T

- a matter of life or breath!

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*  ;

1.  One  nice  sunny  day,  the  Jones  family  started out  for  a picnic  in  the 
country.  Mom  packed lots  of  good food  in  the  basket.  Peter  packed 
his bat,  ball  and  glove.  Little  Joan carried her  favorite  doll.  Dad 
brought his  road map.

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2.  "Whew,  roll up the  windows," Mom  said.  "'Pollution’s  getting bad," 
Dad  added.  "What's pollution?"  asked little  Joan.  And her  parents 
pointed  out the  smoke  from  factories,  the  exhaust from  all  the  cars, 
buses,  trucks  and airplanes,  and  the  burning trash.

3.  Pete  asked  if it hadn't  always  been like  that.  "No, "  said  Dad,  "the 
air  used to be  much  cleaner."  And he  described things  as  they  once 
were.

«... 

• 

V.f- ' 

’7 

■. 

••

4.  "What keeps  the  air  today  good  enough  for  us  to breathe?"  asked 

Pete.  Dad  answered,  "For  one  thing,  greenery."  Greenery?  That 
answer  sure  puzzled both  Pete  and Joan.  How  can  greenery  help 
the  air?

5.  Dad  explained "Green plants  'breathe'  too.  People  breathe  in 
oxygen and exhale  carbon dioxide.  Plants  take  in  carbon dioxide 
and other  polluting  gases  and  give  out oxygen.  Without  greenery, 
there  would be  no  oxygen for  us  to breathe."

6.  "What  about  all  that dust  and bad smell?"  asked Joan.  Dad  answered 
that dust  and odor  particles  stick to  green leaves  and then  get washed 
into  the  soil.  "So  greenery  helps  to  cleanse  and freshen  air,  too," 
Mom  added.

-W/-\ 

L

7. 

’’Food is  another big reason we  couldn’t live  without  green plants, ” 
said Dad.  "Aw,  come  on,  Dad.  I'm  eating fried chicken  and potato 
salad.  Nothing green  about  them,"  said  Pete.  "Yeah,  who ever 
heard of  a  green chicken?"  laughed Joan.

8.  .  "But chickens  feed on  grain  grown in  a  green wheat field,"  answered 
Mom.  "And potatoes  come  from  plants  with  green leaves,"  added  Dad. 
Both parents  explained that  if you  trace  back everything we  eat,  you'll 
find  that  it  starts  with  something  green.  "Milk comes  from  cows who 
eat  green  grass," Mom  used  as  another  example.

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9.  Riding home,  Pete  thought to  himself,  "Gosh,  and I  always  thought 
that  green things  like  trees,  and flowers  and lawns  were  only  pretty 
to look at.  Never  realized how  necessary  they  are  for  us  to  liv e."

10.  As  Dad put the  car  away  in the  garage,  Pete yelled,  "Hey  Dad,  can 
I water  our  bushes  and  grass?  Got to take  care  of them  so  they  can 
take  care  of us."  Dad  answered,  "Sure  can,  son.  Preserving our 
greenery  is  a matter  of life  and breath!"

Materials:

1.  Test tube  or  glass  jar
2.  Light  source  (high-intensity  lamp or  floodlight bulb)

3.  Anacharis,  also  called elodea  (can be bought in  stores  selling 

aquarium  supplies)

Procedure:

1.  Fill  test  tube  or  glass  jar  with  water
2.  Make  a fresh  cut on elodea stem  and place  in water

3.  Shine  light on  tube  or  jar

4.  Watch bubbles  come  off cut end of  stem.  The  bubbles  that 
are  formed  are  oxygen  given off by  the  plant.  They  are  a 
rough  indication of the  rate  of photosynthesis.

Prepared by Scotts .  .  . the  lawn people

j-to2

MARYSVILLE, OHIO 43040

BOX  2079.  O AK LAND ,  C A L   946 04