Water Pollution Graphing Activity

Names ______

Purpose: To describe and identify the link between land use activities within a watershed and water quality.

Background: A watershed is an area of land from which all the water drains to the same location. A watershed can be very large like the Colorado River Basin or very small. Watersheds can transport nonpoint source pollution. Examples of NPS pollutants include fertilizers, pesticides, sediment, gas and oil. Pollutants accumulate in watersheds as a result of various human driven and natural events. These pollutants sometimes drastically alter the state of the ecosystem. If we can determine the type of pollutant and its cause, then we can classify the source of the pollutant and take preventative measures to reduce any further contaminants.

Below are some examples of land use and their potential problems:

Land Use / Activities / Pollution Problems
Agriculture / Tillage, cultivation, pest control, fertilization and animal waste / Sediment, nitrates, ammonia, phosphates, pesticides, bacteria
Construction / Land clearing and grading / Sediment
Forestry / Timber harvesting, road construction, fire control, weed control / Sediment, pesticides
Land Disposal / Septic systems / Bacteria, nitrates, phosphates
Surface mining / Dirt, gravel, mineral excavation / Sediment, heavy metals, acid drainage, nutrient depletion
Urban Storm Runoff / Automobile maintenance, lawn and garden care, painting / Oil, gas, antifreeze, nutrients, pesticides, paints

Materials: Skittles, graph paper, colored pencils

You will use different color Skittles to represent a specific water pollutant. Each Skittle represents 10ppm of that particular pollutant.

Procedure: As you complete each step, place a X next to it in the box

1.  You will receive a bag a Skittles. Each bag represents a water sample from a watershed.

2.  Separate the water sample into pollutants on a sheet of paper using the information from the list in the table below

3.  Create a bar graph on the graph paper provided representing the amount of each pollutant in your watershed (Remember: each Skittle =10ppm of that pollutant)

4.  Answer Questions

5.  Clean up desks, check floors for dropped Skittles and throw them away

Questions:

Water Sample # ______

1.  Define the word pollutant

2.  Based on your graph, what land use is occurring in your watershed? (Choose one from the table on the front)

3.  What clues from your water sample did you use to answer #2?

4.  Are your pollutants Point source or non-point source pollutants? How do you know?

5.  List the specific pollutants you had in your water sample. How many ppm did they each make up?

6.  Talk to other groups around you; were there water samples the same? Is this realistic of real land use? Why or why not?

7.  Come up with at least 3 specific ways to reduce pollution into your watershed.


Title ______