Eutrophication

Iowa has a lot of nonpoint source pollution that contributes to killing mass amounts of marine life in many different bodies of water. An excessive amount of nutrients, or eutrophication, is causing water quality issues in Iowa and downriver from Iowa.

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Council Bluffs

Iowa Core Standard

MS-ESS3-3

Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment

Driving Question

How do nutrients in Iowa influence local and national water quality?

Probing Questions

How does a watershed play a role in water pollution?
Are nutrients in an ecosystem bad?
What solutions do you think will be the most effective at lowering our nutrient levels, while still maintaining food production demand?

Classroom Suggestions

Students could:

Research how nutrients enter the ecosystem.
Compare and contrast strategies for lowering nutrient levels. These strategies could include wetlands, buffer strips, bioreactors, redesigned watersheds, or sediment ponds.

Resources

PBS LearningMedia | Solving Community Problems with Engineering: How Nutrients Move Through Watersheds: Students learn how nitrogen and phosphorus move through a watershed, impacting communities along the way, and how nutrient pollution in one part of the country can lead to a large dead zone in a body of water in another part of the country, in this interactive lesson
PBS LearningMedia | Explore More: Water Quality: Explore this Iowa-focused collection of water quality resources including videos and lesson plans.
Des Moines Register | Why water quality matters in Iowa: A news report on issues with Iowa's high nitrate problems.
USGS | Nutrients and Eutrophication: This gives a brief overview of each aspect of eutrophication.

Contributors

Submitted by Nathan Van Zante.

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