Estuaries 101 Middle School Curriculum - Estuaries NOAA

Research Question Activities Learning Objectives Estuaries Climate Extension ObjectivePrinciple 6: Human activities can impact estuaries by degrading water quality or altering habitats; therefore, we are responsible for making decisions to protect and maintain thehealth of estuaries.Estuaries 101 Middle School Curriculum Overview 12How have humans hadan impact on estuaries?How can people act asstewards of the nation’sestuaries?Activity 14: Oil Spill - The Restof the StoryStudents will exhibit theirunderstanding of how non-pointsource water pollution enters theestuaries via the watershed bybuilding a watershed model andusing it to explore surface runoff,demonstrate an understanding ofbest management practices andhow these practices influencekeeping water clean by playing agame of water quality limbo, andpredict possible ways to limit orprevent non-point source waterpollution.Activity 15: Score One for theEstuariesStudents will focus on how theyare all responsible for makingdecisions to protect and maintainthe health of estuaries. Studentsare encouraged to asked: “ Whatcan you do to "score one" for theestuaries?”Students will understand that:• A watershed or drainage basin is an area of land thatdelivers water run-off, sediment, and dissolvedsubstances to surface water bodies such as rivers,lakes, or oceans.• Non-point source water pollution moves through awatershed and accumulates in lakes, oceans, andestuaries.• Polluted runoff can be prevented from getting intowaterways.• Water quality standards are levels of requiredcleanness that are set by State and Federal agenciesto ensure people’s health and give guidance tomaintaining the health of waterways.Students will understand that:• Humans can have both negative and positive impactson the health of estuaries.• Stewardship is a way for people, including youngpeople, to care for or maintain something such as theenvironment, an estuary, or wetlands.• Many people working together, even if they areyoung, can have a big impact on the estuaries andthe wetlands.• There are a variety of stewardship activities that theycan do to help lessen the impacts of climate change.Weeks BayNERR, ALWeeks BayNERR, ALPadilla BayNERR, WANarragansett BayNERR, RIApalachicolaNERR, FLSan FranciscoNERR, CAElkhorn SloughNERR, CASapelo IslandNERR, GANo climate extensionStudents will:• Learn how to mitigate theimpacts of climate changethrough several exampleprojects being implemented atthe National EstuarineResearch Reserves.