Temperature tells you if a water body or an object is too hot or cold. When you know the water temperature you can guess or prove other conditions of the water. This helps when macroinvertebrates are collected, identified, and the results are analyzed. Water temperature can help explain the results from the monitoring.
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1. In warm water, the metabolism of aquatic organisms increases. Metabolism requires oxygen. If there is not enough oxygen in the water, the species will not survive.
What is Metabolism?
When you eat food, the body changes the food to fuel. This fuel provides energy to help us do all the things we need to do like moving, thinking, and growing. Metabolism is the process of changing this food to energy. |
2. Some aquatic species cannot reproduce in warmer waters. This means there are not as many of the species.
3. If the water temperature increases quickly or suddenly the sudden changes can cause thermal shock in some aquatic species and result in death of the species. Species that cannot survive the heat will disappear from the area.
Drawing by Sarah
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Acids and basics describe chemicals. They are two extremes just like hot and cold are two extremes that describe temperature. When hot and cold water are mixed together the extremes are balanced and the temperature is evened out. Mixing acids and bases can cancel out their extreme effects. If a substance is not acidic or basic, then it is neutral.
- Air pollution increases the amount of sulfur and nitrogen oxides in the air. When it rains the particles become
acid rain. The lakes and streams become more acidic.
| Acid rain is rain, snow, or fog that
is polluted by acid in the atmosphere and damages
the environment. |
. Read The Tale of Lucy Lake
- Runoff from farms, logging, mining, and building sites sends chemicals into the water that change pH levels .
- The pH scale measures acid and bases. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. A pH less than 7 is acidic, and a pH greater than 7 is basic, or alkaline.
- Pure water is neutral, with a pH of 7.0. When chemicals are mixed with water, the mixture can become either acidic or basic. (Read Our Story- The Acid Creek)
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