud
noises and other sounds. Sound travels
as waves through air. In humans,
sound travels through the outer,
middle, and inner ear as vibrations, a
type of movement. These vibrations
travel to the inner ear where they are
transferred to the brain as electrical
impulses. An oscilloscope can be used to
illustrate sound waves, including a sound’s
frequency, also referred to as pitch, and
amplitude. The louder a sound, the greater
its amplitude!
Plastic pollution near a source
of water. Image from NOAA.
Two examples of sound waves. A sound’s amplitude is
measured by determining the height from the middle of
the wave to its peak. The first sound wave has a greater
amplitude than the second. The height of the first sound
wave from the middle of the wave to the peak is much
larger than the second sound wave. Images of sound
waves modified from BBC.
