Worksheet 6: Water and Water Pollution
Directions:
o Complete using your textbook to find answers to the following questions. Next week we will spend going over this information and answering any questions that come up. Good luck and have fun! Be sure to look at the grading criteria before and during your work.
Outline Grading Criteria:
o Outline shows a conscientious effort to be complete and explain the questions posed. Most answers are correct.
o Student shows depth of answers by explaining, defining, and giving examples where appropriate. If there is a sentence or less for each question, this grading criterion is not met. Sufficient development is required.
Content Outcomes you will need for Assessment II:
o Describe the hydrologic cycle
o Describe human influences on the hydrologic cycle
o Describe the influence of runoff on the hydrologic cycle
o How does water get to your home
o What do people use most of their water for? Where does it come from? Are we using it at a sustainable level?
o What are the main sources of water pollution?
o Why is each a pollutant? What does it do to water quality?
Water
This worksheet covers two chapters. The first is Chapter 9 on the hydrologic cycle and the second is chapter 18 on water pollution.
Chapter 9
- What percent of the earth’s water is available to humans for use? Why?
- Why is fresh water a renewable resource? What power source brings this water to us?
- Define the following terms in relationship to the hydrologic cycle:
a) Evaporation
b) Transpiration
c) Water vapor
d) Humidity
e) Relative humidity
f) Condensation
- Now, describe the hydrologic cycle. Include the terms evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, percolation, run-off, and groundwater at least.
- When humans build a parking lot or home, how are they affecting the hydrologic cycle?
- What is the relationship between timber harvest and flooding?
- What is the relationship between fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide use and the hydrologic cycle?
- Draw a diagram that illustrates how water gets to your home and where it goes after leaving your home.
- Explain why the San Francisco bay has several species on the endangered species list according to what you have read regarding overdrawing of water resources.
- What is the largest reservoir of water available to us for use and are we using it at a sustainable level? Explain using support/evidence/examples to explain your answer.
- Irrigation is the largest use of water in the nation. Why? What are alternative irrigation practices that would help to achieve sustainability while not decreasing the amount of farming we currently are involved in?
- What is desalinization? What are the costs and benefits of this practice?
Water Pollution Chapter 18
- The beginning of the first paragraph under the heading ‘pollution essentials’ in chapter 18 reads: “Pollution is not usually the result of deliberate mistreatment of the environment; the additions that cause pollution are almost always the by-products of otherwise worthy and essential activities – producing crops, creating comfortable homes, providing energy and transportation, and manufacturing products – and of our basic biological functions (excreting wastes).” Discuss your informed opinion of this statement after your 8 weeks so far in this course. By doing this you are beginning to critique all sources you read – even your text book. Good practice for all of us…
- Compare and contrast point and non-point pollution sources in terms of their definition and their degree of difficulty in controlling.
- What are the five main sources of pollution?
- Why are pathogens considered a pollutant? What are the consequences if pathogens are in the water supply? What methods are used to keep pathogens from being in the water supply? Does every nation in the world employ these methods?
- Explain what happens if too much organic matter enters a water body. What is the BOD and what is its relationship to organic matter pollution? How is this related to eutrophication?
- Define what is meant by the term sediment. Where does sediment come from? What are the impacts of sediment in rivers and creeks? What could we do, personally, to decrease sediment loading of local rivers?
- What is the relationship between sewage treatment plants and nutrient pollution? What are the consequences? What are other sources of nutrient pollution? What are some methods we could use to decrease nutrient pollution?
21. Why is flooding more frequent and more sever in areas that have been more developed or altered from the natural state than in areas that have not been altered?
22. How can increased runoff lead to streams drying up?
23. Make a list of 10 things that you can do personally to reduce your overall water use.