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Estuary Keeper Activity 3
Objectives:
- The learner will build an understanding of population dynamics.
- The learner will build an understanding of the hydrosphere.
- The learner will evaluate living and nonliving things that affect animal life.
- The learner will build an understanding of materials, process uses with concerns for good stewardship.
(These objectives are based on North Carolina Standard Course of Study)
Vocabulary:
non point source pollution
nursery areas
pollution
runoff habitat
point source pollution
algae bloom
population fry
Materials:
- 4 players
- 10 goldfish passed out to each keeper
- Blue bowls or napkins
- goldfish crackers
- change cards
Estuaries are places where the fresh water from rain, creeks, and rivers meets with the salty water from the ocean.
This place is special for many animals. The shallow estuary water has eel grass beds and saltmarsh that are nursery areas to many young animals like fish, shrimp, and crabs. People catch much seafood in the estuary.
Pollution from people’s activities ends up in the estuary too.
Sometimes pollution in the rivers makes tiny water plants, algae, grow. But the tiny bacateria that eat the algae use up the oxygen in the water. Like us, fish need oxygen to breath. When there is not enough oxygen there is often a “fish kill”. Many fish are found dead in the water. Through weather nature can cause fish schools to grow or die also.
Good things happen, too. People can clean up the waterways, set aside food habitat for wildlife, and make sure only to catch fish when there are plenty to catch.
Change Cards
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Bluefish closes in on school of smaller fish.
Lose 3 fish.
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Mr. Farmer sprayed for insects in his cord crop on the edge of the waterway. When
it rained, the runoff killed 3 fish.
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Legal protection for your fish species. Add 5 fish.
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“Clean Sweep” along the estuary. No fish lost.
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Ms. Farmer fertilized her bean crop.
Extra algae grew in the water. Fish die. Lose 2 fish.
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The nursery has lost 3 fry. (Fish babies)
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3 fish are caught in a gill net set by Ms. Jones.
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Nursery are set aside as nature reserve. Add 4 fish.
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Dolphins feeding in the estuary. Lose 2 fish.
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New marine attracts 30 new boats to stay in the estuary. Lose 1 fish.
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Heavy rain increases habitat. Add 2 fish.
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A fisherman dropped a can of oil in the water and 3 fish died.
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A seagull flies over. It eats 1 fish for dinner.
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Saltmarsh left undisturbed. Each player gets 4 baby fish.
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Good spring weather causes population increase. Add 5 fish.
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2 fish are caught in a plastic bag and die.
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Toss 1 fish back in. It is smaller than the legal limit.
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Polluting factory closes. Water is cleaner. Add 4 fish.
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Something mysterious in the water kills fish. Each player loses 3 fish.
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New fry hatch. Add 6 fish.
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A vacationing family went fishing. Mr. and Mrs. Jones, little Jim and Judy each
caught a fish. How many fish should you lose?
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Area closed to fishing. 3 fry hatched.
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A shark ate 3 fish.
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Someone builds a new dock across the saltmarsh without a permit. 2 fish are killed
when pilings hurt their habitat.
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Big algae bloom. No oxygen left. Lose all of your fish.
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A fish ate a rubber worm piece of trash and dies.
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Good harvest. Each player gets 4 fish.
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Questions:
1. What are some things that effect estuaries in a good way? in a bad way?
2. What kinds of things can we do to help preserve and protect estuaries?
3. Did your population completely die off? Why? Do you think that in real life
this would happen? Why or why not. How long do you think that it would take in an estuary for a population to no longer be there?
This activity is from the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve Education Office, January 2001.
The North Carolina Coastal Reserve Program, within the Division of Coastal Management, was authorized by the NC General Assembly in 1989 to protect
unique coastal sites. The program includes the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve, part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve system, which
the Division manages in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under the Coastal Zone Management Act.
Reserve Education Office
Beaufort, North Carolina
252 728-2170
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