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Water Quality |
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The water of the Chesapeake Bay is the element
that shapes and determines the lives of many different plants and animals. Humans also
depend on the water for food, recreation, and commerce. Without healthy water, the entire
Chesapeake Bay ecosystem becomes endangered.
The Water Quality station gives you the ability to determine the health of
the ecosystem by performing different tests on the water. You will become
a research scientist and use chemical test kits to check the quality of the water.
This data will tell you about the health of the water, and help you to determine what
kinds of organisms may be living in it.
Some of the things you will be testing for include:
Temperature: the temperature of the water affects many of the chemical
characteristics of the water as well as the species of fish and other marine animals
that can survive in it.
Dissolved Oxygen: fish and other animals depend on the oxygen dissolved
in the water to breathe.
pH: the amount of acid or base in the water.
Salinity: the amount of salt dissolved in the water.
Nitrates: the amount of chemicals in the water from fertilizers, decomposition,
animal wastes, detergents, and organic matter.
All of your data and results will be recorded and stored on the Living Classrooms
Foundation's Water
Quality Website for use by environmental agencies and other students.