1. Wetlands and Water Quality By: Allie & Kaitlin

2. Wetlands Wetlands are important because that’s where the animals and plants live. If we didn’t have the plants and animals that live off the wetlands we would not have a lot of our other animals because they would die and the food chain would die away.

3. Salt Water Marsh They are made over long periods of time. They can get larger from hurricanes and strong storms. You can get many types of food from there, such as oysters, clams, fish, and crabs. They can get deep at times. They have little sections of land in them where plants grow and animals live.

4. Water Quality Water quality is how clean the water is and how the water looks. Water quality is important to wetlands because of the animals and their habitats, plants, and we use different wetlands for drinking water.

5. PH Is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of substance The Ph that is best for most organisms are PH 6.5 – 8.5 We tested this by using little strips to see if the water was safe for organisms

6. Climate Another factor that affects water quality is the climate It affects water quality because the routes of chemical and biochemical reactions within the water. We test this factor by using a thermometer.

7. Turbidity It is a measure of the amount of suspended material in the water It has an affect on the bay because it can block light to aquatic plants and smother aquatic organisms We test for this factor by using a Secchi disk..

8. Cloud cover This affects water quality because it decreases the amount of sunlight that is hitting the earth and water, so there is not as much light for plants to use to make food. We test for this factor by looking at the different types of clouds.