In this lesson, students will identitfy several forms of acid precipitation. They will list effects of acid precipitaiton and explain the actions that cause the damage. Students will define "buffering" and explain how environmental factors can act as buffers.

In this simulation activity, students play the roles of community members wrestling with the problem of cleaning up a polluted pond on their common property. They quickly discover that because of their different values and interests, the important question is not whether to clean up the pond, but how much clean-up they are willing to pay for.

Students compare water quality at different points in a stream or river. They will use freshwater invertebrates to obtain and compare biotic index scores for different sampling stations.

This article and video highlights the facts about algal blooms, which can destroy biodiversity and affect coastlines.

Stakeholders of the Morro Bay National Estuary Program in California worked with resources from the EPA's Climate Ready Estuaries program to identify their climate risks. Their results helped them prioritize actions for building resilience.

This experiment illustrates the basic properties of a watershed: how water flows from higher elevations to lower elevations, and how watersheds are interconnected. The students will understand how the placement of buildings, roads, and parking lots can be important to watershed runoff, and how careless use and disposal of harmful contaminants can have a serious effect on downstream watershed denizens.

These supplemental materials are meant to be used in conjunction with the activity "Chemistry in an Estuary." In this activity, students investigate water quality parameters to study the nature of, and the cyclical changes inherent in, the chemistry of estuarine water. Students study key water quality factors at several stations in a single reserve over time: current, daily, and yearly time scales. Students also compare water quality values over a yearly time scale in three different estuaries within NOAA' s National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR): South Slough NERR, Oregon; Delaware NERR; and Old Woman Creek NERR, Ohio. Then students take water quality measurements at a site near them and compare their data to the water in the three geographically diverse NERR estuarine environments.

In this activity, students investigate water quality parameters to study the nature of, and the cyclical changes inherent in, the chemistry of estuarine water. Students study key water quality factors at several stations in a single reserve over time: current, daily, and yearly time scales. Students also compare water quality values over a yearly time scale in three different estuaries within NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR): South Slough NERR, Oregon; Delaware NERR; and Old Woman Creek NERR, Ohio. Then students take water quality measurements at a site near them and compare their data to the water in the three geographically diverse NERR estuarine environments.

Students will learn what wetlands are, where they are found, and their value to humans, animals, and the environment. As industrialization spreads and climate change intensifies, China's wetland resources continue to shrink and students will analyze the effects of industrialization on China's environment.

This video provides information about the causes and effects of Earth's changing climate, specifically focusing on wildlife populations and the impact global warming has on habitats.

Explore water pollution and its impact on ocean life in aquatic dead zones.

GeoInquiries are designed to be fast and easy-to-use instructional resources that incorporate advanced web mapping technology. Each 15-minute activity in a collection is intended to be presented by the instructor from a single computer/projector classroom arrangement. No installation, fees, or logins are necessary to use these materials and software.

Students will identify specific types of wetland habitats and land uses in a watershed and explain how data on chemical contaminants, land uses and habitat types can be integrated to develop restoration plans for environmental resources damaged by pollution.

Students will construct two wetlands models, one with constant drainage and one that maintains a well-saturated soil. Students will maintain the wetlands for two weeks and observe daily the soil, plant life, water level, and animal life if desired.

 Students will create a 30-60 second podcast informing the public on a water quality/water usage issue in North Carolina.

Students will be completing a tic-tac-toe summary assignment as a formal assessment on the ecosystems found in North Carolina and how water quality effects those ecosystems.

These supplemental materials are meant to be used in conjunction with the activity "Estuary and the Watershed." In this activity, students investigate a large watershed, look for sources of pollution in the watershed, and study the impacts of a rain storm on a watershed and estuary, without going on field trip. Students begin by examining the San Francisco Estuary using Google Maps (Part 1), identifying possible sources of pollution and contamination along the major rivers that feed into the estuary (Part 2). Students also examine graphs of water quality data from the estuary and identify changes that occur due to a storm event (Part 3).

In this activity, students investigate a large watershed, look for sources of pollution in the watershed, and study the impacts of a rain storm on a watershed and estuary, without going on field trip. Students begin by examining the San Francisco Estuary using Google Maps (Part 1), identifying possible sources of pollution and contamination along the major rivers that feed into the estuary (Part 2). Students also examine graphs of water quality data from the estuary and identify changes that occur due to a storm event (Part 3).

In this lesson, students will take on the role of a member of an environmental club and will search the database to find a wetland that they would be interested in helping to protect. Using the database search capabilities, they will first select various wetland characteristics and generate a report on the sites that meet their search criteria. Next, they will access an interactive map to view the locations and nearby features of the identified wetland sites. They will then narrow the choices down to a single wetland that they would like to protect and gather further information about it. Finally, as a member of the club, they will prepare a brief report to persuade others of the value of protecting their chosen site.

In this lesson, students participate in a kinesthetic simulation to illustrate how nutrient pollution from agricultural runoff can lead to a dead zone at the mouth of a drainage basin.