AP Water Objective Sheet
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Name ____________________________
Date ________________ Period _______
What does “potable” mean? How much water on our planet is potable or suitable for human use?
Where is the balance of the water?
What is a watershed? What watershed do we live in? Where does all the water in our watershed end up?
Given any map, be able to identify upstream, downstream, river sources, river mouth and tributaries.
Contrast fresh, salt and brackish water including their locations.
Describe the emergent properties of water which result from its polarity (surface tension, capillarity, high
heat capacity, solvent, expansion during freezing).
Understand the water cycle – be able to identify and describe the following: transpiration, groundwater
surface water, runoff, infiltration and condensation, recharge zone, confined aquifer, unconfined aquifer,
water table.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Where does Houston get its water? Why doesn’t Houston use its aquifer anymore?
Describe the steps of water treatment.
How are subsidence, overdraft, and salt water intrusion related to each other?
Describe the issue of holding back Texas’ Colorado River in the Hill Country. Why has this decision been
made? Who are the stake holders upstream and downstream and what are their concerns? How does
the decision change the abiotic factors in Matagorda Bay and how is this expected to affect the biotic
community?
10. What is meant by an “environmental flow” for a river?
11. Define “pathogen” and give examples of waterborne diseases.
12. What is desalination and what are the methods of desalination? Why isn’t this strategy used more often?
Identify several communities which are using this strategy.
13. List the five ways to increase the water supply. Contrast advantages and disadvantages of each strategy.
14. Summarize a key lesson learned from the following case studies: The Colorado River (the one that ends in
Baja Cali, not OUR Colorado  ) Egypt’s Aswan High Dam; the California Water Project; The Aral Sea
disaster; the Three Gorges Dam.
15. Identify the largest users of water in developed nations. In our homes, identify the biggest use of water.
16. Describe methods of water conservation in homes, cities, buildings and agriculture.
17. Describe primary, secondary and tertiary sewage treatment.
18. What happens to sewage in Houston? What new technologies are being introduced to sewage
treatment?
19. Explain why and how the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico forms each summer. What are the
consequences of these zones?
20. Describe the sources, process and effects of eutrophication.
21. What is Dissolved Oxygen? Why is it so important to aquatic systems?
22. How does DO get into water? What pollutants decrease DO?
23. What is the difference between storm drains in the street and the drains that carry water from your sink?
24. What is the difference between point and non-point source pollutants? Give examples of each.
25. What is the difference between DO and BOD? Draw an oxygen sag curve to illustrate what happens to
dissolved oxygen levels in streams below points where degradable oxygen-demanding wastes are added.
26. What are the three parts of the legal definition of a wetland?
27.
28.
29.
30.
List several types and names of wetlands.
How is a wetland the same and different from an estuary?
Describe the ecosystem services provided by a wetland. Describe the ecological significance of wetlands.
What is the main threat to our wetlands and how much has been lost in the US since the 1700’s?
31. What are the major categories of water pollution, where do they come from and what effects do they
have? What test is used to measure each pollutant and what are ideal or normal levels for these tests?
Mon March 23
Skill: reading a
watershed map
HW – Read p295297 – emergent
properties of
water, water
cycle; answer
objectives #4 and
5
Mon Mar 30
Eng I STAAR
Lunch 12:30-1:00
1st pd 1:05 – 2:10
3rd pd 2:15-3:15
Mon April 6
Notes: BOD and
DO
Lab organization
HW – Study for
quiz on water
pollutants;
Mon April 13
Notes: Estuaries
and Wetlands
Tuesday Mar 24
Wed March 25/Thursday March 26
Friday March 27
Notes:
Houston’s water
supply and our
Colorado River
Quiz – Obj #1-10
Notes: 5 ways to increase water
availability
Notes: Water
Conservation
HW – Global Water Case Studies
HW – Finish
reading Colorado
River articles,
complete
thinking map
Tues Mar 31
(Normal bells)
Quiz – Case
studies
Notes: Sewage
treatment
HW – Read
“Dead in the
water” draw a
cartoon of the
process of
eutrophication
Tuesday April 7
Quiz – Water
pollutants
Learn water
quality test
procedures
Wed April 1
(no joke)
Eng II STAAR
Lunch 12:30-1:00
5th pd- 1:05 -2:10
7th pd 2:15-3:15
Notes:
Eutrophication
and DO
Th April 2
2nd – 9:3-11:10
Lunch
4th 12:10-1:40
6th 1:45 – 3:15
Friday April 3
NO SCHOOL –
Good Friday
Notes:
Eutrophication
and DO
HW – Zaption!
Due by April 5
End of 5th 6 weeks
Wed April 8 and Thursday April 9
Fri April 10
FIELD WORK!!!! (during your class
period)
Lab: Water quality comparison at
three sites
Data Analysis
Come dressed for the weather!
Tuesday April 14
Wed April 15/Thursday April 16
LAB DUE –
MAJOR GRADE!!
TEST – WATER!
Wed – All juniors take SAT in the am.
HW – complete
lab report
HW – Global
Water case
studies
HW – Work on
lab report