The Maryland Envirothon Aquatics 2007 Resource Site This is the study guide for advisors and students participating in the Maryland State Envirothon competition. For your convenience, hands-on activities that address each topic have been listed. Thse activities come from existing lesson plans. For more information on these lessons, see the "Teacher Resources" section at the end of this document. During your study please focus on the following topics:
I. Watersheds
Students should be able to:
Define a watershed.
Read a watershed map, determine the major land uses, and how human or natural conditions affect the water quality in that watershed.
Describe existing management practices that aim to improve and restore water quality in a watershed (for rural, urban and suburban watersheds).
Know the major sources of pollution and their effects on water quality.
Describe a typical watershed structure and how watersheds work at different geographic scales and through time.
Introduction to Watershed Ecology
A full copy of the Watershed Academy Web on CD is available. Please contact Elena S. Takaki at 410-260-8715 or etakaki@dnr.state.md.us
Teacher Resources:
Project WET: Branching Out, Color Me a Watershed, Sum of the Parts
Healthy Water, Healthy People: A Snapshot in Time, There is No Point to this Pollution, Water Quality Monitoring: From Design to Data
Discover a Watershed: Seeing Watersheds, Back to the Future, River Reflections
II. Freshwater EcologyStudents should be able to:
Assess (in the field) the habitat, banks and substrate of a stream.
Understand physical characteristics of streams at the landscape, watershed, reach and feature levels.
Describe how abiotic factors such as temperature, flow, salinity, nutrients, pH, DO, etc., affect water quality.
Know how to classify a stream using stream order.
Understand the process of eutrophication
Identify macroinvertebrates to order.
Know the basic anatomy and ecology of macroinvertebrates and how scientists use them to assess water quality.
Maryland Streams: Take a Closer Look
Macroinvertebrate Key
Macroinvertebrate Ecology
Macroinvertebrate Assessment
Stream Survey
Teacher Resources:
III. Wetlands
Project WET: Branching Out, Color Me a Watershed
Healthy Water, Healthy People: Benthic Bugs and Bioassessment
- Describe the key values and functions of wetlands.
- Describe how you would identify a wetland.
- Have a general understanding of wetland hydrology, soils, and vegetation.
- Be able to determine and distinguish among the five systems of wetlands.
Wetlands Management
Students should be able to:
(Adobe Acrobat file 848.1 KB) - To get the free Acrobat Reader go to Adobe.com
Teacher Resources:
Project WET: Wetland Soils in Living Color
WOW! The Wonders of Wetlands: Part I Background Material for Teachers
IV. Fisheries
- Age a fish, describe fish habitat, and correctly label fish internal and external anatomy.
- Know how to use a dichotomous key to identify fish to species.
- Understand the taxonomic classification system.
- Understand fisheries management issues for freshwater and estuarine species.
Maryland DNR Fish Key (2003)
(Adobe Acrobat file 55.2 MB) - To get the free Acrobat Reader go to Adobe.com
Fish Anatomy
V. Estuarine Ecology
Students should be able to:
- Define an estuary and understand what makes the Chesapeake Bay unique.
- Know the benefits of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV).
- Understand how abiotic factors such as temperature, salinity, pH, DO, sedimentation, etc. affect the Chesapeake Bay.
- Know the four major habitats of the Chesapeake Bay.
- Understand ecological processes that affect biotic and abiotic factors in the bay.
Introduction to an Ecosystem (for a hard copy, please contact Elena Takaki at etakaki@dnr.state.md.us or 410-260-8715 – allow two weeks for delivery.)
Teacher Resources:
Eyes on the Bay: Real-time water quality data and supporting lessons.VI. On-line resources (useful additional information)
Characteristics of a watershed
Provides profiles of a watershed's geography, ecosystem condition, industry, planning resources and watershed management activities. http://mddnr.chesapeakebay.net/wsprofiles/surf/prof/prof.htmlStreams 101
Provides basic information, definitions, and concepts of stream ecology and assessment.
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/streams/101/index.htmlAbout Watersheds – NBC4
Learn about watersheds and how weather affects water quality with this interactive website.
http://wrc.iewatershed.com/index.phpChesapeake Bay
Official Chesapeake Bay Program Website
http://www.chesapeakebay.net and www.bayeducation.net
VII. Teacher Resources
Project WET/Healthy Water, Healthy People/Discover a Watershed
For information on these materials, please contact Cindy Etgen at cetgen@dnr.state.md.us or visit http://www.dnr.state.md.us/education/are/For information on Eyes on the Bay, please contact Elena S. Takaki at etakaki@dnr.state.md.us or visit www.eyesonthebay.net
For information on WOW! The Wonders of Wetlands, please contact Environmental Concern at dir.educate@wetland.org or visit www.wetland.org
IMPORTANT NOTE: FOR THE STATE TEST, GENERAL RESPONSES SUCH AS “POLLUTION” OR “POOR WATER QUALITY” WILL NOT BE ACCEPTABLE. A PARTICULAR TYPE OR SOURCE OF POLLUTANT MUST BE LISTED. BE AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE!!!
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