Student Name:_________ Class:_____

Connecticut Brownfield Sites

Science, Technology & Society

Student Materials

Grades 9-10

Connecticut Brownfield Sites

Student Materials

More than 290 sites in Connecticut have been identified as “Brownfield Sites.” These are parcels of property once used for industrial, commercial or manufacturing and are now typically abandoned due to suspected contamination. Often these unused parcels adversely affect the quality of living in the area and may pose potential health risks to local citizens. Financial assistance is available from the state and federal governments to assess and remediate these sites.

Find a Connecticut Brownfield site near your hometown by clicking on the Brownfield Inventory link found at the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection’s website: http://dep.state.ct.us/wst/remediation/brownfields/brownfields.htm. What has the property been used for that led it to being identified as a Brownfield site? Use a search engine such as Google or DogPile to research one of the potential contaminants at the site. If you have trouble identifying a specific contaminant from the nearby Brownfield site, ask your teacher for clarification from the master list he or she has been given.

Your task is to formulate a question about the site that may be answered through scientific investigation and to design the investigation. Do not worry about the specific steps needed to isolate the contaminant or specific techniques used to measure the contaminant’s effect on the environment. Focus on writing a general plan for your investigation including the independent and dependent variables to be studied, general procedures you will follow and the data you will collect. Include a control group if appropriate.