Human Impact on Groundwater and Watersheds

Question 1

A lawn is fertilized just before a 5 cm storm. The yard slopes to a creek that flows into a reservoir. What pathway is most likely?

Accepted Answer

Rainwater dissolves some fertilizer and carries it into the creek and reservoir.

Answer

The grass absorbs all the fertilizer during the storm, so none moves.

Answer

Rain carries the fertilizer straight down into deep groundwater, so the creek is not affected.

Answer

The fertilizer evaporates with the rainwater after the storm.

Question 2

Winter salt is spread on a parking lot above a shallow aquifer. Meltwater flows over cracks and gravel edges. How can the salt reach groundwater?

Accepted Answer

Salty meltwater can soak through permeable ground and carry chloride into the aquifer.

Answer

Only the water soaks in, because soil filters out all dissolved salt.

Answer

Salt crystals settle in the cracks and stay there after they dissolve.

Answer

Salt reaches groundwater only when wind blows dry salt onto bare soil.

Question 3

An underground fuel tank leaks below a gas station on sandy soil. A home well is downhill in the same aquifer. What risk follows this leak?

Accepted Answer

Fuel chemicals may infiltrate the aquifer and move toward the downhill well.

Answer

Sandy soil traps the fuel near the tank, so the well stays safe.

Answer

The fuel can reach the well only by flowing across the ground surface.

Answer

Groundwater flows from the well toward the gas station, so the well stays safe.

Question 4

After a storm, dog waste left in a park washes into storm drains connected to a lake. What can the runoff carry into the lake?

Accepted Answer

Bacteria and nutrients from the waste can enter the lake.

Answer

Mostly sand and leaves, because the drain grates hold back the waste.

Answer

Nothing harmful, because the waste breaks down before it reaches the drain.

Answer

Only clean water, because the drains send runoff to a treatment plant first.

Question 5

A pesticide is sprayed on an orchard above porous gravel. Rain falls for several hours. How could the pesticide leave the orchard watershed area?

Accepted Answer

Some pesticide could dissolve in runoff or infiltrate toward groundwater.

Answer

The pesticide breaks down completely in the rain before it can move.

Answer

Porous gravel traps the pesticide, so it can leave only by blowing in the wind.

Answer

Rain washes it off the leaves, but it then stays in the top layer of soil.

Question 6

A manure pile sits beside a drainage ditch. Floodwater reaches the pile, and the ditch empties into a river. What is the likely pathway for nutrients?

Accepted Answer

Floodwater carries dissolved nutrients into the ditch and then the river.

Answer

Nutrients stay in the manure pile because they cannot dissolve in water.

Answer

Nutrients sink straight down into deep groundwater and never reach the river.

Answer

Floodwater carries the nutrients away from the river toward higher ground.

Question 7

Rain falls on an oily street with litter. The storm sewer pipe drains directly to a creek. What happens to materials on the street?

Accepted Answer

Runoff can wash oil and litter into the storm sewer and creek.

Answer

Storm sewer pipes always clean runoff before discharge.

Answer

Oil and litter stay on the street because rain soaks into the pavement.

Answer

The oil evaporates before any of it can reach the creek.

Question 8

A wooded hillside near a stream is cleared and paved for a shopping center. How does this land-use change affect the watershed?

Accepted Answer

It is harmful because less water infiltrates and more runoff reaches the stream quickly.

Answer

It is beneficial because fast runoff keeps the stream full in dry summers.

Answer

It has little effect because the same amount of rain falls on pavement as on forest.

Answer

It is harmful because pavement soaks up rainwater and dries out the stream.

Question 9

A farm plants cover crops after harvest on fields over an aquifer. How does this practice affect water resources?

Accepted Answer

It is beneficial because roots reduce erosion and help water soak into soil.

Answer

It is harmful because roots open channels that carry soil into the aquifer.

Answer

It has no effect because water soaks into bare fields just as well.

Answer

It is beneficial because the crops add extra fertilizer to the groundwater.

Question 10

A town leaves a strip of shrubs and trees between a farm field and a stream. How can this buffer help the watershed?

Accepted Answer

The plants slow runoff, trap sediment, and take up some nutrients.

Answer

The plants speed up runoff so water leaves the field before picking up soil.

Answer

The roots add nutrients to the stream that help fish grow.

Answer

The shrubs shade the field so the farmer needs less fertilizer.

Question 11

A subdivision pumps groundwater from many wells faster than rainfall recharges the aquifer. Nearby wetlands shrink during dry months. What judgment is supported?

Accepted Answer

The pumping is harmful because it lowers groundwater available to wetlands.

Answer

The pumping is not the cause, because wetlands get all their water from rain.

Answer

The pumping is harmful only to the wells, not to wetlands or streams.

Answer

The pumping is beneficial because it pulls wetland water down into the aquifer.

Question 12

A neighborhood restores a wetland where a straight concrete channel once rushed stormwater into a river. How can the restored wetland affect the watershed?

Accepted Answer

It is beneficial because wetlands slow water and filter some pollutants.

Answer

It is harmful because standing water in wetlands adds pollution to the river.

Answer

It has little effect because water moves through a wetland as fast as through a channel.

Answer

It is harmful because wetlands make floods downstream larger.

Question 13

Used motor oil is poured onto a gravel driveway above a private well. Rain soaks into the gravel. What judgment best fits this practice?

Accepted Answer

It is harmful because oil can infiltrate and contaminate groundwater.

Answer

It is safe because the gravel filters out all the oil.

Answer

It is safe because oil floats and stays on top of the gravel.

Answer

It has no effect because private wells do not use groundwater.

Question 14

A table compares nitrate in wells uphill and downhill of a farm in the same aquifer. What conclusion is best supported by the data?

Accepted Answer

Nitrate may be entering groundwater near the farm and moving downhill.

Answer

The uphill wells are more polluted than the downhill wells.

Answer

The farm is stopping all water from entering the aquifer.

Answer

The aquifer has identical nitrate levels at every well.

Question 15

A table shows stream data upstream and downstream from a construction site after rain. What impact is most supported by the measurements?

Accepted Answer

Muddy runoff from the site likely increased turbidity downstream.

Answer

The site likely made the downstream water clearer.

Answer

The site likely increased dissolved oxygen downstream.

Answer

The measurements show no downstream change after rain.

Question 16

A winter stream table compares chloride near a salted road and in an upstream forest. What source of impact is most likely?

Accepted Answer

Road salt runoff is likely adding chloride to the stream.

Answer

Forest soil is likely the main source of the high chloride.

Answer

Chloride is lowest beside the salted road.

Answer

Salted roads prevent dissolved materials from entering streams.

Question 17

A pond table shows phosphate before nearby lawns are fertilized and after three storms. What impact is best supported?

Accepted Answer

Fertilizer runoff likely increased phosphate and algae growth in the pond.

Answer

The storms likely removed all nutrients from the pond.

Answer

Phosphate stayed the same after lawns were fertilized.

Answer

The lawn fertilizer could affect only groundwater wells.

Question 18

At a construction site beside a stream, storms carry muddy runoff from bare soil into the water. What action most directly reduces this impact?

Accepted Answer

Install silt fences and cover bare soil with mulch or plants.

Answer

Dig the mud out of the stream after construction ends.

Answer

Add pipes that carry the muddy runoff into the stream faster.

Answer

Spray the bare soil with water on dry days to keep dust down.

Question 19

A large parking lot sends oily stormwater to a creek through a pipe. The city wants more infiltration and filtering. What design best matches the problem?

Accepted Answer

Add rain gardens or permeable pavement to slow and filter runoff.

Answer

Put a metal screen over the pipe to catch litter at the creek.

Answer

Add more storm drains so water leaves the lot faster.

Answer

Repave the lot with fresh, smooth asphalt that does not crack.

Question 20

Tests show high nitrate in a shallow well downhill from fertilized fields. The farmer wants to protect the aquifer. What mitigation best matches the evidence?

Accepted Answer

Apply fertilizer only as needed and plant buffer strips near drainage areas.

Answer

Apply fertilizer just before heavy storms so rain mixes it into the soil.

Answer

Drill the well deeper and keep using the same amount of fertilizer.

Answer

Mow the plants along field edges so water drains away faster.

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Human Impact on Groundwater and Watersheds

Ways to Play

Device Games: Students play on their phones

Blast Go

Zombie Escape

Avalanche

Maze Blast

Cave Climb

Blast Out

Mystery Auction

Tour Guide

Food Truck Rush

Tug of War

Alien Blast

Glacier Rush

Board Games: Teacher-led, projected to the class

Like what you see?

Bug Blast

BlastRace

BlastQuiz

BlastBoard

Seek & Destroy

Mystery Blast

Checkers

Texas Hold 'Em

Da Bomb

Castle Siege

Hot Potato

Market Mayhem

King of the Hill

Bank Heist

Top Corner

Human Impact on Groundwater and Watersheds

Ways to Play

Device Games: Students play on their phones

Blast Go

Zombie Escape

Avalanche

Maze Blast

Cave Climb

Blast Out

Mystery Auction

Tour Guide

Food Truck Rush

Tug of War

Alien Blast

Glacier Rush

Board Games: Teacher-led, projected to the class

Like what you see?

More like this

Bug Blast

BlastRace

BlastQuiz

BlastBoard

Seek & Destroy

Mystery Blast

Checkers

Texas Hold 'Em

Da Bomb

Castle Siege

Hot Potato

Market Mayhem

King of the Hill

Bank Heist

Top Corner