Water Ecosystems

Important terms to know:

• Hydrologic Cycle: The continuous path water takes as it moves throughout the Earth

• Evaporation: The conversion of water from liquid to gas by exposure to air or heat

• Transpiration: Is the release of water from the leaves of plants (Example: a mature birch tree will give off 70 gallons of water a day)

• Condensation: Is the process by which water vapor turns back into liquid form

• Precipitation: When droplets of water condense and form in the clouds then they become to heavy they will fall to the Earth as rain or snow

• Runoff: Water flows over land and into surface water sources

• Infiltration: Precipitation that soaks into the ground and becomes part of the groundwater supply

• Watershed: Is a geographic area of land from which surface runoff drains into a common body of water, such as a stream, channel, lake, reservoir, or other body of water (drainage basin). They are separated from each other by land forms, such as mountains. A watershed includes all the plants, animals and people who live in it, plus nonliving components like soil and rocks

• Point source pollution: Is pollution that can be traced back to a specific location or source (factories, treatment facilities)

• Nonpoint source pollution: Is pollution in which the area where the contaminants entered the system is difficult to locate and may happen over a wide area of land (golf courses, parking lots, septic tanks, agricultural fields)

• Water conservation: Is using water-saving methods to reduce the amount of water needed and increase the water supply for optimum long-term economic and social benefits

• Riparian Zone: Is the space between land and a river or stream

• Contour Line: A line on a map joining points of equal height above or below sea level.

• Contour Interval: The vertical distance between the elevations represented by adjacent contour lines on a map.

Water Testing

Dissolved Oxygen

• Mixing/agitation: the greater the currents and wave action, the greater the amount of dissolved oxygen that can be found in water.

• Temperature: more oxygen dissolves at lower temperature than at higher temperatures

• Production of oxygen by plants: algae are capable of producing oxygen and releasing it into the water. Algae growing at the surface of ponds and lakes can also prevent oxygen from dissolving into the water

• Use of oxygen by organisms in the water: referred to as Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD). The greater the population of organisms, the greater their demand for oxygen.

pH (Acid or Alkali)

• Distilled water contains no dissolved material and is considered neutral (7 on scale)

• pH is a measurement scale used to describe the acidic (1-6 on scale) or alkalinity (8-14 on scale) of water.

Water Hardness

• Red (hard) to Blue (soft) on indicator test

• Hard water is not harmful to life

Phosphates

• If indicator solution turns light blue (10 ppm) then water is polluted (to much phosphate in water, could be from fertilizer)

Aquatic Species that can be commercially and or sustainably harvested for commercial and recreational purposes: https://www.fishwatch.gov/

Research an aquatic species (include species name, picture, population, habitat impacts, fishing rate, by catch, and 2 other facts in a keynote presentation)

*Check in with Mrs. Zip first to make sure no repeat species are being researched