Estuary Adventures

Objective

Students will work in groups to understand the concept of estuaries, their importance, and the role that density plays in the mixing of fresh and salt water.  Students will design their own investigations.

National Science Education Standards Correlations

• Content Standard A:  Science as Inquiry

 Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry (5-8, 9-12) Understandings about scientific inquiry (5-8, 9-12)

• Content Standard B:  Physical Science

 Properties and changes of properties in matter (5-8) Transfer of Energy (5-8)

• Content Standard C:  Life Science

 Interdependence of Organisms (9-12)

• Content Standard E:  Science and Technology

 Understanding about science and technology (9-12)

• Content Standard F:  Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

 Natural Resources (9-12)

Warm-Up

1. You will need a large, clear container filled with water, a can of Diet Coke (or some other diet soft drink) and a can of Coke (or other kind of non-diet soft drink).  Ask students which can of soda they think will float and why. Immerse both cans in the water and ask students to explain what happens. (The can of Coke should sink due to its higher density from the sugar it contains.)

Background

Student Activity

Additional Resources

National Estuarine Research Reserves System

http://nerrs.noaa.gov

The Hudson River Estuary: The Basics

http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/marinebio/fc.1.estuaries.html

Long Island Sound in a Jar, a publication of the Connecticut Sea Grant College Program.

Stacking Water, from the Sea Education Association's website at

http://www.sea.edu/k12lessonplans/k12StackingWater.htm

Office of Naval Research Website

http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/ocean/water/density1.html

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Estuary Program

http://www.epa.gov/nep/

Estuary-Net Project

http://inlet.geol.sc.edu/estnet.html