NOAA Data in the Clasroom: Monitoring Estuarine Water Quality

Data in the Classroom, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

This self-paced online resource from NOAA explores the relationship between water quality and estuarine ecology through a series of 5 levels that range from one to two 45 minute class periods.

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Notes from our reviewers

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This resource is self-paced, however instructors can encourage students to extend the activities in lesson 2 by assigning them to explore an estuary of their choice (note, no rubric is supplied for this additional activity). In lesson 5 where students will evaluate their own hypothesis, educators should remind students that it is okay to find data that contradicts their hypothesis and that this is part of the scientific process. If students find this to be the case, they should be encouraged to refine their hypothesis or create new evidence-based claims that explain the difference between the expected and actual result. Consider encouraging students to think about how global changes (ocean acidification, sea-level rise, increasing water temperatures) may effect estuarine water quality parameters. Depending on classroom location, students may not be at all familiar with estuaries. In inland ecosystems consider starting with a discussion about wetlands and other environments students are familiar with and then moving to the unique aspects of estuaries. It may be good to reminde the students that the majority of the population lives near coastal areas. When students are exploring or downloading different station data, educators may point out that the "active dates" of the stations may not be accurate. Educators may want to test out the station data prior to the class period and have the students focus in on one area. Or allow the students to pick their own station knowing the active dates may not be what is listed. Educators may wish to go back to the real-time data throughout the year to look at the effects of seasonal changes (e.g. weather, temperature, etc.) and build a larger project off of that.
This resource focuses on data-driven investigations of different factors that are used to determine water quality. The five lessons enable students to use online databases to answer questions and design their own inquiries. While some content could be more engaging, the science is very well presented. Students will learn and use vocabulary like temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen to understand what parameters contribute to a healthy estuarine ecosystem in a case study about spawning behavior of Atlantic Sturgeon. This resource teaches graph interpretation and supports students in developing their own investigative questions. This module can support a discussion about climate change impacts to estuarine systems, although the focus of this resource is primarily on water quality and ecology. While climate is mentioned a few times in the lessons, it is not the focus of these lessons. Teachers may want to spend time working through climate connections. Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.
This resource is divided across 5 lessons. Each module includes a mix of videos and text, embedded quiz questions, worksheets and graphing simulations that build on the previous lesson's concepts. The entire curricula is well organized and does not require any prerequisites. A teacher and student guide are provided with an associated answer key. This resource is online ready and can be completed with share-screen and breakout room features to facilitate small group discussion. The variety of online activities may appeal to learners that prefer self-paced learning, however the graphing activity in the module can be overwhelming to students that are new to online formats and self-inquiry. This can be addressed by encouraging students to work in groups, or alternatively by working through the final activity as a class. This lesson set is a well-designed online resource. It is data-focused, so teachers may want to bring in more background information, stories, or experts to show the meaning and importance of the data. Some of the graphs can take awhile to load, so depending on internet speed, teachers may want to use the student handouts or pre-load data for the class.