Nitrogen Case Study EARTH activities

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Nitrogen Case StudyEARTH activities

• Fall 2005

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Summary from website

• This activity uses realtime data from the MBARI
  LOBO ocean observatory project to introduce
  students to marine chemistry, environmental
  science and oceanography. Using this
  multidisciplinary approach, students will
  investigate their own questions about how
  agriculture and coastal processes affect
  estuarine waterways.

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AGAIN FROM WEBSITE

• Elkhorn Slough Nitrogen Case Study
• Estuaries are home to an wide variety of
  organisms and represent delicate ecosystems. The
  Elkhorn Slough is the site of numerous human
  activities, including agriculture, recreation,
  transportation, fishing and energy production.
  With so many user groups struggling to coexist in
  the slough with as little disruption of the
  natural environment as possible, several
  essential questions arise. Do these activities
  add additional nutrients to the slough? Are they
  changing the delicate balance of life in the
  slough? Is nutrient loading a problem in this
  watershed? Where do the nutrients that arrive in
  this watershed originate from? What can be done
  to alleviate problems that may occur? This online
  case study will help students examine these
  questions.

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Great idea to have next page on rest of pages
MAKE THIS BIGGER SO IT IS EASIER TO FIND WHERE TO
BEGIN
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ADDED an activity about graphing tides
Print out one copy of the tide graph. What type
of tide would you classify this? How can you back
this up from the graph?
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Go toData Visualization for the LOBO
MooringsClick on L03 ISUS Data Visualization.
You will see the following screen (go to next
slide)
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Print out a copy of your graph and then answer
the following questions What variable is on each
axis? What is the title of the graph? What are
the units? Which line represents nitrogen
levels? Which line represents salinity
levels? Explain the relationship between the
two. With your group, develop a hypothesis to
explain this relationship.
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GO back to L03 ISUS Data Visualization. Change
Data Span to 4.0 Print out your graph and answer
the following questions Is the relationship
between nitrogen levels and salinity consistent
over a longer period of time? Does this graph
support or refute your earlier hypothesis? Keeping
in mind the location of the LO3 mooring, what
factor(s) might be contributing to the observed
cycling patterns?
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• For 5 points towards the 15-pointer..
• Go back to
• Data Visualization for the LOBO Moorings
• And click on one of the other mooring locations.
  Run a graph covering the same time period as what
  you did above (2 days is fine). Print the graph
  out and hypothesize why the results look similar
  or different.

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Pages from EARTH
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Strengths and Weaknesses

• Intro is catchy
• Lots of background info
• Good connection for any watershed
• Great activity, really challenges students and
  teacher
• Lots of background info
• Technical data generates questions that are not
  easy to answer (http//www.mbari.org/education/ear
  th/Upwelling/elkhorn_3.htm)
• ?Data not always available (seemed hit and miss)
• ? different land uses not easily apparent

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Suggestions

• Time constraints is a problem, perhaps have a
  couple of mini-canned lessons to get a teacher
  started
• Could split it up to run first part on tides and
  the rest later
• Great conclusive activity, try to add bio
  component if becomes available (does biotic
  component change with changes in water chemistry?
• Links to any editorials that have run in the
  local papers that show the complexity of land use
  would be useful. Do any interest groups ever
  sound off?
• Simple map of the area that shows the main
  streets and other rivers/streams in the area.
• Background information on the formation of the
  slough and the freshwater situation around the
  slough (where does the freshwater come from)?
• Assessment?