Pre-Visit Activities : Pollution : Assessment Sixth - Eighth Grade Online Curriculum : Watersheds

Assessment

1. Have each student write a Best Management Practices (BMP’s) plan for the community they created in the activity. If they made revisions to their models for a second test, then have them report on those changes and the results as well. The BMP’s should include the types of management practices they have chosen, what type of pollution these practices target, whether the pollution is point source or non-point source, and how the management practices will lessen the amount or impact of the pollution.

Scoring Rubric (Out of 5 Points)
In their Best Management Practice:

• Complete a Best Management Practice: 1 point
• Describe at least one management practice they have chosen: 1 point
• Describe the target pollution for the management practice: 1 point
• Identify the pollution as point source or non-point source: 1 point
• Explain how the management practice will lessen the impact of the pollution: 1 point
• Total: 5 points
  

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Cross-Curricular Extensions
Social Studies Extension
Have students research a pollution event that occurred in South Carolina. For example, occasionally aquatic birds have washed up on the Atlantic coast covered in oil. Students can research where and when spills have occurred and what measures were taken to clean up the spill and prevent future spills.

Social Studies Extension
During a visit to the South Carolina Aquarium, have students try to find exhibits that depict different human uses of aquatic habitats. The students can record their findings in a journal as they walk around the Aquarium. Examples of Aquarium exhibits that depict human uses of aquatic habitats include Fly Fishing (recreation), Piedmont Reservoir (hydroelectric plants), Freshwater Marsh (rice fields) and Blackfish Banks (artificial reefs). 

Social Studies Extension
Students can participate in a town council meeting simulation about a proposal to build a stock car racetrack a few miles upstream from a National Park. National Parks are often home to threatened or endangered species and a source of pollution a few miles away could threaten the health of the ecosystem in the National Park. Students can fill the roles of the developers, town council members, racecar team owners and drivers, racecar event fans, environmentalists, and local citizens. The students should write a few sentences that they will read during the meeting. The students that are the council members must come up with a decision that best reflects the needs and desires of the community.

Physical Education Extension
Written by South Carolina Aquarium master teacher Missy Vogt physical education teacher at Bluffton Elementary School.