The Potomac Highlands Watershed School
Stream Cleaner Environmental Forum
Stream Cleaner Environmental Forum Student Pre-Survey
School (choose one): Choose One Broadway HS Buffalo Gap HS Calvert HS East Hardy HS Frank W. Cox HS Friends School Gonzaga College HS Hampshire High School Harrisonburg HS Horizons 4H Club James Wood HS - Fordyce James Wood HS - McDonald James Wood HS - Takarsh Jefferson HS-Gipson Jefferson HS-Greene Jefferson HS-Picard Keyser HS Luray HS - Judd Massanutten Regional Governors HS Moorefield HS Mount de Sales Academy Musselman HS North Harford HS Page County HS Paw Paw School Petersburg HS Rappahannock HS Riverheads HS Southern Columbia HS Spotswood HS Turner-Ashby HS Observer
Class code (your teacher makes this code up):
In this section of the survey please select the answer that best reflects your attitudes.
1. In regard to the Chesapeake Bay's problems, I think we:
a. have a very good understanding of the water quality science and now we just need to focus on cleaning up the Bay.
b. we need to learn more about the water quality science, but we know enough to start cleaning up the Bay.
c. don’t know nearly enough about the water quality science so we should wait before starting any costly cleanup projects.
2. In my opinion, private citizens ________________ play an important role in shaping government policy. (fill in the blank)
a. must
b. should
c. can
d. don't
3. I see the conservation field as a potential source of future employment.
a. very much so
b. a little
c. not at all
d. never considered it before/don’t know
4. Watershed conservation issues affect me personally.
5. I can do things in my life that will help clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
b. maybe
c. not really
6. I consider myself well informed on conservation issues.
In this section of the survey please select the best answer.
Please choose only one unless otherwise indicated.
7. A watershed is:
a. a stream, river, or lake and its banks.
b. the area of land that drains to a stream or river.
c. the entire length of a stream or river.
8. How big is the Chesapeake Bay watershed:
a. 64,000 square miles
b. 500 squares miles
c. 20,000 acres
d. I have no idea
9. There are two main categories of pollution that concern the Chesapeake Bay, non point source and point source pollution? Do you know which category each of the following belong in?
a. Manure in a field that washes into a stream.
1. Point or 2. Non Point
b. The outflow water that flows into a stream from a sewage treatment plant.
c. Oil that drips onto the road from your car and then washes into a stream.
d. The fertilizer you use on your lawn that wash into a stream?
10. Nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, occur naturally in soil, water and the atmosphere, and are required for the growth of plants.
True
False
11. The Chesapeake Bay Program has decided that controlling two kinds of pollution are most important in their effort to clean up the Bay. They are:
a. Oil and pesticides
b. Nutrients and sediment
c. Litter and dumping (especially plastics and appliances)
12. How does the Chesapeake Bay Program use water quality models (pick all that apply)?
a. They display them in their buildings to see where the rivers and mountains are.
b. They use them to better understand large scale processes that are difficult to measure directly.
c. They use them to manage a wide range of data inputs and make predictions about the future.
d. The use them to see the terrain from north, south, east, or west.
13. Fertilizers are always a major source of pollution, even when used carefully.
False.
There are two main ways to measure pollution in a body of water - concentration and load. The next two questions ask about these terms.
14. In water quality science, “concentration” refers to:
Scientists studying a subject closely.
How thick the water is.
The amount of a chemical in a volume of water.
The bonding ability of water molecules.
15. Load is the total amount of a substance that passes by some point in a certain amount of time, as in pounds per hours or million tons per year.
16. In the Chesapeake Bay Program, “Best Management Practices” are
a. methods used to prevent or reduce the pollution resulting from some activity.
b. methods used to make the best profit at the least expense.
c. the practice of managing your work force the best.
17. The word “riparian” refers to:
a. The rippling caused by water flowing over stones on a stream bottom.
b. The corridor of land along a river.
c. A technique used to stabilize stream banks.
d. The fork of two larger rivers or a pair of rivers.
18. Soil and rock can be washed from the land into streams and then be carried downstream for hundreds of miles.
19. Man made impervious surfaces create major pollution control problems in developed areas. Impervious surfaces are:
a. Surfaces that cannot be destroyed with heavy equipment - you need explosives.
b. Surfaces that water cannot penetrate.
c. Surfaces that are impregnated with non point source pollution.
20. What is a stakeholder?
a. A technical term scientists use to describe a spot where samples are taken to measure point source pollution.
b. A place marker scientists use to geographically locate non point source pollution for follow up study.
c. A person or a group with a legitimate interest in an issue.
21. Sediment is considered pollution because (choose all that apply):
a. It fills in habitat in streams where animals live.
b. It’s dirt, and dirt is pollution because it makes things dirty.
c. Accumulations of sediment can clog waterways, making streams more prone to flooding and requiring dredging.
d. Suspended sediment clouds the water, preventing light from penetrating to the leaves and stems of underwater grasses.
One watershed can be nested within another watershed’s boundaries: for example, the Ohio River’s watershed is located within the Mississippi River watershed. Your school is located in several watersheds. What is the SMALLEST watershed that your school is in?
You have completed the SCE Forum Survey. At the conclusion of the event you will have a chance to take the survey again. Thank you for participating.
