Measure the Health of a Stream?

Spark 101 Lesson Plan

Video Presentation Title: How do Land Use, Physical Parameters, and Benthic Surveys

Measure the Health of a Stream?

Unit of Instruction: Unit 3 Water Quality and Types of PollutionSubject/Course: AP Environmental Science

Standard(s):
TEKS: N/A. Content requirements for Advanced Placement (AP) Environmental Science are prescribed in the College Board Publication Advanced Placement Course Description: Environmental Science, published by The College Board. / Objective(s):

Students will understand the different types of water pollution and how the process of cultural eutrophication occurs.
Students will be able to evaluate the water quality based on what type of living organisms can be found in the water.
Students will be able to link the types of living organism found in the water to sources of pollution that may be found on the river and specific contaminants such as nitrates and phosphates that lead to eutrophication.

Assessment/Demonstration of Learning:
Life on the James lab questions
Student made FRQ(Free Response Question) / Resources Needed:
Electronic white board+ Spark 101 case study video
Guided Notes for each student
Life on the James (River) lab materials
Lesson Component / Time Allotted / Teacher Procedure
Activator
(Prior to showing the video presentation) / Time:
15 minutes / Activate prior knowledge about Cultural Eutrophication by asking students to imagine a golf course being built along the Trinity River in Fort Worth. Have students write down several consequences of building the golf course. Lead students by asking them to think about how a golf course would keep its lawn nice and green.
After 10 minutes, have students share out their answers. Some answers should include the amount of water being used on the lawn, the loss of habitats in building the course, and the fertilizers needed to maintain the lawn. Focusing on fertilizers, ask them probing questions such as:

What process occurs when fertilizers runoff into a river or a lake?
What two nutrients are we mainly concerned about from fertilizers?
When we have phosphates and nitrates in excess what process occurs?
What occurs during cultural eutrophication?
Is it possible to test for excess nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates or indicators that tell us a water source is poor?

Problem/Motivation
(Part I of video) / Time:
6 minutes 15 seconds / Show this first segment of the video to your students, letting them know that they will be working on solving the real-world problem after viewing.
Problem Solving Activity
(Describe process for identifying possible solution(s) to the problem presented) / Time:
10 minutes
Grouping:
Independent
Pairs / Students will talk with their shoulder partners and discuss the parameters of the river discussed in the video to what is normal for a healthy river.
Checks for Understanding
Class will then discuss conclusions of each pair.
Solving the Problem
(Part II of video) / Time:
3 minutes / Show this second segment of the video to your students, letting them know that they will be comparing their solutions to the actual solution shared by the industry professional(s).
Comparing Solutions and Meaning
(Describe process for identifying possible solution(s) to the problem presented) / Time:
30 minutes
Grouping:
Small groups (4-5)
Whole group / Have a class discussion comparing the students’ conclusions with the results of the video.
After the second part of the video and class discussion, the students will perform the lab, “Life on the James, Judging Water Quality Based on Macroinvertebrates” from Laying the Foundations. Students will work in groups of 4-5 and collect samples from 7 collection sites along the fictitious James River. Students will collect these samples out of 7 buckets that will have photocopied macroinvertebrate pictures that indicate the quality of the river.
Checks for Understanding
Groups will share with class on health of the river at the seven collection sites. They will discuss the possible reasons why an area may or may not be unhealthy and relate it back to the video. The students should be able to relate the parameters in the video such as DO, pH, temperature, and turbidity to the sites they sampled in the lab and predict what the parameters might be for each of those sites.
Future Impact and Meaning
(Part III of video) / Time:
2-5 minutes / Show this third and final segment of the video to your students, letting them know that they will be reflecting on their thoughts related to pursing possible education pathways and careers presented in the video.
Future Impact and Meaning
(Have students reflect on how solving the problem might relate to current or future goals) / Time:
10 minutes
Grouping:
Small groups (4-5)
Whole group / Have students discuss with their lab groups why it is important to have a healthy river and what impact an unhealthy river has on them and their community. Ask students does an unhealthy river only affect our community or might it affect all aquatic systems down the river? Ask the students what might be some solutions to both preventing contaminants from entering a river and what could be done to remove them once they are there?
Checks for Understanding
Class discusses answers.
Summarizer/Closure / Time:
10 minutes / Students will take what they have learned from the video and lab and create their own FRQ(Free Response Question) that could be used on the AP exam. They must include similar format and language that they would normally see on a free response.
Assessment (if applicable) / Life on the James lab questions
Student made FRQ
Additional Notes (if needed) / Extensions for Advanced Learners – Students can create a rubric for their FRQs and give to other students to complete. The student can then grade the student’s response based off of their rubric.
CK12 Connections (if available) Free videos, practice, etc.
/ OpenStax Connections (if available)