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Aquatics Online Study GuideWelcome to the NJ Envirothon Aquatics Study Guide. The guide is broken into 12 main learning objectives for the Canon Envirothon. Included under each learning objective are links to other websites for additional research. You are encouraged to use your teachers, libraries and other local resources such as professionals to help in your study of Aquatics. Documents that are shown with the
1. Identify the processes and phases for each part of the water cycleThe Earth is a closed system; all the water that is on earth has been here since its formation. Water moves around the world, changes forms, is taken in by plants and animals, but never really disappears. Water can assume the form of ice (solid), water (liquid), or water vapor (gas). Water can be found on the earth’s surface as ponds, lakes, streams, rivers, and oceans or as ground water in aquifers. Water can also be found in ice caps or in the atmosphere. It “travels” in a large, continuous cycle through a number of reservoirs (the largest being the oceans). The process in which water moves between these places and changes from one form to another is known as the hydrologic cycle. The hydrologic cycle is often summarized as having six major components:
The websites listed below will provide you with more information regarding the hydrologic cycle.
2. Describe the chemical and physical properties of water and explain their importance for freshwater and saltwater ecosystems.Water is made up of two elements ~ Oxygen and Hydrogen. It is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, covalently (a bond formed by sharing a pair of electrons between two atoms) bonded together. The substance that is formed (water) is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Water is unique in its ability to bond with other water molecules. Water molecules are polar (acting just like a magnet); the hydrogen end has a positive charge, the oxygen end has a negative charge. Since opposite electrical charges attract, water molecules tend to attract each other, making water kind of "sticky." The hydrogen atoms (positive charge) attract the oxygen atoms (negative charge) of a different water molecule. The structure of the water molecule provides it with many special properties that are critical to life on earth. In studying the chemical properties, it is important to understand basic information about polarity, hydrophilic vs. hydrophobic, water as a solvent, pH, density, capillary action, surface tension, etc. and how these properties work in a natural system such as a river or lake or ocean. Molecular shape, hydrogen bonding, covalent bonds, etc. are important for understanding the physical properties. Be sure you are able to differentiate between a chemical property and a physical property of water and how the physical makeup of the water molecule influences the chemical properties of the water molecule. Use the links below to help further your understanding of water properties.
3. Analyze the interaction of competing uses of water for water supply, hydropower, navigation, wildlife, recreation, waste assimilation, irrigation, industry, and others.Human water use has been increasing about twice as fast as the population growth over the past century. Uses of water may be classified in several different ways. Among those uses are withdrawal and consumption (or no withdrawal). Withdrawal evaluates the use of water in terms of quantity, such as water removed from a lake, river, or aquifer for any purpose. The important withdrawal uses are (1) municipal, (2) rural, domestic (3) irrigation, (4) industrial, and (5) hydropower. Much of the water is used in nondestructive ways and is returned to circulation in a form that can be used again. Consumption does not evaluate in terms of water quantity, but does however, have a very large economic value. Consumption measures the fraction of water lost in transmission, evaporation, absorption, and chemical transformation. The most important consumption uses are navigation, waste disposal, recreation, and wildlife. 4. Discuss methods of conserving water and reducing point and nonpoint source pollutionA watershed is the land area that drains into a particular body of water. Human activities on the land impact water quality. A discharge of pollutant from a specific source, such as an industrial plant, is called point source pollution. Wastewater discharge from a point source requires a permit, which specifies treatment and limits the amount of pollution. Non-point source pollution, also called people pollution, comes from everyday human activities and has many sources. Examples are fertilizer, litter, and eroded soil. Non-point source pollution is carried by stormwater into our waterways, and it is the biggest threat to the quality of our water. We can reduce non-point source pollution by changing lifestyles to eliminate pollution sources, reduce stormwater flow, and conserve water. Use these links to learn more.
5. Identify common aquatic organisms through the use of a key. Collecting and identifying aquatic organisms found in a water body is one of several ways that can be used to assess its water quality. In order for the analysis of the water quality to be accurate, the organisms must be identified correctly. Scientists use keys to help them do this.
6. Delineate the watershed boundary for a small water body.Emperor Yu of China said in 1600 B.C., "To protect your rivers, protect your mountains." The key to understanding watersheds is in understanding how water and the land interact. The surrounding land has a profound impact on the water quality. A river or body of water is only as healthy as its watershed. To determine the land area that impacts the water quality of a particular water body, it is important to understand how to interpret a topographic map and how to delineate a watershed using a topographic map.
7. Be able to explain the different types of aquifers and how each type relates to water quality and quantity.“At any one point in time, about 22 percent of all the fresh water on earth exists as groundwater, out of sight, and for most people, out of mind” (Pielou, 1998). Groundwater makes up almost the entire volume of usable fresh water on earth. Aquifers are underground holding tanks. They play an important role for human water supply - from drinking water to irrigation. There are two major types of aquifers, confined and unconfined. Use the links below for an in-depth study of aquifers and the important role they play. Be sure to research how water moves between the surface and underground as well as how we can test for groundwater safety and ways to protect it. 8. Briefly describe the benefits of wetlands, both function and value.In the past, wetlands were often thought of as useless, muddy, smelly, yucky, insect infested areas that needed to be filled in so the land there could be used for something of importance, such as houses or farm fields. Over the years, we have begun to understand their function and value. Wetlands are now considered very important natural areas that need to be preserved and in some cases re-created. Function and value are often used interchangeably, but it’s important to understand the difference between the two in order to build a solid case for the protection of wetland areas. The functions of a wetland are the actual physical and biological processes that take place. For example, is it wet year round, or just part of the year? Does it function primarily as flood control, or a sediment filter, or both? Value, on the other hand, is an estimation of worth or importance. If a town is located in a low-lying area prone to flooding, a wetland that holds large amounts of water is highly valuable. If that wetland was filled in and developed, the town would most likely succumb to routine flooding, which would cost the community thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars in clean up and repair. Is it wet year round and used as a breeding ground for fish? Some wetlands that function as nurseries are very valuable because they help sustain the local fishing industry. Whether it’s for function, or value, or both, wetlands are a very important ecological system for both the natural and human communities.
9. Describe the benefits of riparian areas, including both function and value.Riparian buffers are one of the most effective tools to protect our water resources. These strips of grass, shrubs, and/or trees along the banks of streams, rivers, and lakes provide a necessary transition zone between water and human land use. The vegetation filters polluted runoff and holds soil in place to prevent erosion into the waterway. It also slows the stormwater flow and provides a pervious area for infiltration and groundwater recharge. Also, trees provide shade over the water, lowering its temperature and increasing its holding capacity of dissolved oxygen. Buffers are complex ecosystems that provide habitat corridors for terrestrial organisms and, when roots or branches are submerged in the water, provide a habitat for aquatic organisms as well.
10. Describe the changes to the aquatic ecosystem based on alteration to the aquatic habitat.Aquatic organisms are sensitive to any changes that may occur in their habitat and, like most other ecosystems on Earth, aquatic habitats are now changing with greater frequency due to the effects of human land use. One of the major changes that can occur in an aquatic habitat is sedimentation, or the erosion of tiny particles into a stream. Sediment can either remain suspended in the water or settle out to the stream bottom. The sediment that remains suspended in the water can affect several different aspects of stream life. It allows the water to absorb more solar radiation to heat the water, decreasing the holding capacity of dissolved oxygen. The particles also shade aquatic plants, reducing photosynthesis and increasing respiration. The sediment that accumulates on the stream bottom fills in gaps between rocks, decreasing habitat availability for benthic macroinvertebrates to live and for fish to lay their eggs, decreasing the populations of both. The sediment can accrue so much on the streambed that the depth is reduced, making the stream shallower and easier to heat up by the sun. Besides sedimentation, other individual factors that may reverberate through the ecosystem include changes in temperature, flow, water level, stream width, substrate, nutrient levels, toxins, or stream bank vegetation.
11. Know methods used to assess and manage aquatic environments and be able to utilize water quality information to assess the general water quality of a specific body of water. This includes sampling, technique, and water quality parameters used to monitor point and non-point source pollution).Biological assessments, Chemical assessments, and Visual assessments are three methods used to assess aquatic environments and determine the quality of a given body of water. These different types of assessments provide valuable information but in different ways. Chemical assessment provides data regarding specific parameters related to water quality such as dissolved oxygen, pH, or total suspended solids. This information can be very useful in pinpointing a specific pollutant or polluter, yet each chemical test on a sample only provides a “snapshot” of the condition of the body of water being tested. Since the sample taken only reflects the conditions at the exact location and time at which the sample was taken, long-term trends in water quality may be overlooked unless a regular schedule of tests is applied. Biological sampling evaluates the populations of living organisms within a body of water in efforts to assess quality. Benthic macro-invertebrates and fish are two commonly sampled populations used in biological assessments. Since aquatic organisms spend most, if not all, of their lives in the water they are very dependent on its quality for survival. Some organisms show greater tolerance to pollution than others, thus the composition of a population can reflect the quality of the habitat including the quality of the water. The information collected through biological assessment can tell us more about the long-term conditions of a body of water, but it is difficult to determine a specific limiting factor. Visual assessments generally accompany a biological and/or chemical assessment. They provide information on the surrounding landscape as well as information about the habitat of the aquatic environment. Information documented in a visual assessment may include anything that could have a potential impact on the monitoring site such as discharge pipes, surrounding land use, recent weather conditions, turbidity (cloudiness), flora and fauna, or stream substrate. The links below will provide you with a wealth of information regarding this topic.
12. Be familiar with major methods and laws used to protect water quality (surface and ground water) and utilize this information to make management decisions to improve the quality of water in a given situation.There are many different ways to create change. Often, if the needed change will affect an entire state or the country, laws and regulations are formulated to ensure implementation. As population and industrialization increased, so did the need for environmental laws. There was increasing pressure on our land and water resources, pollution was out of control. For example, at one time in the 1970’s, Lake Erie caught on Fire because it was so polluted. Pollution and overuse of natural resources affects all, humans and wildlife. The Clean Water Act of 1972 is the Federal legislation that guides all local legislation. In NJ, this legislation helped to reduce Point Source Discharge and as of 2004 NJ will need to help reduce Non-point Source Discharge. Below are links to Federal legislation as well as local rules. Be sure to focus your analysis on ways to apply the rules and regulations in management decisions. For example, if you were a member of a planning commission for a municipality what would you need to consider before approving or denying development plans?
For more information contact your local Soil Conservation District Office or Richard Belcher, NJ Envirothon Coordinator Phone: (609) - 292-5540, Fax: (609) - 633-7229. < Back to Aquatics Online Study Guide Last Modified: April 25, 2008 |
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