Sessions 7 & 8 (cont.) Science World
BIOLOGY: PAIRED TEXTS
BIOLOGY: PAIRED TEX
NECESSARY OR HARMFUL? In “The Real Cost of Batteries”, you learned how people mine cobalt to make batteries for electronic devices. In this passage, you’ll learn more about the potential health effects of exposure to cobalt. Read the passage, and then use complete sentences to answer the questions that follow.
NECESSARY OR HARMFUL? In “The Real Cost of Batteries”, you learned how people mine cobalt to make batteries for electronic devices. In this passage, you’ll learn more about the potential health effects of exposure to cobalt. Read the passage, and then use complete sentences to answer the questions that follow.
TOXIC ELEMENT? Like many naturally occurring elements, cobalt can be healthy or dangerous depending on the amount of exposure. While exposure to normal levels of the element is not harmful, too much can cause serious health problems. Cobalt forms some chemical compounds that are essential for human health. Vitamin B12 is a complex compound made of cobalt bonded with several other elements. The vitamin is found naturally in animals and animal products, including fish, eggs, and milk. Your body needs this vitamin to form healthy red blood cells . These cells carry oxygen through your body and move waste carbon dioxide to the lungs to
TOXIC ELEMENT? Like many naturally occurring elements, cobalt can be healthy or dangerous depending on the amount of exposure. While exposure to normal levels of the element is not harmful, too much can cause serious health problems. Cobalt forms some chemical compounds that are essential for human health. Vitamin B12 is a complex compound made of cobalt bonded with several other elements. The vitamin is found naturally in animals and animal products, including fish, eggs, and milk. Your body needs this vitamin to form healthy red blood cells . These cells carry oxygen through your body and move waste carbon dioxide to the lungs to
be exhaled. Cobalt is also critical for building DNA —the molecule that carries genetic instructions inside cells. Some people are exposed to abnormally high levels of cobalt—such as miners who collect rocks that contain the element. If the workers breathe air with high levels of cobalt dust, they can experience problems such as asthma, pneumonia, and lung disease. Workers can also ingest dust containing the element, or cobalt can enter the bloodstream through cuts in the skin. Some forms of cobalt can be radioactive . The atoms decay , or break down, into other elements—releasing high-energy particles or waves that can damage human cells.
be exhaled. Cobalt is also critical for building DNA —the molecule that carries genetic instructions inside cells. Some people are exposed to abnormally high levels of cobalt—such as miners who collect rocks that contain the element. If the workers breathe air with high levels of cobalt dust, they can experience problems such as asthma, pneumonia, and lung disease. Workers can also ingest dust containing the element, or cobalt can enter the bloodstream through cuts in the skin. Some forms of cobalt can be radioactive . The atoms decay , or break down, into other elements—releasing high-energy particles or waves that can damage human cells.
QUESTIONS 1. What is the central idea of the passage?
QUESTIONS 1. What is the central idea of the passage?
4. What are two ways cobalt from the environment can enter a person’s body?
4. What are two ways cobalt from the environment can enter a person’s body?
2. What are two pieces of evidence from the text that support the central idea?
2. What are two pieces of evidence from the text that support the central idea?
5. How do you think the conditions in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo might increase a miner’s risk of developing health problems from exposure to the element? Explain.
5. How do you think the conditions in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo might increase a miner’s risk of developing health problems from exposure to the element? Explain.
3. Explain two functions of red blood cells.
3. Explain two functions of red blood cells.
26 Sessions 7 & 8
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