Test on Aquatic Environments in mid-November.
Aquatic (water) environments are defined by the water itself. Two factors are salinity (salt content) and depth.
Water is either Saltwater or Fresh water.
Fresh water is either Standing (but not really still) or Flowing.
Standing Freshwater environments are Lakes, Ponds, and Vernal Pools.
Flowing Freshwater environments are Rivers, Streams, Brooks, and Creeks.
Lakes have three zones: Shallow water zone, Open Water zone, and the Deep Water zone.
Lakes can by made several ways: by volcanoes, by glaciers, by faults in earth's crust, by dissolving rocks, by dams.
(Students should know facts about each zone) (Think of the "Therefore" statements used in class)
Shallow water zone gets sunlight and therefore plants can grow.
Deep water zone get little or no sunlight and therefore is cold and dark.
Sunlight and Plankton are important parts of any water food chain/food web.
Ponds are different from Lakes. Sunlight penetrates to all of the bottom of a pond.
Vernal pools are temporary, natural ponds. (Know details/info from the notes)
Rivers are Flowing water environments. Rivers begin at higher elevations and flow to lower elevations with the force of gravity.
Rivers often flow into the ocean.
Organisms at different parts of a river have different adaptations. (Remember the adaptations from your notes)
In the higher elevations (faster flowing) river organisms may have suckers or strong muscles to handle the flow of water.
In the slower parts of river, organisms may have adaptations similar to lake organisms.
Estuary - where salt water and fresh water meet and mix. A wide variety of organisms will live and visit an estuary.
Water on Earth is 97% salt water and 3 % fresh water. 2% of fresh water is in glaciers, ice caps, or other spots unusable to humans. 1% of water on Earth is useable fresh water.
Ocean Environments
Oceans are divided into three zones: Deep water zone, Open water zone, and the Seashore.
Remember some details/facts for each zone.
Seashores can be Rocky, Muddy, or Sandy. (make connections to the beach areas around Scituate) (remember the notes for each seashore)
Seashores can be made several ways: by glaciers, by waves, by currents, by rivers, by weather, by human impact.
Water Cycle:
Know definitions for Evaporation, Precipitation, and Condensation.
Evaporation is the process in which liquid water is heated by the sun's energy and becomes water vapor, a gas, and moves into the atmosphere.
Condensation is the process in which water vapor, a gas, is cooled in the atmosphere and becomes liquid water.
Have an idea about the other parts of the water cycle:
Transpiration (plants giving off excess water),
Collection areas (lakes, oceans, etc.),
Runoff (from mountains),
Groundwater (water seeping into ground which may or may not be easily available).
Some possible Open Response Questions are:
Describe how a lake is different from a pond.
Describe how a lake is different from the ocean.
Explain why we should take care of the ocean environment.
Explain how the desert and the sandy seashore are similar.
Explain why vernal pools can be found in both warm and cold climates.
Describe the changes you would encounter as you went deeper into the ocean.
Remember that our earlier vocabulary words are still important and still connect to water environments. Oceans and lakes still have carnivores, and consumers. The climate of an area may produce rainfall resulting in ponds or vernal pools.