MAYAPYAP Project MELC (Managing and Enhancing Learning through Contextualization)

National High School STUDENT LEARNING GUIDE IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Quarter III, Week 6

Lesson 6: Human Interactions with the Environment

MOST ESSENTIAL LEARNING COMPETENCY

No Code Available: Describe how human interactions with the environment

can be beneficial or harmful.

In this set of activities, you should:

1. determine the positive and negative effects of human interactions with the
environment; and
2. explain how technology affects human-environment interaction.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO REMEMBER?

Unlocking of Difficulties
Environment physical surroundings and the characteristics of the place in which we live. It also refers to
the wider natural world of land, sea, and atmosphere

Humans need to interact with the environment to obtain food, water, fuel, medicines, building materials
and many other things. Advances in science and technology have helped us to exploit the
environment for our benefit, we have also introduced pollution and caused environmental
damage. The impact of environmental problems on humans is significant, affecting all
human activities, including health and socio-economic development.
Humans have been interacting with their environment since people first walked the Earth. Our
relationship with the environment changed with industrialization. Industrialization has allowed for
a greater exploitation of resources. For example, we now use powerful chainsaws to cut down trees
and industrially produced chemical fertilizers and pesticides for crop production. These changes have
rapidly increased the human impact on the environment.
The links between human activity and the environment are complex and varied, but can be grouped into two main types of
activity:

 Use of natural resources such as land, food, water, soils, minerals, plants and animals.
 Production of wastes from a range of activities including agriculture, industry, and mining, as well as
wastes from our own bodies.

Refer to the figure (below), it summarizes the interactions between ‘human activities’ and ‘the environment’. The down
arrow indicates the waste generated as a product of this interaction. The up arrows indicate the negative effect on both the
environment and humans if the waste is not properly managed.

1
Macmillan, Kate. 2020. Human-Environment Interaction Examples. Retrieved from:
https://azgreenmagazine.com/human-environment-interaction/
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 Luckily, some people constantly try to help Mother
Nature. And that is why there are many examples of positive
human-environment interaction. Thanks to the activities
described below, we have a chance to reduce environmental
impact and protect nature from ecological catastrophes. 

1. Conservation of Water Resources

Water is vitally important for the whole human civilization and we
cannot live without it. That is why more and more countries develop and
implement such techniques as harvesting of rainwater, management of watershed
and drip irrigation. Besides, they suppress the throwing of industrial and
domestic wastes into the rivers and oceans as well as start various clean-up
projects. Thanks to such an attitude the water pollution may be prevented even in
such industrial countries as China.

2. Recycling
Recycling is an integral part of positive human-
environment interaction. An interesting fact is that nature
recycles everything including dead animals or fallen leaves by
returning them to the soil to grow up more trees and other plants.
That is why humans interacting with the environment should also
follow this example and remake old products into new ones. 

3. Development of Sustainable Infrastructure

The main task of sustainable
infrastructure is to ensure that the building of
new roads, bridges or other projects will cause
the minimum damage to the environment. In
addition, it includes the usage of eco-friendly
and durable construction materials as well as the
development of smart building technologies.

4. Ecotourism
Since humans depend on the
environment, travel agencies came up with the
idea to mix tourism and the desire to protect the
environment. The key points of ecotourism
include the building of ecological awareness and
respectful attitude to the local culture. 
In addition, this is not just a great way to reduce
the environmental damage caused by usual
tourists but also to support the people living in a
certain area.

5. Creation of National Parks

This example is closely related to
the previous one. The National Parks and
special zones provide various animals and
plants with protection from human
influence. Nevertheless, such places turn
into tourist attractions where people can
enjoy nature without damaging it.

2
Macmillan, Kate. 2020. Human-Environment Interaction Examples. Retrieved from:
https://azgreenmagazine.com/human-environment-interaction/

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 YOUR TASKS!

Reminder: DO NOT WRITE ANYTHING ON THIS STUDENT LEARNING GUIDE.

Write your answer on your answer sheet.

Enrichment Activity 1: Copy the diagram on your answer sheet and write the POSITIVE and
NEGATIVE effect of human interaction to the environment. (10 points)

POSITIVE NEGATIVE
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.

Rubric for Scoring

5 points 3 points 1 point
Completeness All items are answered 4-5 items are answered 1-3 items are answered
Accuracy All items are correct 4-5 items are correct 1-3 items are correct

Enrichment Activity 2: Imagine you have a colleague who always blames technology for environmental
problems. What would you say to your colleague to demonstrate that technology affects the environment in both a
positive and a negative manner? (10 points)

Rubric for Scoring

5 points 3 points 1 point
Claim Makes an accurate and Makes an accurate but Does not make an
complete claim incomplete claim accurate and complete
claim
Evidence Provides appropriate and Provides appropriate but Does not provide
sufficient evidence to insufficient evidence to appropriate and sufficient
support the claim support the claim or evidence to support the
provides inappropriate but claim
sufficient evidence to
support the claim

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Performance Task #2: In a long bond paper or long pad. Create a simple slogan explaining how technology affects
human and environment interactions. (15 points)

Rubric for Scoring

5 points 3 points 1 point

Thought Makes an accurate and Makes an accurate but Does not make an
complete thought of the incomplete thought of the accurate and complete
topic topic thought of the topic
Handwriting/ The words can be The words can be slightly Cannot comprehend the
Font clarity comprehended clearly. comprehended. words.
Creativity The output is very The output is fairly The output is not
appealing with colours appealing with colours and appealing with colours
and shading. shading. and shading.

WRAP-UP ACTIVITY

Write TRUE if the statement is correct or FALSE if it is not. If your answer is false, explain why it
is incorrect. (10 points)

1. As a population increases, the amount of natural resource extraction and

consumption increases.
2. Agriculture does not have any negative impacts on the environment.
3. As a population increases, more waste is produced because of increased
activity.
4. The environment influences human beings, both positively and negatively.
5. The impact of human activity on the environment is always damaging.

REFERENCES

 Macmillan, Kate. 2020. Human-Environment Interaction Examples. Retrieved from:

https://azgreenmagazine.com/human-environment-interaction/

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQqKL7Ow_PM national park
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQqhKzcHnAg recycling ideas

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 6

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