Lesson 16 – Source Water Protection Downstream
This is Lesson 16 (“Source Water Protection Downstream”) from the Drinking Water: Protecting the Source curriculum, which teaches students how farming activities and intense agricultural land use affect water quality downstream, including nutrient pollution and the hypoxic “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. Students read and analyze newspaper articles about nutrient enrichment in the Mississippi River watershed and explore how wetlands protect sources of drinking water. The lesson includes an anticipation guide, article worksheets, brainstorming activities, and an assessment.
At a glance
- Learning objectives
-
- 16.1 Describe the connections between farming activities, especially in areas of intense agricultural land use, and resulting water quality downstream and local impact on community and farm drinking water.
- 16.2 Define the term "wetland" and explain the benefits of wetlands for protecting sources of drinking water.
- Time required
- Instruction time for this lesson: 50 minutes
- Grade level
- 9-12
- Materials
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- Computer
- LCD projector
- Slide WI16.1.TM: The Mississippi River Watershed
- Worksheet SW.16.1.a.AS: Anticipation Guide for Articles about Nutrients in the Gulf of Mexico
- Worksheet SW.16.1.b.AS: From Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico
- Worksheet SW.16.1.c.AS: Gulf Coast Program Awards Iowa
- Slide SW.16.2.TM: Wetlands
- Key Terms
- Constructed wetland; Dead zone; Hypoxia; Mississippi River watershed or basin; Nitrogen; Nutrients; Phosphorus; Tile drains; Wetlands
Downloads & Links
Aligned Standards
National Science Education Standards for Grades 9 – 12
- Content Standard AAbilities Necessary to Do Scientific Inquiry: Design and conduct scientific investigations.
- Content Standard AAbilities Necessary to Do Scientific Inquiry: Design and conduct scientific investigations.
- Content Standard CLife Science: The Interdependence of Organisms – Human beings live within the world's ecosystems. Increasingly, humans modify ecosystems as a result of population growth, technology and consumption.
- Content Standard FScience in Personal and Social Perspectives: Natural Resources – Human populations use resources in the environment in order to maintain and improve their existence. Natural resources have been and will continue to be used to maintain human populations.