OBJECTIVE: Awareness of Environmental Pollution

GRADE: 5-8, 9-12

MATERIALS: Internet resources on eco-tourism.

PROCEDURES: Study the identified documents.

PARENT/CHILD EXPERIENCE: Take a field trip with your child to Cancun or Cozumel or other countries and observe the environment in a fun and healthy way.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The cities of Cozumel and Cancun, Mexico have become famous as a great place to visit for a vacation by people from around the world. What has been severely ignored is what negative effect this influx of people has caused for the ecosystem of this area. Pollution from airplanes, automobiles, runoff from construction sites and pesticides have taken a heavy tool on the environment. The rainforests are being destroyed at an alarming rate. While the Mexican government helped to develop Cancun in the 1960s, a predevelopment study of flora and fauna wa proposed but never considered. About two million visitors each year visit Cancun, so the quest for income from tourists overcame the nee for common-sense planning. As a result, fragile ecosystems consisting of mangroves, exotic birds and rainforests were destroyed while building the cities of Cancun and Cozumel. With the massive increase in population in Cancun and Cozumel, the need to examine fresh water, electric power and facilities must be examined.

EVALUATION: Students become more environmentally aware.