History of the Gulf of Mexico "Dead" Zone
Martin Farley, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Student analysis of the last 1000 years of the Gulf of Mexico hypoxia zone (informally "dead" zone) by using relative abundance of low-oxygen tolerant benthic foraminifera. In this example of ...

Unit 6.2 - Biogeochemical Examples
Adam Hoffman, University of Dubuque
In this week-long unit students will explore Critical Zone function and dynamics as they relate to nutrient cycling in agricultural systems and nutrient pollution into aquatic systems. This unit is generally ...

Module 4: Food and Water
Gigi Richard, Fort Lewis College
In this module, students will be introduced to the connections between water and agriculture. The first part of the module (4.1) explores how water is essential for growing food and how water is embedded in all of ...

Anoxic Events - Instructor's Guide | Data Explorations
This exercise is a case study that, if used in full, takes students through the entire learning cycle from invitation to reflection as applied to a dead zone on the Oregon continental shelf. Pieces of the exercise ...

Nutrient Loading Module
This module was initially developed by Castendyk, D.N., T. Meixner, and C.A. Gibson. 6 June 2015. Project EDDIE: Nutrient Loading. Project EDDIE Module 7, Version 1. Module development was supported by NSF DEB 1245707.
Estimating nutrient loads is a critical concept for students studying water quality in a variety of environmental settings. Many STEM/Environmental science students will be asked to assess the impacts of a proposed anthropogenic activities on human water resources and/or ecosystems as part of their future careers. This module engages students in exploring factors contributing to the actual loads of nitrogen that are transmitted down streams. Nitrogen is a key water quality contaminant contributing to surface water quality issues in fresh, salt, and estuarine environments. Students will utilize real-time nitrate data from the US Geological Survey to calculate nitrate loads for several locations and investigate the interplay of concentration and discharge that contributes to calculated loads.

Nutrient Monitoring in the Chesapeake Bay
Akinyele Oni, Morgan State University; Niangoran Koissi, Morgan State University
The Chesapeake Bay waters receive input from rivers and streams from areas of Washington D.C, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, and some parts of New York and Pennsylvania. Historically, humongous ...

Lake Metabolism Module
Cayelan Carey, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ
Different lakes exhibit a range of catchment sizes, morphometry, and land use that contribute to differences in lake function. These functional differences mean that lakes vary in ecosystem services such as habitat ...

Hypoxia in Coastal Marine Ecosystems
Annette Brickley; Kathy Browne, Rider University; Gabriela Smalley, Rider University
Aquatic ecosystems are home to a complex intersection of physical and biological factors and an intersection of natural and anthropogenic factors. In the Chesapeake Bay, low oxygen events have occurred periodically ...

Nitrates and Phosphates and Algae, Oh My!
The lab activity described here was created by Erin Bardar and Sarah L. Hill of TERC for the EarthLabs project. Summary and Learning Objectives Human-induced nutrient loading of the world's oceans has been ...

Activity Option 6.1 - Phosphorus Mining and Impacts
Joy Branlund, Northeastern Junior College
Mined phosphorus is considered essential for agriculture, especially with the need to feed the ever growing population. However, there are consequences of phosphate mining and use, including pollution at mine sites ...