Name _________________KEY_________________
Period ______
Pollution Quiz Study Guide
Vocab- Define each of the words below.

Point Source (PS): Pollution that has a single identifiable source. It can be air, water, thermal, noise or
light. Hint—You can POINT to the source of the pollution.

Non-Point Source (NPS): Pollution where the source is multiple places or people so the exact sourse is
not known. An example is runoff. As runoff moves, it picks up and carries away pollutants,
depositing them into water.

Dissolved Oxygen: Microscopic bubbles of gaseous oxygen (O2) that is mixed in water and available to
aquatic organisms for respiration (breathing).

Biological Oxygen Demand: Amount of dissolved oxygen (O2) needed by decomposers to break down
organic material present in a given water sample.

Eutrophication: Excessive amount of nutrients in a body of water, often due to fertilizer runoff from
the land. Causes a dense growth of plant life and eventual death of animal life from lack of oxygen.

Decomposers: An organism, soil bacterium, fungus, or invertebrate, that decomposes organic material

Anoxic: Lacking oxygen. This specifically relates to the last stages of Eutrophication.

Mineralization: When organisms die, bacteria or fungi decompose the organism and convert the
organic N into NH4+ (ammonium)

Assimilation: Turns NH4+ or NO3- into organic Nitrogen ______________________________

Nitrification: Nitrifying bacteria turn ammonium (NH4+) into nitrites (NO2-) and then into nitrates
(NO3-)

Denitrification: Denitrifying bacteria turn nitrates (NO3-) into atmospheric N2

Denitrifying bacteria: The bacteria that turn (NO3-) into atmospheric N2

Nitrifying bacteria: Nitrifying bacteria turn ammonium (NH4+) into nitrites (NO2-) and then into
nitrates (NO3-)

Nitrogen Fixation: Turning N2 into a usable form for plants and animals this can be fixed to roots or
turned into ammonium

Ammonification: The bacteria in the soil or roots turn N2 into Ammonium (NH4+)

Leaching: Nitrites that are pulled out of soil by the action of infiltrating. This is because Nitrites are
water soluble.

Weathering: The wearing away or changing the appearance of land by long exposure to the air or
water

Inorganic: Not containing living material. Inorganic Nitrogen is used by plant. Animals need Organic
Nitrogen.

Sedimentation: The process of settling or being deposited as a sediment.
Concepts
A. Pollution (Materials to Use: NPS Lab, Chart, Reading & picture taken in class)
1. Identify the following sources of pollution as Point or Non-Point Source.
o Litter on the streets
_______ Non-Point _______
o Factory dumping superheated water into a river
_________ Point _________
o Eroded sediment from clear cut forest
________ Non-Point ______
o Manure from livestock
_________ Non-Point _____
o Acid rain from factories & cars
_________ Non-Point _____
o Sediment runoff from construction sites
________ Non-Point ______
o Pesticides and fertilizers from farmland
________ Non-Point ______
o Sewage plant dumping untreated waste into the lake
__________ Point________
2. Be able to explain how
the following sources
of pollution affect the
environment &
solutions for these
sources. (Use your
NPS Chart & picture
from class to help you).
B. Eutrophication (Materials to Use: Eutrophication Lab, POGIL, Flowchart/Drawing PowerPoint
Review)
3. What is a human source of nitrogen? Cars, coal fired power plants, sewage treatment
4. What are 2 sources of phosphorous? Sedimentary rocks and sewage
5. What are two sources of pollution that cause eutrophication?
_____Fertilizer___________ and _______Sewage__________________
6. What organisms in a lake take in oxygen? Animals
7. What organisms in a lake give off oxygen? Plants
8. What organisms in a lake contribute to D.O.? Plants
9. What organisms in a lake contribute to B.O.D.? All living things and waste sources.
10. Fill out the chart below:
Increase in Plants
Increase in Fish
Increase in Decomposers
Effect on
D.O.
INCREASE
DECREASE
DECREASE
Explain
Plants produce oxygen upping
the D.O. in the water
Animals take in oxygen
lowering the D.O. in the water
Decomposers take in oxygen
lowering the D.O. in the water
Effect on
B.O.D.
INCREASE
INCREASE
INCREASE
More plants = more things to
decompose so more B.O.D.
More animals = more things to
decompose so more B.O.D.
Decomposers use oxygen to do
the decomposition so more
decomposers = faster
decomposition so more B.O.D.
Explain
11. Describe at least 4 differences between a healthy and eutrophic lake.
12. Explain the process of eutrophication.
Aquatic plants need nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) to grow. In large quantities from fertilizer run-off,
they can cause a major water problem. Too many nutrients make plants and algae grow quickly, clogging
waterways and creating blooms of toxic blue-green algae. When the plants and algae die and decompose,
they use up large amounts of oxygen (O2). So the amount of oxygen that is available for fish and other
aquatic species will be reduced. This can lead to an anoxic environment that can support nothing except a
few species of bacteria.
Read more: http://www.lenntech.com/aquatic/nutrients.htm#ixzz4aC702zd8
13. Why do the plants die during eutrophication? Lack of sunlight
14. Why do the fish die during eutrophication? Lack of oxygen
C. Nitrogen Cycle (Materials to Use: Nitrogen Packet, PowerPoint Notes, Atom Activity, Diagrams)
15. Where is nitrogen found on Earth (reservoirs)? The atmosphere, watershed in soil, groundwater, ocean
water, sediment and plant matter (dead and living)
16. Where is the majority of nitrogen found on Earth? In the atmosphere.
17. Why isn’t atmospheric nitrogen usable by plants and animals?
N2 is a triple bonded atom which is very hard to
break it must be modified to be useful to plants
and animals.
18. Explain how humans have impacted the nitrogen cycle.
o Fertilizer for agriculture
o Sewer systems and septic systems
o Coal fired power plants and cars
19. Why is the nitrogen cycle important to organisms? It takes unusable atmospheric nitrogen and makes it
usable by plants and animals. It also returns nitrogen to the atmospheric reserve.
20. Fill in the chart below.
Process
Nitrogen Fixation
(Ammonification)
Purpose
Changes ________ to
_________.
Where does it occur?
to
Mineralization
to
Nitrification
to
Denitrification
to
Assimilation
to
21. Label the diagram below.
____ Denitrification
____Nitrogen Fixation
____Nitrification (2)
____Organic Nitrogen
____ Ammonium (NH4+)
____Mineralization
____ Nitrates (NO3-)
____ Leaching
____Denitrifying bacteria
____ Atmospheric N2
____ Decomposers
____Nitrifying bacteria
____ Lightning Fixation
____ Assimilation
____ Nitrites (NO2-)
22. Fill in the chart below.
Name
Ammonium
Nitrates
Atmospheric N
Organic N
Nitrous Oxide
Formula
Can it be
used by
organisms?
Where Is It
Found?
What
process
creates this
form of N?
What
organisms
create this
form of N?
Is it easily
dissolved
in water?
D. Phosphorous Cycle (Materials to Use: Phosphorous Notes, Packet and Diagrams)
23. Where is the largest reservoir of phosphorus? _________________________________________________
24. Phosphorus, unlike the nitrogen cycle, is not found in the ________________________________________.
25. Name 4 things phosphorus is used for in living things.

_____________________________
______________________________________

_____________________________
______________________________________
26. Circle: What form of phosphorus do plants take in?
organic
inorganic
27. Circle: What form of phosphorous do animals take in?
organic
inorganic
28. List 4 ways that humans add phosphorus to the cycle.

_____________________________
______________________________________

_____________________________
______________________________________
29. Phosphorus is considered a limiting factor, meaning that it limits plant growth. The amount of phosphorus
determines how well the plant will grow or how many plants will grow.
Why is the amount of available phosphorus so limited on Earth?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
30. How does the phosphorus from human sources (in #28) end up in the water or soil?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
31. Fill in the blanks below using the word bank provided.
Word Bank
Assimilate
Feces
Sedimentary
Fats
Inorganic
Cycle
Dead organisms
Animals
Mineralization

Sedimentation
Ocean
Weathering
Phosphorus can be found in __________________________________ rocks in the ground or in mountains.
This kind of phosphorus is known as ___________________________________ because rocks are nonliving.

These rocks undergo ________________________________, in which water break the rocks down,
releasing phosphorus into the water or soil.

Plants ___________________________________ the phosphorus from the soil, turning it into organic
phosphorus by creating fats, proteins or DNA from it.

_____________________ eat the plants, taking the phosphorus from the plant for their own bodies.

When the organism excretes ___________________or urine, or when it dies, phosphorus is released back
into the soil.

Bacteria in the soil break down the organic phosphorus from the _____________________________ or
waste and turn it back into inorganic phosphorus. This process is called
________________________________.

The inorganic phosphorous eventually come into contact with water, ending up in a lake or _____________.

The organisms in the lake or ocean use the phosphorus to make proteins, ____________ and DNA in their
bodies.

When the ocean organisms die, they sink the bottom of the lake or ocean, where, over thousands to millions
of years, they become phosphorus rich sediments and rocks. This process is called
____________________________.

Over a very long period of time, these sedimentary rocks become exposed, are subjected to weathering and
release phosphorus back into the soil, starting the ________________________ over again.
32. Write the letter for each statement that matches its location on the diagram below:
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
Over millions of years, sediments from the ocean become mountains exposed to the
elements.
Rain causes runoff to pick up inorganic phosphorus. It travels to bodies of water.
Animals eat plants, taking in organic phosphorus to make proteins/DNA/fats. The
animals die.
Plants take in inorganic phosphorus through their roots, turning it into organic
phosphorus in their bodies.
Rocks containing phosphate are weathered by rain and wind, releasing inorganic
phosphorus into the soil or water.
Decomposers take the organic phosphorus from the dead plants and animals, releasing
inorganic phosphorus into the soil.
Lake organisms use the inorganic phosphorus from the water, turning it into organic
phosphorus in their bodies. They die and settle at the bottom of the lake.
Sedimentation occurs (dead organisms become sediment/rocks)
F
G
A
H
B
D
C
E