Pollution Solution is an interactive multimedia CD that enables middle school and high school students to learn critical problem-solving skills in the context of studying our environment. Through the use of the Pollution Solution software, the classroom is transformed into an environmental consulting firm. The students became interns for a fictitious firm and are given a client, a utility company, who had just been sued for violating the Clean Air Act. In this scenario, the teacher plays the role of an internship supervisor in order to assist the interns in defining and eventually recommending solutions to their client.

Using Pollution Solution, students can research the problem in their virtual office which contains e-mail, phone, notepad, research notebook, and a filing cabinet with important documents about the company. It also includes links to authentic data sources in the areas of environmental science, technology, law, and economics. During their research, students meet various experts (through digital video clips) who have very different perspectives about the way the problem should be solved. For example, the environmental scientist is concerned about whether the solution protects the environment, regardless of the cost or the efficiency. On the other hand, the economist's only concern is that the solution is cost effective and the engineer is interested in whether the solution is technically feasible.

Pollution Solution originated as part of Dr. Janet Mannheimer Zydney's research on problem solving at New York University. This companion web site was developed to allow other teachers to do this project in their classrooms. It provides many of the same resources as the CD and offers a glimpse at the interactive features. The CD is still being used for research testing, but the goal is to eventually make it available to the public. If you are interested in the CD or would like more information about the related research on problem solving, please e-mail info@mypollutionsolution.com.

To begin the project, just click on the Introduction.