Human Impact on Aquatic Environments

• This video about our impacts on aquatic environments discusses many topics including coral bleaching, toxic pollution, dead zones, like the gulf coast, and oil spills. 
  
• There is also an interactive quiz and standards for AP Environmental Science courses available.
  

Positives

• The presenter uses images and maps that help support the content.
• Students may be surprised to know that fertilizers and pesticides are a major source of water pollution in aquatic systems.
  

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should be familiar with the terms homeostasis, sustainable, mercury, toxic, and pollution.
  

Differentiation

• Pausing the video, turning on the closed captioning, or providing a list of keywords before the video may help some students with comprehension.
• After the video, students could make posters, presentations, videos, or podcasts about how we are affecting aquatic environments and how we can protect them.
• Biology and science classes could use this video when discussing bioaccumulation, food webs, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, ecosystems, oceans, ecosystem declines, species extinctions, or nonpoint pollution.
• Other resources on this topic include this interactive data resource about fertilizer pollution, this PBS video about coral reefs, and this video about coral reefs in Biscayne National Park.