Purposes of Activity

• Familiarize students with the problem of nutrient loading and eutrophication.

• Encourage students to consider their own roles in humanecosystem interactions and also consider the ways that they could ameliorate the problem of cultural eutrophication of waters due to phosphorus loading from various anthropogenic sources.

• Expose students to analytical methods (standards, blanks, calibration curves).

• Exercise skills associated with field sampling (maintaining a field notebook, mapping, sample collection), statistics (e.g., replication of measurements, propagation of error, regressions), and reporting scientific data (tables, graphs).

Paytan, A., and K. McLaughlin. 2007. Hands-on oceanography: Phosphorus in our waters. Oceanography 20(2):200–206, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2007.71.

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