Taking a Trip Down to the Bay

How do WE impact the Chesapeake Bay?

Objectives• Students will be able to:– Recognize how humans impact ecosystems through

a local example; The Chesapeake Bay– Determine how humans in the watershed use the

bay– Determine what consequences those uses might

have and who they can affect– Demonstrate their knowledge of human impacts on

Bay ecology through a graphic organizer and writing.

SO… How do we use the Bay?•Fishing•Crabbing•Transportation•Swimming/boating•Tourism

Thinking About EcologyTwo Important Terms to Remember:1. Watershed- The entire area of land that drains into a body of

water2. Ecosystem- A group or community of organisms interacting with

their environment.

Are uses of the Chesapeake Bay limited only to the water?

NO!What are other uses of the Bay’s watershed that might impact its ecosystems? How?

Results of Human Impacts•More development= more impervious surfaces= runoff• Oil• Pollution• Nutrients• Sediment

•Dead Zones• Eutrophication- when there are

so many nutrients in the water that algae covers the surface and all the plants below die• Why would killing plants be a

problem?•Less Fish, Crabs, and oysters

What does this mean to you?

Sandy Point Beach

How About This?

The Chesapeake Bay

And This?

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Six States

16.6 million people

Homework• Using the chart provided on Blackbaord, move the

icons representing uses of the Chesapeake Bay into the proper column. The first column represents positive uses, the second represents negative uses and the third column represents uses you are unsure about or you think could be positive or negative. When your finished write a one or two sentence explanation stating what the icon represents and why you put it in the column that you chose.

Sources• All Pictures retrieved from Google Images• Information retrieved from the Chesapeake Bay Program website found at:

http://www.chesapeakebay.net• Curriculum information and objectives obtained from:

http://www.mdk12.org/instruction/curriculum/science/standard6/grade_6_8_info.html