administration student task rubric student work technical quality
 
Fishkill
Task with Student Directions
Contributed by: New York State Alternative Assessment in Science Project (NYSED)

Task: At this station, you will analyze data to determine the effect of thermal pollution on a certain species of fish.

Background

Water temperature is a limiting factor in an aquatic habitat, affecting activities such as respiration and reproduction.

Directions

Examine the data in the table below. It shows the concentration of dissolved oxygen available in water at different temperatures. The oxygen available to fish is in units marked ppm or "parts per million." A higher ppm reading indicates a greater concentration of oxygen.



Water Temperature
(Degrees Celsius)
Concentration of Dissolved Oxygen
(ppm)
30 7.8
20 9.0
10 10.5
0 14.1


  1. Construct a line graph of the data presented above.




  1. A certain species of fish normally live in a pond that never exceeds the temperature of 10 degrees Celsius. this species of fish requires a dissolved oxygen level 9.5 ppm. Industrial development has the potential of increasing the pond's temperature by releasing hot water produced during necessary process. Answer the questions below based on your knowledge of biology and using your graph.


    1. According to your graph, at what temperature would the dissolved oxygen level in the pond drop below the required level?
    2. __________________________________________________________________________________

    3. What impact would the change in temperature have on the fish. Explain your reasoning in complete sentences.

    __________________________________________________________________________________

    __________________________________________________________________________________

    __________________________________________________________________________________

    __________________________________________________________________________________

  2. Using complete sentences, suggest two (2) ways of preventing the thermal pollution and still have the industrial development occur.

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

 


©1997-2005 SRI International. All rights reserved. Terms of Use