Students Need to Know

• ... that the health of a water system is determined by the balance between physical, chemical and biological variables.
• ... that the temperature of water in rivers and lakes determines the kinds of organisms that can survive there.
• ... that measuring dissolved oxygen is an important factor in determining water quality.
• ... that pH is a measure on a scale of how acidic or basic water is.
• ... that nitrogen and phosphorus are essential plant nutrients, but to much can be problematic.
• ... that turbidity is a measure of how clear water is.
• ... that the water quality of a body of water can also be assessed by using bioindicators (macroinvertebrates).