Name _________KEY___________________________ Date _______ Score ___________
Worksheet for the DEAD ZONE Module
Go to http://www.coseecoastaltrends.net/
Select EDUCATION MODULE
From MODULES select Dead Zones
From Dead Zone select Get Started
Watch Video (you may want to watch the video more than once or stop and repeat segments)
1.) ___C___ Organisms escape dead zones in order to find water with a higher concentration of
A. Nitrogen
B. Sodium
C. Oxygen
D. Light
2.) ___D___ Examples of nutrient pollution include each of the following except:
A. Fertilizers B. Sewage C. Combustion of fossil fuels D. Ozone
3.) __B____ Which of the following organisms is able to escape dead zones?
A. Clams B. School of fish
C. Plants D. Worms
4.) ___C____Chemical fertilizers were introduced in _____________
A. 1930’s
B. 1940’s
C. 1950’s
D. 1960’s
5.) Scientists use _COMPUTER MODELS___
Zones change over time?”
to answer questions like, “How will Dead
6.) How many reported hypoxic sites were there between 1981-1990 (Figure 1-1)? __100__
7.) Discuss one interesting fact you learned through the video. Use several sentences.
__________ANSWERS VARY______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
From Dead Zone select Learn about
1.) __A____ Hypoxia is
A. The lack of oxygen
B. A chemical pollutant
C. Species of bacteria D. A type of fish
2.) __C_____Which of the following is a main producer in open water habitats?
A. Grass
B. Plankton C. Phytoplankton D. Herbivores
3.) __1, 3, 3__How many milligrams of Oxygen per liter is needed for worms, Bay anchovy,
and blue crabs to survive?
True or False
4.)___F____ ALL “dead zones” are caused by humans.
5.)___T____ The season changes affects the “Dead Zones”
6.)___T____ River Flow affects the “Dead Zones”
7.)___T____ Dead Zones can be caused by an increase in fertilizing minerals
8.)___F____ In Dead Zones, no life is possible.
9.) Dead Zones have rapidly increased in size and number since 1959 due to what?
_____________INTRODUCTION OF CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS _______________________
10.) List and give a brief description of the 4 types of dead zones
PERMANENT__found in very deep water where oxygen seldom rises above 2 mg/L
TEMPORARY_exists for hours or days____________________________________________
SEASONAL occurs every year but only during the warm months ______
DIEL CYCLE_occurs only during warm months but only at night______________________
From Dead Zone select Explore trends
1.) What is a watershed? (you may need another resource to define this concept)
_____________the entire geographical area drained by a river and its tributaries_____
________________________________________________________________________________
2.) Hypoxia has occurred naturally in most of these systems, but overtime what has increased in
many marine waters?
___NUTRIENTS AND TEMPERATURE_____________________
3.) Observe the 3 graphs under Seasonal Trends. What is the graphical relationship between
oxygen and photosynthesis?
__IN THE SUMMER _LESS OXYGEN IN THE WATER WHEN
PHOTOSYNTHESIS IS HIGH ______
This seems odd since photosynthesis makes oxygen. Provide 2 reasons that might explain why
the oxygen levels are low in the summer.
____LESS OXYGEN CAN BE DISSOLVED IN WARM WATER____
and ______AEROBIC RESPIRATION IN BACTERIA IS HIGH _______________
4.) How many more hypoxic zones were present in the 2000-2006 compared to 1951-1960. _175_
5.) Look at the images and their corresponding graphs. Which source of excess nutrients has
actually decreased over time?
_____POWER PLANTS __________ What are the other 3 sources of
nutrient inputs?
___AGRICULTURE, URBANIZATION, SEWAGE __________
6.) ___C____ Which type of dead zone occurs every year, but only during the warm months?
A. permanent
B. temporary
C. seasonal
D. Diel Cycling
From Dead Zone select Investigate Current Research
1.) What are the 2 main questions researchers are asking about the Dead Zones?
___________________(1) How do natural and human factors contribute to dead zones?
(2) How are ecosystem processes and animal population dynamics altered by dead zones?
2.) Professionals in which disciplines are researching the Dead Zones?
__biologists, chemists, and physicists
eg.
physical oceanographers _Biogeochemists_____
3.) The types of research programs scientists use to study dead zones can be categorized into
what four major areas?
____monitoring, field experiments, lab experiments, and modeling. ____________________
____________________________________________________________________________
4) Years with the (highest or lowest) river flow shows the most extensive Dead Zones
(Circle one)
5. Other than increased nutrient loads, what are scientists investigating as impacting the size
and duration of Dead Zones?
_____CLIMATE CHANGE___________________________
6.) Explain why you think there are more dead zones around America and Europe than around
Africa.
______________ANSWERS WILL VARY__but reference should be made to the greater
population density and industrialization in Europe and America_________
________________________________________________________________________________