Summary Physical Science Module Grade Levels: 9-12 Grounded in inquiry-based learning Use real-world examples Promotes investigations of estuary monitoring data Hands-on activities Connections to field-based activities Correlated to the National Science Education Standards and State Standards    Icon means: Printable Version (Requires Adobe Acrobat) Pilot Test the Life Science Module Please provide us with feedback on the activities and the functionality of this estuaries.gov website by completing this on-line Feedback Form. Contact Us if you have any problems accessing any of these materials.

• Activity 1: Chemistry in an Estuary 
• Activity 2: Dissolved Oxygen in an Estuary 
• Activity 3: Human Impact on Estuaries: A Terrible Spill in Grand Bay NERR 

• Final Physical Science Module Assessment

Activity 1:  Chemistry in an Estuary

In this activity, students investigate water quality parameters to study the nature of, and the cyclical changes inherent in, the chemistry of estuarine water. Students study key water quality factors at several stations in a single reserve over time—current, daily, and yearly time scales. Students also compare water quality values over a yearly time scale in three different estuaries within NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System—South Slough NERR, Oregon, Delaware NERR, and Old Woman Creek NERR. Then students take water quality measurements at a site near them and compare it to the water in the three geographically diverse NERR estuarine environments.

This activity has 5 parts:

1. What is an Estuary?
2. Investigating Water Quality in an Estuary
3. Investigating Water Quality Over a Day
4. Investigating Water Quality Over a Year
5. Comparing Water Quality Data Between Two Different Estuarine Environments

Activity 2: Dissolved Oxyen in an Estuary

In this activity, students learn about dissolved oxygen (DO) and its effects on life, with a focus on the chemistry. First, they are introduced to, and analyze data gathered from, water quality sensors in Narragansett Bay NERR, observing how DO and chlorophyll-a change from the surface to the bottom and considering the relationships between DO and temperature. Then, in the unique environment of Azevedo Pond in the Elkhorn Slough NERR, CA, they analyze DO data and speculate about how hydrodynamics, abiotic factors, and biological processes cause extreme fluctuations in DO in the pond.

This activity has 2 parts:

1. Dissolved Oxygen in Narragansett Bay
2. What’s Happening in Azevedo Pond?

Activity 3: Human Impact on Estuaries: A Terrible Spill in Grand Bay NERR

In this activity, students make a model of a pollution spill that occurred at Bangs Lake, a tidal lake within the Grand Bay NERR in Mississippi, in April 2005, and measure water quality parameters in their model. Students then study the actual spill, analyzing various forms of data to determine the date of the spill and identify how the spill changed water quality parameters in the estuary during and after the spill. They speculate on how various life forms in the estuary were affected. Finally, students produce a timeline of the spill event with recommendations to the state Department of Environmental Quality about how to prevent large-scale pollution spills like this in the future.

This activity has 3 parts:

1. Modeling a Chemical Spill
2. Learning More about the Spill
3. Analyzing Data Before and After the Spill

• Terrible Spill in Grand Bay [PDF] [Powerpoint]
• Tutorial: Using Google Earth to Explore Estuaries