Archive for the ‘6-8’ Category
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Once built, the Central Valley Project and the California State Water Project had unforeseen effects on the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, particularly on its historic salmon runs. The Delta is the hub of the state’s massive water distribution system, with much of the estuary’s water supply pumped to other locations. View this segment to learn how
- engineering has forever changed the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta ecosystem.
- dams and other components of the water projects interrupt the life cycles of salmon and other fish.
- managing the effects of California’s water projects on ecosystems has cost billions of dollars.
Download the Viewing Guide for pre- and post-viewing discussion questions, activities, and additional resources to use with students.
Tags: Delta, Planning projects, Water projects
Posted in 4-5, 6-8, 9-12 | Comments Off on Delta Dilemmas
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Most of the tidelands in San Francisco Bay have been diked or filled. In the South Bay, tidal salt marshes were turned into salt ponds. View this segment to learn
- how different the Bay shoreline used to be.
- how tidal marshes were exchanged for grasslands and salt ponds.
- about solar salt production in the South Bay.
Download the Viewing Guide for pre- and post-viewing discussion questions, activities, and additional resources to use with students.
Tags: Growth of cities, Wetlands
Posted in 6-8, 9-12 | Comments Off on Vanishing Tidelands
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Water quality in San Francisco Bay is affected by urbanization and industrialization of the Bay Area. View these segments to learn
- about the mercury and other toxins that still threaten the water quality of San Francisco Bay.
- about the five main threats to water quality in the Bay.
- how the future of San Francisco Bay is undetermined due to climate change, sea level rise, oil spills and other events.
Download the Viewing Guide for pre- and post-viewing discussion questions, activities, and additional resources to use with students.
Tags: Climate, Pollution, Sea level change
Posted in 6-8, 9-12 | Comments Off on Threats to the Bay
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Most of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta has been reclaimed for agricultural use, which has led to subsided land. View this segment to learn
- about the tidal freshwater marshes that used to exist in the Delta.
- how the construction of levees has altered the Delta.
- how reclamation of the marshes led to subsidence of the land.
- why subsided land makes levees prone to break.
Download the Viewing Guide for pre- and post-viewing discussion questions, activities, and additional resources to use with students.
Tags: Delta, Planning projects, Watershed
Posted in 4-5, 6-8, 9-12 | Comments Off on The Sinking Delta
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
The west coast of North America once extended 27 miles west of the Golden Gate. The San Francisco Bay as we know it is a very young landform in geologic time. View this segment to learn
- how the west coast of North America has changed dramatically over time.
- when the Bay with which we are familiar was created.
- how San Francisco Bay is a flooded river canyon that formed as a result of rising sea levels at the end of the last ice age.
Download the Viewing Guide for pre- and post-viewing discussion questions, activities, and additional resources to use with students.
Tags: Climate, Sea level change, Watershed
Posted in 6-8 | Comments Off on The Formation of San Francisco Bay
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
In the 1950s, few people questioned the steady filling and development of San Francisco Bay. An extraordinary grassroots effort—the first of its kind in the nation—changed the fate of the Bay. View these segments to learn
- about the movement to save San Francisco Bay from development that began in the early 1960s and changed how people thought about conservation.
- that the effort to save the Bay was extraordinary in that it was both a grassroots effort and one that was led by women.
Download the Viewing Guide for pre- and post-viewing discussion questions, activities, and additional resources to use with students.
Tags: Conservation, Role of women
Posted in 6-8, 9-12 | Comments Off on Turning the Tide
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Agencies and organizations are currently working to restore tidal marsh around San Francisco Bay. View these segments to learn
- how historical ecologists use a variety of historical documents to piece together how an ecosystem used to function for restoration purposes.
- how dredge material is moved to the Hamilton Field Restoration Project to fill in subsided lands and restore tidal marsh.
- about the restoration of the South Bay salt ponds.
- about the importance of San Francisco Bay to migrating birds.
Download the Viewing Guide for pre- and post-viewing discussion questions, activities, and additional resources to use with students.
Tags: Ecosystem, Planning projects, Wetlands
Posted in 4-5, 6-8, 9-12 | Comments Off on Restoring San Francisco Bay
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Mercury-laden sediments from mining operations in the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges still enter the vast network of streams and rivers that feed into San Francisco Bay. The mining activity dates as far back as California’s Gold Rush era. View this segment to learn
- how hydraulic mining techniques caused massive amounts of sediment to enter the San Francisco Bay watershed.
- where mercury (which was needed to separate gold from ore) was mined in the Bay Area.
- about the mercury that persists in area rivers and its toxic effects in the food chain.
Download the Viewing Guide for pre- and post-viewing discussion questions, activities, and additional resources to use with students.
Tags: Ecosystem, Pollution, Resource depletion, Watershed
Posted in 6-8, 9-12 | Comments Off on The Aftermath of the Gold Rush: Mining and Mercury in the Bay
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Most of the fishermen in San Francisco Bay were immigrants from both European and Asian countries. View this segment to learn
- about different immigrant groups that brought different fishing traditions from their home countries.
- that Chinese immigrants fished in great numbers, especially for shrimp and smelt.
- about the discriminatory attitudes and practices towards Chinese fisherman that were prevalent in the 19th century.
- about the many factors contributed to the decline of the San Francisco Bay fishing industry.
Download the Viewing Guide for pre- and post-viewing discussion questions, activities, and additional resources to use with students.
Tags: Fisheries, Racial discrimination, Resource depletion, Shipbuilding
Posted in 6-8, 9-12 | Comments Off on The Chinese Shrimp Fishery
Monday, March 8th, 2010
The San Francisco Bay is a unique and biologically productive estuary. View this segment to learn
- about the size and scope of the estuary.
- about the Mediterranean climate of the Bay Area.
- that the estuary is a biologically productive region.
Download the Viewing Guide for pre- and post-viewing discussion questions, activities, and additional resources to use with students.
Tags: Climate, Ecosystem, Watershed
Posted in 4-5, 6-8 | Comments Off on A Unique Estuary
